Supply Chain Frontiers Issue #29. Read all articles in this issue
The globalization of supply chain and logistics education will take a major step forward in January 2009, when applications open for a new program that spans Europe, the United States, and a network of universities across Latin America. The Center for Latin-American Logistics Education (CLI) Graduate Certificate in Global Logistics & Supply Chain Management Program (GC LOG) will enable masters students to study supply chain management and logistics in different countries and to work in global teams on academic and research projects.
Bogota, Colombia-based CLI has partnered with the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics (MIT CTL) in the United States, and the Zaragoza Logistics Center (ZLC) in Zaragoza, Spain, to create the innovative program. Twelve schools in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Panama have joined the network (see the full list of schools below), and negotiations are almost complete with schools in Argentina, Perú, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
“This is a very exciting program,” said Dr. Edgar Blanco, Executive Director of the MIT CLI Alliance. “We will enhance the students’ ability to tackle global supply chain problems by giving them the opportunity to work in an international environment, and to build long-lasting professional relationships across time zones.”
Each school in the network has a masters degree program in areas associated with the logistics/supply chain field. Students from these schools that are accepted on to the GC LOG program complete five weeks of intensive course work that includes a semester at a school in Latin America and a semester at MIT in the United States. In between they have to complete a thesis project that should involve working with students in other countries. There are additional plans to enrich the global nature of the program by using teleconferencing technology to link classes simultaneously in different countries.
Another goal is to lift academic standards internationally in the supply chain field, said Blanco. For example, in recent years, MIT’s Master of Engineering in Logistics (MLOG) program has introduced courses in leadership in response to demand from the profession. “We hope to influence schools in Latin America to do the same, and we will be able to learn from them and refine our educational courses as well,” Blanco said.
The new program also offers opportunities for companies at a time when global supply chain skills are at a premium. Enterprises will have access to the pool of GC LOG students for recruitment and research purposes. “CLI will organize research teams from the various schools in the network to work on projects that have a global dimension,” explained Blanco.
More schools in Latin America are currently being recruited and the aim is to have around 25 in the network within three years. There are plans to establish similar partnerships with education and research centers in other parts of the world. As Blanco pointed out, the program will help member schools to attract top talent.
Students pay only a nominal fee to join the program, although they are expected to fund their own travel and accommodation expenses. The application process begins in January, 2009. The first class will go to Bogota in June 2009, and will visit MIT’s Cambridge, MA campus in January 2010.
For more information on the CLI GC LOG program, contact Dr. Edgar Blanco. The Latin American schools currently in the network are: Universidad de la Sabana (Colombia), Universidad Nacional (Colombia), Universidad del Norte (Colombia), ICESI (Colombia), Universidad de Antioquia (Colombia), INCAE (Costa Rica), Tecnológico de Monterrey (México), UTP (Panamá), USP (Brasil), UFMG (Brasil) and IBMEC (Brasil).