{"id":610922,"date":"2023-08-31T18:14:08","date_gmt":"2023-09-01T01:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=arcuser&p=610922"},"modified":"2024-07-24T09:06:34","modified_gmt":"2024-07-24T16:06:34","slug":"helping-students-get-ahead-by-meeting-workforce-needs","status":"publish","type":"arcuser","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcuser\/helping-students-get-ahead-by-meeting-workforce-needs","title":{"rendered":"Helping Students Get Ahead by Meeting Workforce Needs"},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[171,25032,369792],"tags":[275882,475822,163022,486342],"arcuser_issues":[486292],"class_list":["post-610922","arcuser","type-arcuser","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","category-education-2","category-location-intelligence","tag-business","tag-geographic-approach","tag-teaching-gis","tag-universities","arcuser_issues-arcuser-summer-2023"],"acf":{"short_description":"West Chester University (WCU) is helping students get ahead by meeting workforce needs using locational analytics in its programs.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":611002,"file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Every university graduate wants to know that their future work will be valued and valuable, so preparing for the careers that will be highly sought after is crucial. Data and business analysts will be in increasingly high demand soon, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. By 2029, these fields are expected to grow by 26 and 11 percent, respectively, higher than average growth rates.\r\n\r\n "},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":611132,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"The College of Business and Public Management at West Chester University (WCU) in West Chester, Pennsylvania, is helping students get ahead and meet workforce needs by using locational analytics in undergraduate and graduate programs. The school\u2019s Department of Geography and Planning has taught GIS for more than 20 years.\r\n\r\n\u201cWCU takes an interdisciplinary approach to our programs and colleges. We consider GIS to be another form of analytics that just uses location as the focus,\u201d said Evan Leach, PhD, dean and professor of management at WCU. \u201cGIS is a really important tool to answer strategic business questions and address business challenges.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cOur hope is that students don\u2019t approach today\u2019s problems with the mindset of siloed majors like business and geography, but rather approach problems holistically and through an interdisciplinary lens,\u201d said Leach. \u201cAchieving that comes from not thinking in a traditional sense. Just because a business program hasn\u2019t had a prominent GIS program in the past, doesn\u2019t mean it shouldn\u2019t be open to developing one in the future.\u201d\r\n\r\nAnd developing a business-centered GIS program is what WCU faculty have set out to do.\r\n

Introducing a Location Perspective<\/h3>\r\nA major contributor to WCU\u2019s status as a leader in location-informed business education is Phuoc Pham, PhD, assistant professor of management at the College of Business and Public Management. Pham teaches a supply chain course required for both business majors and minors that is typically offered year-round. Pham\u2019s course explores the fundamentals of supply chain management, including how to leverage big data and other technologies to solve supply chain issues. Course topics include cloud computing, machine learning, the Internet of Things (IoT), and\u2014most recently\u2014GIS and location analytics<\/a>.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe don\u2019t want to throw a bunch of theory and textbook materials at students to solve a supply chain problem. We wanted them to be able to analyze them and know how to use a specific tool to do so,\u201d said Pham.\r\n\r\nPham was looking for a way to add a stronger analysis component to the course when he attended a GIS presentation in the fall of 2019 that was hosted by WCU\u2019s geography department. The department had invited an Esri representative to present on the technology. \u201cIt was a eureka moment,\u201d said Pham. \u201cThis was the technology I was looking for, and I began learning how to integrate the tool into my course to make it more relevant to solving the problem.\u201d\r\n\r\nPham collaborated with fellow WCU staff members to learn how to use ArcGIS technologies. In the winter of 2020, he began testing core concepts in his class using Learn ArcGIS<\/a>, a collection of online tutorials that contain ready-to-use lessons based on real-world problems. By spring 2020, Pham had fully integrated ArcGIS Business Analyst, ArcGIS Pro, and ArcGIS Online into his course so that students could analyze and map supply chain challenges. Students also used ArcGIS StoryMaps to present and publish their assignments on the web.\r\n\r\nTo help students adapt and become comfortable with the software, he created guidelines on how to use the technology in a supply chain context. He paired these resources with sample business problems he had created and supplied data for the students to analyze.\r\n\r\n\u201cIt really was the right time to integrate these technologies and prove how important location was to these business problems,\u201d said Pham. \u201cThe pandemic was happening, and supply chain challenges were a hot topic to discuss.\u201d\r\n\r\nPham shared with his students some examples of supply chain problems that were happening due to the pandemic and thought leadership pieces about solving them with maps. \u201cStudents really enjoyed the course because they could clearly see the application of these tools,\u201d said Pham.\r\n

Applying GIS Knowledge to Real-Life Problems<\/h3>\r\nWhile Pham worked with organizations to get case studies for his course, the business school eventually developed a case competition in spring 2022. The competition exposed students to a real-world business challenge to build their r\u00e9sum\u00e9s, provided an opportunity to network with executives, and revealed job opportunities. The success of the first case competition has led to new sponsorships with other businesses and provided students with internship, job, and experiential learning opportunities.\r\n\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s clear that these skills are highly desired in the market. Students need to know how to use data to solve problems and make decisions,\u201d said Pham. \u201cI am lucky to work on a team that has the same mindset and strategy that we are doing the right things for students.\u201d\r\n\r\nFrom the success of integrating location analytics in his supply chain courses, Pham hopes to expand the use of this technology in his logistic courses. He encourages other university professors to bring tools or skills they find valuable into the classroom.\r\n\r\n\u201cI saw this was a great tool, and that I just needed to do it, so I learned by doing as I went, \u201c said Pham. \u201cI want to see other business schools do this too; you can do it, and your students can too.\u201d\r\n

A Foundation of Essential Workplace Skills<\/h3>\r\nUndergraduates at WCU can pursue a bachelor of science degree in geography with a location analytics track, as well as minor in GIS, business analytics, or business GIS. The college also boasts accelerated master\u2019s degree programs in geography from business management, international business, marketing, and supply chain management perspectives.\r\n\r\nLeach observes that as organizations and businesses leverage the benefits of big data, business schools will need to adapt curricula to marketplace expectations and student preferences. \u201cUniversities need to have a lifelong learner mindset and develop a model that supports students long after they graduated with their bachelor\u2019s [degree] and throughout their careers,\u201d said Leach. He noted that it will be crucial for universities to consider developing certification programs that meet business needs for workforce technology training.\r\n\r\n "},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":611122,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"WCU has already begun this process by developing a new major in business analytics with a GIS-focused track and requiring students in the major who are on other tracks to take one dedicated GIS course. The college is also developing a GIS certificate for undergraduate students who want to supplement or specialize their skill sets, regardless of their major.\r\n\r\n\u201cOur hope is that GIS becomes a tool that is widely used by people strategizing and making business decisions,\u201d said Leach. \u201cWe are proud of what we have been able to accomplish at WCU and remain in constant conversation to move forward.\u201d"}],"references":null},"yoast_head":"\nMeeting Workforce Needs with GIS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"West Chester University (WCU) in West Chester, Pennsylvania, is helping students get ahead and meet workforce needs by using locational analytics in undergraduate and graduate programs.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcuser\/helping-students-get-ahead-by-meeting-workforce-needs\" \/>\n<meta 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