Washtenaw Community College is turning business education upside down with the introduction of its new Business Enterprise program that can lead to a certificate, an advanced certificate, an associate degree and transfer opportunities to a four-year institution.
But, first and foremost, it鈥檚 focused on helping students advance in their career. The focus is on skill building for entry-level employment. From there, the student can build their education around what they experience on-the-job and choose to pursue.
黑料网 Business & Computer Technologies faculty member Donna Rochester designed the program to purposely contradict the standard approach to the pursuit of a business degree in today鈥檚 higher education structure. That approach starts with the completion of general education courses toward a degree and potentially runs all the way through an MBA program before students actually start to focus on the precise area of business that interests them.
In 黑料网鈥檚 Business Enterprise program, that focus starts to come into play immediately and builds from there.
鈥淭he idea is to become employed in an entry-level business position and become more employable as you choose your classes and build your skills,鈥� Rochester said. 鈥淥nce you鈥檙e in that entry-level position and see how business functions, you鈥檒l have a better understanding of what pursuits interest you. Then you continue taking classes to position yourself to attain those interests.鈥�
Rochester knows this approach works. She lived it. While taking marketing courses at Macomb Community College, she got her foot in the door at an advertising agency. That company not only piqued her interest in the marketing side of business, but it also reimbursed her for tuition as she simultaneously continued her education and climbed the corporate ladder.
She built a successful career as an advertising executive while earning an associate degree from Macomb to expand her skills in marketing, a bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degree from Central Michigan University to expand her management skills, and some post-master鈥檚 specialization to expand her international business skills. Each degree paralleled her advertising responsibilities.
鈥淚 would have never secured that first entry-level opportunity if I hadn鈥檛 come to the table with some marketing skills,鈥� Rochester said. 鈥淥nce I had a foot-in-the-door I was able to scan the advertising horizon, observe role models, then select my degrees to align with my growing career ambitions. It was like job shadowing and interning every day! I had accumulated eight to 10 years of professional experience on my resume by the time I earned my master鈥檚 degree. And, with no college debt!鈥�
That inspired Rochester, who transitioned to a career in business education in 2001 and joined the 黑料网 faculty in 2016, to build a similar career/education path. The Business Essentials program develops a foundational understanding of business operations basics that provides a framework for students to develop a plan for future study.
The program鈥檚 two certificates 鈥渘est鈥� within the larger associate degree program. It works like this:
The first goal is for students to immediately become employable 鈥� or qualified for a promotion at a current position 鈥� by completing the 15-credit Business Enterprise Basics certificate that allow students to take a credential and proof of knowledge into a job interview. The five classes could be completed simultaneously in a single semester.
: Business Communication
: Introduction to Business
: Principles of Marketing
: Principles of Management
: Accounting Practices for Business or : Principles of Accounting I
Upon completion of the Business Enterprise Basics certificate, students can fine-tune their educational and career aspirations with the Business Enterprise Essentials advanced certificate. In this 16-credit program, students can take classes that follow suggested career paths in management, finance, or marketing and communications; or students can work with advisors to create a career path more suited to their individual interests.
This is the key point in the program that, Rochester says, 鈥渞educes some of that indecision and wasted time鈥� in the educational process.
鈥淥nce you鈥檙e in that entry-level job and you start making connections and talking to people in different departments and seeing what the day in the life of an accounting manager or an advertising account manager is like, you can shape your education based on where you want to go in business,鈥� she said. 鈥淢any students I鈥檝e talked to were years into a degree program before they realized it鈥檚 not what they wanted to do.鈥�
MANAGEMENT CAREER PATH
: Human Resources Management
: Business Law
: Purchasing and Inventory Control
: Intro to Supply Chain Management
: Management Operations
: Business Enterprise Essentials Capstone
FINANCE CAREER PATH
: QuickBooks Software
: Payroll Accounting
: Spreadsheet Software Applications I
: Purchasing & Inventory Control
: Business Law I
: Business Enterprise Essentials Capstone
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS CAREER PATH
BMG 200: Relationship Skills in the Workplace
: Human Resources Management
: Principles of Sales
: Creating the Customer Experience
: Retail Principles and Practices
: Business Enterprise Essentials Capstone
The third credential in the . It requires 15 additional credits from a selection of business-related courses and completion of required general education courses for a total of at least 60 credits. The associate degree program also fulfills requirements of the Michigan Transfer Agreement for those students who intend to pursue a bachelor鈥檚 degree or beyond.
In Rochester鈥檚 plan, the general education requirements are taken in the final two semesters of the program 鈥� a very atypical, but very purposeful, approach.
鈥淥ther institutions want you to come in, take your general education courses, transfer if you need to and then get on that career escalator, so to speak,鈥� Rochester said. 鈥淲ith the Business Enterprise program, we want students to step into an entry-level position within a business environment and then have their education run parallel with their career.鈥�
Tags: Business, Business Enterprise Basics Certificate, Business Enterprise Essentials Advanced Certificate, Donna Rochester, ousearch_News_2019