New Management Major

With a focus on project management as well as quantitive skills, the new management major looks to position its graduates with skills that increase their competitive advantage in the job market.

“With an added emphasis on project management, our degree will prepare [our students] for a larger variety of jobs—perhaps doubling or tripling their prospects,” says Management Department Chair, Carl Maertz, PhD.

“Traditionally, management degrees at other schools have focused on human resources or organizational strategy/behavior, which really limits your options.” Maertz totes the UofL’s increased focus on project management as a significant step forward, “Basically, as a management major, you’re looking at a career in HR, working for a family business, or heading to graduate school.”

Project management has evolved out of the IT/tech world to be seen as essential when paired with the University’s Culminating Undergraduate Experience (CUE). “Project management, alongside CUE, gives our students not only real-world experience, but its project-based/team-driven nature is exactly what businesses want to see in its candidates as they look at their org charts,” says Maertz. Additionally, the management program offers a choice of three different CUE courses: Strategy, Community Outreach-Consultation, and Small Business Consulting.

As businesses continue to look for certification benchmarks in their candidates, the management degree also prepares students to take the CAP-M exam as early as their Junior year. Geared towards undergraduates with project management acumen, the CAP-M certification can be seen as a stepping stone towards a PMP. “Students who take the CAP-M prep are encouraged to take the exam within a month of completing the course,” says Maertz. “Taking this [CAP-M] within our major means our students are ready to handle low-level project management to entry-level ops positions to management training programs upon graduation.”