E-Commerce Tips at School
Last fall, two of its five programs were launched at Humber with great success. "Our research indicated a tremendous number of people would be needed in the next three to five years with skills related to e- commerce," said Rick Embree, dean of planning and development for Humber College.
"There's a skills gap of approximately 50,000 people in IT jobs in Canada right now," added George Kyriakis, national marketing manager for education at Microsoft Canada. "So one of the largest growth areas in the IT field is in the field of e-commerce, and that's what this program is specifically designed to address."
According to Embree, the five postgraduate programs are Internet Management and Web Design, Internet Software Development, Web Site Administration, Internet Marketing, and Supply Chain Management. They were chosen based on "our own surveys which showed that the greatest demand was in the actual technical site design, site management, programming for the site or programming software for the site ... managing of the site after it was up and running and modifying it."
The programs, which have coop training placements, focus on both the business-to-business e-commerce, as well as the business-to-consumer segments.
The programs' curriculum took about a year-and-a-half to design. Along with Microsoft Certified Solution Providers EntreVision and Microforum, Humber also worked with alliance partners SAP, Dell and Macromedia to ensure the programs would provide students with the practical skills required for e-commerce.
Embree said Humber's programs differ from other e-commerce scholastic offerings because "other colleges emphasize more of the business approach to e-commerce rather than a strong skills oriented one."
One of the two programs launched last fall was Supply Chain Management. It is already having its students, just six months into the year-long program, snapped up by e-commerce companies.
"It's successful, but you don't want to loose too many people," said Embree. He noted agreements were made with the companies that allow the students to remain in the program while working for the IT firm.
Embree said enrollment for the other program launched in September -- Internet Management -- exceeded expectations. "Until people know about it, you end up with about 25 or 30 maximum," said Embree who noted the Internet Management program had 56 applicants, all of whom were accepted.
The five programs, currently available only at the Toronto college, will eventually be available across Canada. "We want to take the e-commerce centre of excellence across the country and partner with schools in each of the provinces to be able to deliver this level of relationship," said Kyriakis.
Although Microsoft is a significant partner in the program, the diplomas received by graduates will be recognized throughout the entire IT field, not just by Microsoft Solution Providers.
Internet Management and Web Design:
- new media and Web design with emphasis on the creative/design aspects of building e-commerce sites
Internet Software Development:
- programming for Web sites
Web Site Administration:
- how to maintain and manage e-commerce sites
- Students can spend an extra semester specializing in Web security
Internet Marketing:
- understanding the B2C relationship with emphasis on the process of selling to consumers
- the program addresses how the online customer is different from traditional customers and considers ethical/legal issues in e- commerce
Supply Chain Management:
- the B2B relationship with emphasis on issues in distribution and acquisition of goods through e-commerce
- the program looks at managing the purchasing process, inventory and related logistics issues
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