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Tennessee State, Dell Computer Team Up for New Major

By Gregory Brand

Tennessee State University has formed a partnership with Dell Inc., a leading computer maker with a sizable facility in Nashville, to help keep the university�s undergraduate programs in synch with the constantly evolving job market.

Photo credit: Tennessee State University Dr. Festus Olorunniwo is leading the new supply chain management program.

The company has given a $150,000 grant to support a new supply chain management program in the university�s College of Business. Tennessee State President James A. Hefner named Festus Olorunniwo, head of the Department of Business Administration, to lead the new unit.

The program for supply chain management was advertised to students in fall 2003 and the department expects to begin enrolling an undetermined number of students in the fall.

�The recruitment exercises will be much more active in the fall,� said Olorunniwo. �Students tend to announce their concentration in their junior and senior years. We expect an increase in student interest, especially from that group.�

Graduates of the supply chain management program will be qualified for a variety of jobs that involve scheduling, purchasing, wholesaling, inventory management, transportation, packaging, retail stocking, database management, customer relationship management and data mining.

According to U.S. News and World Report, supply chain management is one of the hottest job areas of the 21st century, while logistics, a key component (of supply chain management), is the second largest employment sector in the United States.

�More companies are realizing that the supply chain is important to their businesses,� said Olorunniwo. �Finding students with knowledge of the field is very valuable.�

Negotiations over the grant began in November. The grant is to be used over the next three years to develop and promote the new undergraduate programs, recruit students, help secure quality internships for students and faculty and recruit faculty for the program.

�We are excited about this partnership between Dell and TSU,� said Tilden Curry, dean of the College of Business. �This grant shows Dell�s commitment to the local community and reinforces TSU�s standing as a world-class educational institution.�

�We look forward to offering a top-of-the-line Supply Chain Management program and the generous support from Dell will go a long way in helping us accomplish that,� he added.

Dell operates a customer service and manufacturing center in Nashville that already recruits employees from Tennessee State. The company describes itself as �a premier provider of products and services required for customers worldwide to build their information-technology and Internet infrastructures.� The company has had revenue totaling $38.2 billion for the past four quarters.

Gregory Brand is a student at Tennessee State University.

Posted July 12, 2004