Two Syracuse University’s professional schools have partnered up to navigate online retail by offering courses to under growing e-commerce sales.

The Martin J. Whitman School of Management and the School of Information Studies are offering a concentration in “digital retail strategies.” The program, which was recently rolled out, will allow students enrolled in each of these schools to take classes in the other school to give them a “working knowledge” of some of the business and technological skills involved in online retail, said Linda Cushman, an associate professor of retail management at the Whitman School.

“The goal here was to provide an opportunity for both sets of students to follow the same curriculum using key pieces that were already in place at the iSchool and at the Whitman school and just allowing access to the other students from the other side,” said Julie Walas, undergraduate programs manager at the iSchool.

So far, Walas said that about six to 10 students have officially enrolled in the concentration. Students take six classes to complete the concentration: three in the iSchool and three in Whitman. These classes provide an overview of information management techniques and a basic understanding of the principles that guide retail management, especially electronic retail management.

“I think that (e-commerce is) a huge trend in the industry and it’s something that I think will definitely continue,” said Brittany Moore, a junior studying television, radio and film and information management, who has worked with Walas to organize events for the class. “Although it’s not my personal major, I have an interest in it and I am definitely planning on continuing to learn about it as it continues to unfold in the tech and retail fields.”

Cushman said that through the concentration, Syracuse is keeping education up-to-date with the industry.

“We just want to give (retail students) a working knowledge so that they can communicate with the technical people,” Cushman said. “From the iSchool’s point of view, they want to do the same thing.”

Cushman stressed that since the concentration only contains six courses, students would not be experts in the topic, but would gain enough knowledge on digital retail to be marketable to employers. Students would have the opportunity to choose two of three iSchool classes that each have a different focus: web design, social media or graphic design.

Rather than teach a retail class in the iSchool to students, Cushman said the course will give the iSchool students a chance to work directly and collaborate with retail students.

Ultimately, this program will give students the skills they need to navigate the changing industry, Walas said. She said she noticed how the retail industry was shifting and molding itself after widespread technological changes and realized that a course should be created to reflect that.

Walas felt the course could be instrumental in preparing them to think about the future and look at “what the industry is now.” She added that she also realized the iSchool and retail students possessed the immense talent that’s necessary to adapt to these changes.

Published on April 23, 2014 at 2:22 am

Contact: clmoran@syr.edu