Applied management degree will be unique to area
Ranken Technical College has recently been approved by its accrediting body, the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, to offer a bachelor’s of science in applied management (BSAM) degree. This is an historic change for the technical college, which has a nearly 100 year history of granting both technical certifications and associate degrees, but has only recently begun granting bachelor’s degrees.
Ranken’s first bachelor’s degree program, in architectural technology, was launched in 2002, and now the college will be offering a bachelor’s degree into which any of the college’s 13 technical programs can transition.
“This was a big step for us, and we researched it intensely,” says Ranken president Ben Ernst.
“In speaking with our graduates and the companies that hire them, we found a clear and pressing need in this region for a degree program of this kind. Our graduates have the technical skills that companies want, and now they can also acquire additional skills that will allow them to transition smoothly into management roles.”
Students in the new BSAM program will cover coursework that ties in with their technical abilities, while also educating them in the areas that are important in management positions. Managerial and business courses will be mainstays of the program, as well as the type of communications and marketing classes that are needed in order to perform management duties at any company.
Ranken selected John Wood, former instructor in the college’s Automotive Maintenance Technology program, to head the new BSAM division. Wood, a 21-year employee of the college, has not only the knowledge of the college necessary to help integrate this new program, but a solid knowledge of the needs of area employers, and a good rapport with Ranken’s student body.
“Interest in the program has been tremendous,” said Wood.
“Our graduates have really been hungering for a curriculum like this, which combines the excellent Ranken educational principles that they know with the convenience of evening and weekend classes. Ninety-eight percent of our associate degree graduates are employed in their fields within six months of graduation, and they will want to continue working as they further their studies. We’ve tailored our classes to fit those needs.”
Classes in the BSAM degree program will meet either two evenings per week, or every other weekend.
In late September, Ranken hosted an open house for graduates interested in the program. The open house featured presentations about the unique nature of the program’s coursework and gave potential students the opportunity to meet with the BSAM faculty, as well as with the director of the program. So far, a wide range of former Ranken students have enrolled in the program, from several members of the spring 2005 class to one graduate from the class of 1982.
Spring 2005 Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Technology graduate, Jason Duenwald, enrolled in the program as soon as he found out it was available.
“This was just the degree I was looking for, it fit into my schedule, I’ll be able to get my degree quickly and I’m already familiar with the quality and excellence of a Ranken education,” Duenwald said.
Classes for the new BSAM degree will begin in January 2006 and accompany a range of other changes at Ranken this year, including the restructuring and refurbishing of several departments and the purchase of a significant amount of property adjoining the college, to make room for its rapidly expanding programs.
For more information about Ranken Technical College, visit www.ranken.edu or call (866) 4RANKEN.
