When COVID became a worldwide epidemic, one of the many issues it revealed was the importance of the supply chain.
Until then, supply chain management was one of those unseen disciplines that most Americans simply took for granted.
Now, New Mexico Highlands University’s Department of Business Administration has established new coursework in its curriculum designed to provide students with an emphasis in supply chain management, said Dr. D. Veena Parboteeah, Highlands Dean, School of Business, Media, & Technology.
Dr. D. Veena Parboteeah, Highlands Dean, School of Business, Media, & Technology
“There are only a few universities that are offering this program,” she said. “With our cost-effective tuition, people can get this degree without going into debt. The curriculum is aimed to provide students with the theoretical knowledge and practical skills needed to comprehend and evaluate issues facing modern supply chains across a variety of industries.”
Los Alamos National Laboratories has provided the seed money to get the program started, but Parboteeah said Highlands that the state, as well as other large employers like Sandia Labs and Cannon Air Force Base, also is in dire need for professionals in this field.
Not only is the demand for experts in the field growing rapidly, positions in supply chain management are averaging more than $100,000 annually, according to Supply Chain Management Review.
“Experts in accounting and finance are in high demand (including supply chain management) at Los Alamos National Laboratory and nationwide,” said Brad Beck, LANL Workforce Program director. “This collaboration with New Mexico Highlands University allows us to partner closely with a key regional university to develop the skill sets that today’s students need. Early-career hires from NMHU are then further supported by our training and mentoring program.”
Los Alamos labs in 2021 “extended a request for proposal with a list of the areas where they are looking for professionals, more employees,” Parboteeah said. “One of those was supply chain management. We submitted a proposal to develop the program and the following year we hired consultant to develop the program.”
Assistant Professor Dr. Joseph A. Milczewski
And now Highlands is offering four undergrad courses for students seeking a bachelor’s of business administration with an emphasis in supply chain management and three graduate courses for students seeking a master’s of business administration with an emphasis in the discipline, said Dr. Joseph A. Milczewski, an assistant professor who has been brought to Highlands to launch and run the program.
“It was taken for granted so much and now it’s not taken for granted,” he said.
What’s more, Milczewski added, supply chain management is not only vital just for large corporations, but also small businesses.
“I’m looking at the small businessman, the owner of a bakery or the little diner, he has supply chain issues, too,” he said. “People ask me, ‘What is supply chain?’ What isn’t supply chain? Where does it all start and stop? The end user is where it tends to stop but with the recycling efforts of today, it’s never ending.”
The eventual goal is to provide a separate major for supply chain management, he said, as student demand and participation increases.
“I want to see this as a full-blown bachelor’s and master’s program,” Milczewski said. “Right now, these are add-on type of classes so they’re taking a concentration in it, but that’s what I’ll be working on so hopefully by September 2025, adding on to classes that they’ve been taking now.”
In addition, Parboteeah said, the courses will beneficial for many different types of disciplines.
“We do want students to pursue the concentrations, but even having one course under your belt, as a student pursuing the BBA or MBA program,” she said. “But also for anybody who is graduating from NMHU, it would benefit them to understand supply chain management.”
For more information contact Dr. D. Veena Parboteeah at 505-454-3582