Penn State Behrend Launches Business-based Minor for Engineers
Program responds to national employer trend
Effective this fall, Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, is offering a new Technical Sales minor within the Sam and Irene Black School of Business. The 21-credit minor is designed to acquaint students enrolled in the college’s School of Engineering programs with the fundamentals of industrial or technical sales.
“The technical sales minor targets engineering and engineering technology students who wish to expand upon their business and sales skills,” said Diane Parente, associate professor of management. “Graduates will have the business knowledge required to pursue careers in technical sales, as direct sales engineers or as manufacturing representatives for technical product producers.”
Graduates will be prepared for careers as direct sales engineers, who play a key role in selection, purchase, installation and maintenance of technical products by selling technology and engineering solutions, or as manufacturing representatives, who independently form contracts in exclusive marketing territories for multiple small manufactures of compatible, but not competing, technical products.
Consisting of upper-level management and marketing courses, students will learn the principles of behavioral, operations and project management, quality control, leadership behavior and decision making, plus gain an understanding of customer service, inventory management, transportation, purchasing, international logistics, total cost analysis and marketing objectives, as well as other core skills.
Penn State Behrend developed the minor, which currently is offered only at the college, in response to ongoing research conducted jointly by business and engineering faculty. The research, sponsored by a General Electric Fund – Learning Excellence Grant, indicated employers of entry-level engineers would like graduates to develop select business competencies prior to entering the workforce.
“This is the first of a number of programs Penn State Behrend intends to create that will offer cross-functional educational opportunities for our business and engineering students,” Parente continued. “In addition, this is in line with the college’s objectives in housing its business and engineering schools in one building—the Research and Economic Development Center (REDC).”
The Sam and Irene Black School of Business offers one associate, nine baccalaureate and two graduate degree programs, as well as two certificates in financial planning and SAP. It is accredited by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International, the leading accrediting agency for bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs in business administration and accounting.
The School of Engineering offers three associate and seven baccalaureate degree programs, as well as one minor. Each program is accredited by either the Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) or the Technology Accreditation Commission (TAC) of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET).
Beginning in fall 2006, the Black School of Business and the School of Engineering will be housed in the $30 million Research and Economic Development Center (REDC), making Penn State Behrend the only college in the country to house its engineering and business schools entirely under one roof.