Online MSEM degree offers focus on global business and operations management.
School: Kettering University
Program: Master of Science Engineering Management
Description: “KU’s online degree brings the quality and rigor of a Kettering degree to your living room. Distinct from an MBA, the Master of Science in Engineering Management program focuses on the technical and behavioral challenges of leading a high-technology staff on a global scale,” said Dr. Christine Wallace, vice president of Kettering Global.
Where it is: Flint, Michigan
Format: 100 percent online
Degree you get: Master of Science in Engineering Management
Prerequisites: N/A
Size of the program: No comment
Number of credit hours: 40 credit hours
Thesis: N/A
How long it will take: Students taking one course per term can finish in about 64 weeks. Students may also spread those courses out to accommodate their life and schedule.
When to apply: Application deadlines are approximately 2-4 weeks prior to term start date. See chart in article for details.
Tuition and Fees: $857 per credit hour; $34,280 for full 40 credit master’s degree
Minimum admission requirements:
- Transcripts showing minimum GPA 2.50 to 2.99 for provisional acceptance and 3.0 or better for full acceptance.
- TOEFL, minimum score 79 on web-based or 550 on paper-based.
- Resume, no minimum experience required.
- Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from an approved ABET-accredited engineering or computing program
Not Required:
- Essay or statement of purpose
- GRE
- Letters of Reference
Who should take it? Engineers with 2-3 years’ experience in their chosen field, who want to move further ahead in their career toward leadership or promotion activities.
Things to consider about the program:
- Students with poor math skills or who learn best from instructors standing in front of them are not the best fit for the program.
- This program is designed for engineers seeking future management careers. Those looking to become a specialist in their technical field may not be the best fit for an MSEM.
- Program does not have flexible electives.
Claim to fame:
- Originally known as the General Motors Institute
- Undergraduate programs are number one for Return on Investment in the State of Michigan and number 10 in the country according to CNN.
- Over 1,000 C-level alumni currently in business.
An Engineering Master’s Degree Can Further Your Career
The technical and behavioral challenges of management do not necessarily come naturally to engineers. Engineering managers will find themselves responsible for diverse tasks such as managing projects, people, budgets, research and development and more.
This requires evaluating and solving complex problems in leadership, communication, change management, lean thinking, human resources and ethics.
Earning a Master’s degree in Engineering Management can provide the necessary key skills including teamwork, persuasion and problem solving.
The online MSEM at Kettering University offers students these essential skills in an asynchronous, flexible format that allows students to study and complete assignments at the time most convenient to each individual.
Online Curriculum Offers Flexibility and Accessibility
Kettering has offered distance education for over a decade, but has recently upgraded its courses and methodology to optimize coursework for online delivery.
Kettering University Online (KUO) programs “bring the rigor of the on-campus courses online and students finishing these degrees get the same Kettering degree that an on-campus student would get,” said Christine Wallace of Kettering Global, the business division that delivers Kettering Online.
KUO employs a number of academic subject matter experts to help create courses, which go through the same quality assurance process as on-campus courses in order to ensure they meet the standards of a Kettering degree.
Online access for students is through Blackboard, with access to courses and assessments. Course content is mostly presented as short media segments, written text and YouTube or textbook-created video. There will also be some requirements for students to perform equations, use statistics (Minitab) and work with Microsoft Excel.
There are some opportunities for students to meet with instructors one-on-one. Most instructors have two office hours per week available for online students and will generally respond to student messages in about 24 hours. Students can also schedule one-on-one time with instructors at a time that is convenient for both, though for students working a full-time job it can be difficult to find a mutual time to meet.
For Engineers Looking to Become Managers in Technical Fields
MSEM programs are best suited for those engineers looking specifically to move into a management position. For engineers who are looking to become a technical specialist in their field, this program may not be the ideal choice.
The MSEM at Kettering University is aimed at engineers with two to three years of experience working in their field and who want to go further in their career via leadership and managerial roles. These students should want to gain knowledge, learning and experience that has practical applications to their current and future employment.
Students who complete the program will gain the skills to lead a technical group of individuals, including:
- The ability to solve complex issues relating to best practices in domestic and international business.
- Determining the theoretical valuation of stocks and bonds and the capital markets in which they are traded.
- Exploring subjects such as high-tech leadership and communication, change management, lean thinking, HR issues, ethics and persuasion.
- Understanding of the strategic role of information systems (IS) and a process-oriented view of the organization and its relationships with suppliers, customers and competitors.
- The ability to evaluate the ways organizations implement processes globally using enterprise resource planning (ERP), supply chain management (SCM), customer relationship management (CRM), product lifecycle management (PLM) and social networks to give organizational marketing a cutting edge.
The 40-credit-hour MSEM program curriculum consists of 10 courses. Seven of these are core courses, with students selecting at least one of the three available graduation certificates to determine which three electives to take.
Consequently, once students decide which graduate certificate they would like between operations management, supply chain management, and global leadership, their first three electives are set.
This is beneficial for those students who want to focus solely on their area of concentration in operations management, global business, or supply chain management. Students may obtain multiple certificates for additional specialization if desired, which would extend the number of credits within that student’s program accordingly.
Required Core Courses:
- BUSN 659 – International Business
- FINC 619 – Financial Management
- MGMT 639 – Managing People and Organizations
- ISYS 669 – Enterprise Information System Models
- MRKT 679 – Marketing Management
- IME 564 – Ethics and Practice of Engineering
- MGMT 659 – Strategy – Capstone
Operations Management Graduate Certificate:
- IME 676 – Lean Six Sigma
- MGMT 609 – Technology Management
- MGMT 619 – Project and Change Management
Global Business Graduate Certificate:
- MGMT 649 – Ethics and Leadership
- BUSN 689 – Organizational Behavior
- MGMT 679 – Leadership
Global Leadership Graduate Certificate:
- BUSN 689- Organizational Behavior
- MGMT 649- Ethics and Leadership
- MGMT 679- Leadership
Application Deadlines
Kettering University has sponsored this post. They have no editorial input to this post – all opinions are mine. –Meghan Brown
