September 1, 2021 — The Supply Chain Transportation & Logistics Center is pleased to announce that our Master’s degree program in Supply Chain Transportation & Logistics (MSCTL) has won the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) 2021 Innovation in Education Award, as announced in this month’s ITE Journal.
“We are thrilled to receive this recognition,” said Anne Goodchild, Supply Chain Transportation & Logistics Center Founding Director and MSCTL Academic Director. “It is particularly gratifying to be recognized for this work, as it reflects about a decade of commitment on behalf of the entire team.”
Selected by ITE’s Transportation Education Council, the Innovation in Education Award is intended to honor a program, department, or individual who has implemented an innovative technique to attract, develop, and/or retrain transportation professionals. Judging criteria include application of innovative ideas, successful program implementation, professional development, evaluation/success, and outreach.
“Since 2013, the SCTL has delivered a leading-edge online learning experience for over 250 students currently working in the supply chain and logistics industries,” stated the ITE announcement. “The MSCTL program fills a gap in supply chain education—providing focused training on transportation and logistics. It remains the only program with this emphasis. This program brings together students working in both the shipper and carrier side of transportation and educates students about their role in the larger transportation system.”
ITE recognized MSCTL’s innovative approach to online education: employing a delivery model that combines the high-touch experience of an in-person graduate program with the convenience of an online degree program for working professionals. With weekly two-hour live online class sessions, asynchronous lectures delivered by professors, readings, assignments, and group projects, the MSCTL program was specifically designed to combine both flexibility and real-time interactions.
“The live sessions provide a truly interactive environment where students ask questions, share their experiences, and work on solving real-world problems in breakout groups,” stated the ITE announcement.
“We’ve taken an ambitious approach where we used technology to open doors and improve the student experience, but never to replace the essential nature of personal relationships and never sight of the students we are serving,” said Goodchild.
The MSCTL program is cohort-based (meaning a group of about 30 students travel through the curriculum together in lockstep) and begins with a brief in-residence introductory course in Seattle—a valuable opportunity for students to work together in person, begin to develop personal relationships that can aid their online collaboration efforts throughout their two years of study, and help enable them build a robust professional network. During the Residency, students also meet the program’s faculty, advisory board, and staff, and typically tour supply chain facilities such as Amazon’s distribution center and the Port of Seattle.
Throughout their two years of part-time study, students learn from a team of world-class instructors—UW faculty and senior supply chain transportation and logistics professionals and industry leaders with extensive knowledge and experience working on real world supply chain management issues. During their second year, students can get paired with a mentor.
The MSCTL curriculum culminates with a hands-on real-world operational practicum project in the final quarter, during which student teams work with a professor to scope a project, devise a realistic solution, identify the resources required, create an implementation plan, and develop a financial analysis to demonstrate the initiative’s value. Teams present their project to panels comprised of faculty members and members of the program’s Advisory Board—senior executives from some of the largest, most innovative and influential organizations in the business world, including Amazon, the Boeing Company, Microsoft, and Costco.
The degree is having a positive impact on students and alumni. In a 2019 survey of 2015-2018 graduates, 86% reported they had assumed a more senior role after completing the program, and 51% reported a salary increase of more than 20%. 80% of graduates report earning a salary of more than $100,000 a year, and 20% report earning a salary of more than $200,000.
“Out of a desire to serve our students and deliver the best program possible, we’ve worked to understand the understand the needs of industry by engaging with our Advisory Board, find the best and most committed instructors we could, and listen carefully to our students and alumni,” said Goodchild.
Learn more:
About our Master of Supply Chain Transportation & Logistics degree program
About our faculty
About our courses and curriculum
How we rank
How to apply
About the Master of Supply Chain Transportation & Logistics degree program: A work-compatible hybrid online program with a one-week residency, the Master of Supply Chain Transportation & Logistics (MSCTL) degree was designed to enable early- and mid-career professionals to stay ahead of the curve. Our cutting-edge curriculum blends business and engineering courses taught by UW faculty and industry experts—enabling students to develop engineering skills, knowledge, and expertise alongside business and management techniques, strategies, and concerns.
Contact:
Katie Ward
Public Information Specialist
krw2@uw.edu