Alabama A&M University News March 15, 2011 AAMU's Business School Adds New Major in Logistics Huntsville, Ala. ---- The Dean of the School of Business at Alabama A&M University has announced that the school will add the first new degree program to its offerings in a number of years. Dr. Amin Sarkar says the Alabama Commission on Higher Education (ACHE) recently approved AAMU's request to offer the Bachelor of Science degree in logistics and supply chain management. The important decision upgrades the business school's offerings from a concentration encompassed by business administration to a full-fledged major. The major in the fast-growing field of logistics and supply chain management was the result of a lengthy process, says Sarkar. Over two years ago, a School of Business external program review recommended the move, along with additional recommendations from an alumni advisory board and a business executive advisory board. The recommendations followed input from a special task force on Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) and inroads of a previous university administration, notes the dean. With the approval of AAMU's Academic Standards and Curriculum Committee and the trustee board, the request found its way to ACHE officials, who okayed the program requests in a period of about two months. Students will be accepted for fall 2011 enrollment into the program. The former logistics and supply chain management concentration netted about 15 graduates per year. Sarkar expects the enrollment in the traditional major to increase to around 40 students, with an initial average of 20 graduates a year beginning in 2015. Up to 50 percent of the courses will eventually be offered online, says the dean. Sarkar says 4,700 federal jobs are expected to shift to Huntsville in the near future, and "more than 11,000 positions will be needed to support those jobs." BRAC officials anticipate a shortfall of about 10,000 positions in this area. "Moving from a concentration to a major will be very helpful in our local area," says Dr. Sarkar, adding that the ultimate demand for logistics and supply chain management could approach close to 1 million nationwide by 2016. The 2016 prediction is 11,000 for Alabama and 1100 for our local area. In addition to the ongoing incubation of an interdisciplinary B.S. degree program in entrepreneurship, Sarkar says the School of Business is at its highest peak to date (78 percent) in terms of the faculty credentials/research percentage needed for accreditation by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), which requires 90 percent faculty being academically and professionally qualified. The AAMU business school reactivated AACSB candidacy status in November 2010. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Program Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 404.592.4820 Skype:sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree Street NW Suite 200 Atlanta, GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (Lyrasis) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.