University Engineering students now have a chance to take advantage of a new minor that brings together the Engineering School and the Commerce School.
The 18-credit Engineering-Business minor, launched by the Engineering School this spring, is a spin off of the Technology Management and Policy minor. The new minor consists of three required courses, including Making Business Work, Microeconomics and Technology and Product Development Life Cycle. In addition, students also can choose three electives from a list of 15 courses, said Deborah Johnson, department chair of the Engineering School's Technology, Culture and Communication Division.
Johnson and members of the Technology, Management and Policy Committee initiated the program.
The Commerce School assures that Engineering students will have seats in classes required for the minor, said Commerce Prof. Robert Brown, the Commerce School representative for the Engineering School.
According to Brown, some Commerce School professors have cooperated with the Engineering School in the past so the next logical step was to create a minor that involved both schools.
Many engineering students find jobs in the business world, and having knowledge in that area is beneficial to the student, Johnson said.
"Employers prefer people who have technical engineering skills as well as a knowledge of how business works," she added.
According to Johnson, the minor was inspired by some Engineering alumni donors who thought that Engineering students should have a better understanding of the business world. William Utt donated $50,000 and Clark Construction Group gave a $1 million endowment to fund the program.
First-year Engineering students Bailey Hillger and Katharina Ley expressed interest about the minor.
"I'm more interested in the technical side of business more than the technical side of engineering," Hillger said. "I think that the minor is a really good idea, and I would definitely be interested in it."
Ley addressed the difficulties of pursuing a double major in two different schools.
"I know a lot of people who do an Economics major as well as being in Engineering School have to do a lot of work," Ley said. "This would prevent people from having to double major in the College and the E-School."
Two students will graduate having earned the new minor this year, and so far 30 people have expressed interest in the minor, Johnson said.
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