By Nikita Saharia Chaturvedi
The Global Supply Chain Management Program at Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island, started a few years ago when some management, operations, and marketing faculty who have had industry experience in supply chain developed the curriculum determined to teach this important field of study.
Since day one the faculty has been involved and supportive of the supply chain students and are always finding new ways to bring the program further and further each year. The supply chain program started as a minor at Bryant and transformed into a major as more classes were approved. Last year was the first year that students were able to graduate with a major in global supply chain management; 34 students graduated with the major and 14 students graduated with a minor. Of those 34 students, all are employed and many of them even had full-time job offers before entering their senior year of college.
“This year we’re expecting 44 majors and now have over 100 students enrolled in the supply chain program,” says Emily Socha, Vice President of the student group the Society for Global Supply Chain Management at Bryant, in an interview with My Purchasing Center. “We’re constantly expanding and the number of students majoring in SCM at Bryant continues to increase as they begin to recognize the tremendous advancements and opportunities in SCM.”
Expressing her thoughts about SCM as a career, Socha says that when she chose her major she selected one she knew was going to be a solid investment for the future. “In our briskly budding global economy, the value of supply chain is increasing each day,” she tells My Purchasing Center.
Bryant University’s Society for Global Supply Chain Management is an academic association on campus for students which facilitates the student in learning more about supply chain management, besides classroom studies, aiming at providing significant practical knowledge as well. The society is open to which is an added benefit as some students attend events to learn more about supply chain and how it may impact them in their field of study. The group is designed to help its members nurture and grow as young professionals and make connections in the supply chain industry.
The group also takes up several activities to train students as professionals by infusing activities like looking at career opportunities and trends, networking with professors, resume workshops, interview prep, and more. In addition, the society also helps the students make connections through corporate relationships, like it currently has with ISM-Greater Rhode Island, as well as arranging off-site company tours at local supply chain manufacturing plants/businesses and having guest speakers visit Bryant to speak to students, Socha says.
Meanwhile, the group also carries out member meetings generally once a week. The board makes an effort to make its members feel welcome and keeps the meetings fun and engaging with gift card prizes for attendance.
“We want members to enjoy coming to enhance their supply chain knowledge and not have it feel like just another obligation,” Socha says. The board gives students the opportunity to take on leadership roles and, as it continues to grow, it offers sub-committee leadership positions where general members can take on extra responsibilities for a project and report to the board, if they need support to accomplish a job. The society has 25 consistent members at its meetings, which has been growing considerably. A membership campaign has been designed for the spring semester to attract more members so that students can reap the benefits of the events and explore their horizons.
What’s more, the student group is thrilled to have built a relationship with ISM-Greater Rhode Island, the Institute for Supply Management’s local affiliate. Craig Colsen, former ISM-GRI President and current Board member, is the college liaison between ISM-GRI and Bryant, and his support to this relationship should not go unnoticed.
“Not only do we as students see the value in building our connection with ISM, Craig and his team also see the value which was the key to get this whole relationship started,” Socha says. “As students we are looking for career advice and knowledge in the field we want to go into from people who wake up, get in their cars, and go do it every single day. Working with ISM-GRI, students are able to network with SCM professionals and learn about different paths, in order to make it through different stages in their career. A strong SCM background and sound advice really helps point us in the right direction.”
Socha believes that the Society for Global Supply Chain Management is fortunate in that not only did they get the opportunity to network with some ISM-GRI members at an October meeting, but also met Jan Miller, Vice President of Membership for ISM. Miller presented a great deal of information about the benefits of ISM membership as well as the necessary requirements to become a CPSM (Certified Professional in Supply Management) and/or a CPSD (Certified Professional in Supplier Diversity). For most of the student attendees who recently signed up for their ISM student membership these certifications happen to be brand new meanwhile making them aware that just how valuable the certificates can be in the workplace.
In the podcast interview, Socha offers up some advice for other students interested in forming similar groups on campus. “It takes a considerable amount of time and effort to manage an academic association, since students have other commitments and a heavy workload,” she says. “So the passion and desire to be part of something and make substantial changes is what’s going to set a great society apart from a decent one. The key is to get the members involved early, as members want to have hands-on involvement and something to show that they’re active and valuable members to the group, besides attending meetings; while learning about supply chain. This also sets up the group to have good leadership year after year.”
Also see the My Purchasing Center article on the October member meeting of ISM-GRI and hosted by the Global Supply Chain Management program, Certification, Networking Help Advance Procurement Careers
ISM-GRI and the Global Supply Chain Management program at Bryant hosted Rod Sherkin, President of ProPurchaser at an event on campus this past spring. Sherkin’s presentation to the group of students and supply managers was recorded and is available as an online training video at My Purchasing Center, Achieve Competitive Prices without Bidding.
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