New minor fuses business communication skills with new technology

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In an age where legal pads are yielding to iPads, being tech-savvy is a major plus for graduating business students.

Three business information systems faculty members took the extra step to make sure Central Michigan University students are prepared to meet that demand.

Professor Nancy Hicks, Assistant Professor James Melton and Associate Professor Karl Smart created a new applied business practices minor open to all students. They said their hope is that it will train students to become better leaders in their chosen careers.

“It’s more than just business communication types of courses,” Hicks said. “We want CMU students to be leaders in the workplace.”

Hicks said they found CMU students needed more coursework in the areas of business communication and new technology.

“We’ve merged those two areas into a program where students learn how to communicate using those new technologies along with the traditional aspects,” Hicks said.

The required classes will include BUS 100: Essential Business Skills, BIS 260: Global Business Communication Practices, BIS 280: Social Media and Emerging Technologies in Business, BIS 470: Business Practices, Communication and Collaboration and BIS 495: Integrated Capstone: Applied Business Practices.

She said it took a year-and-a-half to plan and it is available for students to sign now.

Hicks, Melton and Smart identified “four C’s” as the skills they most want the minor to foster in students: creativity, critical thinking, collaborative teamwork and communication. They want to produce better writers and communicators — skills Hicks said will be necessary once students leave college.

“It will ensure that our students are ready for the workplace because those are the skills employers want,” Hicks said. “These courses are so important to our students and they don’t get enough of them.”

Hicks said the four criteria listed as most important in the American Management Association 2010 Critical Skills Survey — communication skills, creativity, collaboration and teamwork, and critical thinking — validates their efforts.

“When we saw that report, we thought, ‘Wow, we are on the right track,’” Hicks said.

Upon completion, students will be expected to apply their knowledge in an actual business setting.

“The upper-level classes in the minor, and even some of the lower level, are client-based topics,” Melton said. “It’s something they can put on a résumé.”

Melton said they have opened it to all students because the course skills apply to many different majors, not just the business field. He said students in any major will need good, creative communication skills.

Berkley senior Amanda Hein is participating in a video project to raise awareness for the new minor. She said the end of the video will ask viewers if they are ready for real work experiences.

“The biggest challenge is trying to be creative and trying to find innovative ways to get the info out,” Hein said. “Our project is helping students find out about it.”