Following an independent market report, Lincoln University's school of business is taking steps to ramp up online offerings and create new programs.
LU's business department will begin to require internships, collaborate with the University of Missouri on study abroad programs, implement several new professional certifications and provide accelerated online degree programs.
The developments capture roughly 80 percent of the suggestions Hanover Research suggested for the university, business department chairman Eric Burgess said. The goal is to enroll a bigger share of prospective and current business students in Missouri at LU.
Lincoln hired Hanover Research, a custom market research and analytics firm, to conduct three studies last year. One of the reports was a geographic assessment of undergraduate programs and employment opportunities in Missouri.
The $135,000 investment produced information the university is using to analyze its own academic programs and determine how they can be improved to attract and reach more students.
The report suggested the university strengthen its business and computer science programs with additional offerings, such as professional certificates or new concentrations.
The research firm also advised the university to expand marketing for bachelor's programs in nursing, business, accounting, computer science and information systems, as well as emphasize financial aid and affordability, to attract more students.
Business administration and management degrees are the third most popular in the state, according to the Hanover Report, and business degrees remain one of the most popular at Lincoln.
Tied with education, business will be the third most common degree students will graduate with this December at LU.
Additionally, Hanover's assessment found about 10 percent of the job postings in Missouri called for business professionals.
To capitalize on the thriving employment area and attract more students, LU's school of business is implementing a variety of structural changes, starting with online courses.
Burgess said LU will soon begin offering three-year online business degree programs with courses that last eight weeks (a half semester).
He said the school of business already offers most, if not all, of its courses in an eight-week format, and he is waiting on more general education requirements to be converted to eight weeks to have a full, accelerated online degree program.
The three-year model would require students to enroll in 18-19 credit hours for each of its fall and spring semesters and a total of 12 credit hours over two summer semesters.
Curator Terry Rackers raised concern about the workload being too much for LU students.
There were also concerns raised about when the online degree program could go into effect.
Burgess said it should begin next fall, but Jennifer Benne, interim vice president for academic affairs and provost, said the university needs to market the program and ensure it will be able to fill seats when the time comes, which it likely couldn't do before fall 2022.
"I just think we need to get this going as fast as possible because there's a market out there that we aren't tapping into, and the longer we wait, the longer we lose students that we could have," Burgess said.
The business department is also making changes to its in-person degree program.
Starting next year, Burgess said, all LU business graduates will be required to complete an internship for credit.
To offset the extra time students would be on campus to complete the internship, the department is reducing its elective requirements.
Burgess said immersive experiences - like internships and study abroad programs - are proven to be effective learning tools, which is why LU is also looking to partner with the University of Missouri to offer study abroad opportunities for business students in the spring of 2023.
The school of business is also looking at several organizations that offer professional certificates, Burgess said, which would allow Lincoln to provide an avenue for obtaining one without taking on additional costs.
Burgess said the school is considering professional certificates in accounting, finance, leadership, hospitality management, small-business management, health care management, human resource management, project management and social media marketing.
The selection of certificates is based on the department's Business Advisory Board's survey of local businesses.
Additionally, Burgess said, a long-term goal is to offer a master's degree with a graduate emphasis in marketing.
Curator Stacia Brown said the developments within the school of business are encouraging and she expects they will peak the interest of students across the state.
The changes will require two additional faculty members, Burgess said, one trained in marketing and another in accounting. The new staff would also be used to advise online students.
"It's hard to grow and expand when you operate with the bare minimum," Burgess said. "You don't have any flex for people to innovate, for people to do any creative work, for people to reach out and be more accessible to our students and helping them develop."