NewsSeptember 15, 2023
SEMO adds three new business majors in expanding fields
Southeast Missouri State University students can choose from three new business majors this semester. Each major will teach them skills professors say can help them find in-demand jobs once they enter the workforce. The university's board of governors approved the majors in March...
Southeast Missouri State University students can choose from three new business majors this semester.
Each major will teach them skills professors say can help them find in-demand jobs once they enter the workforce.
The university's board of governors approved the majors in March.
Aviation management
Associate professor Quantella Noto said an aviation management major has been a few years in the making. Provost Mike Godard had asked faculty to brainstorm new program ideas and Noto talked to the school's professional pilot program about a collaboration.
Noto serves on the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport's advisory board. She said she used that perspective to helped craft the new major.
She received a provost fellowship to bring the major to fruition and began analyzing what other nearby universities were doing with similar programs.
"It was important to have another modality, meaning a way for students to take this online, because our competitors didn't have a lot of options online," she said.
The major gives students the ability to take many core business courses online.
Many of these classes are required for other majors as well, so students can switch over to aviation management and not have to worry about needing to take more classes.
Noto said the major also includes classes that can help with post-graduation careers. This includes helping them achieve a certified member certification from the American Association of Airport Executives.
"When designing the program, we took into account what students would need to get that certification. In other words, what they'd need to jump-start their careers," she said.
The certification requires knowledge of business operations and financial management, so such courses are included in the curriculum. No minors are required, leaving room for students to choose electives.
Receive Daily Headlines FREESign up today!
According to Noto, potential careers this major can aid in attaining include airport management, aviation consulting, air traffic control and aviation security. It also allows for internship opportunities.
Noto said she wanted to get people interested in the aviation field and help them learn about all the industry positions available to them.
"I think the future is bright. We're excited to have it, we're excited it's happening this fast, and I think we've positioned ourselves as a program of the future that will draw a lot of people to the industry," she said.
Business analytics and Financial econometrics
David Yaskewich, chairman of the university's Accounting, Economics and Finance Department, said computer programming and data analysis are high-growth, in-demand skills.
The new financial econometrics and business analytics majors, he said, help students acquire these while preparing to enter the workforce.
In 2018, the Harrison College of Business & Computing formed through a realignment of the university's colleges.
"We had computer science programs, we had cybersecurity as a program and, of course, we had our collection of business programs, but there wasn't much that really integrated those programs," Yaskewich said. "That's what business analytics is."
The new major's courses incorporate many of those skills. Yaskewich said they teach students these skills far earlier than other majors, allowing them to learn new proficiencies in their junior or senior years.
"If you compared computer science today to what it was 10 years ago, you'd see tremendous growth. I think students and their parents get it right because that growth has to do with what we're seeing in the job market and the high-growth, high-demand skills in those areas," Yaskewich said.
The financial econometrics major places a greater emphasis on applying economic statistics, such as for economic forecasting.
As an interdisciplinary program, the majors didn't require any new faculty because the curriculum is based on courses that are already taught at the university.
"We've been doing a lot of this already," Yaskewich said. "It just wasn't packaged as a program for students."
Story Tags
Advertisement
Connect with the Southeast Missourian Newsroom:
For corrections to this story or other insights for the editor, click here. To submit a letter to the editor, click here. To learn about the Southeast Missourian’s AI Policy, click here.
Related
Advertisement
Receive Daily Headlines FREESign up today!
