A stronger partnership between the Harley-Davidson company and Marquette will be formed with the establishment of a College of Professional Studies leadership program specialized for engineers at Harley this fall.
According to Bob Deahl, dean of the College of Professional Studies, leading engineers from Harley-Davidson in Milwaukee approached Marquette to attach another part into its master's in leadership studies.,”
A stronger partnership between the Harley-Davidson company and Marquette will be formed with the establishment of a College of Professional Studies leadership program specialized for engineers at Harley this fall.
According to Bob Deahl, dean of the College of Professional Studies, leading engineers from Harley-Davidson in Milwaukee approached Marquette to attach another part into its master's in leadership studies. He said the company has a lot of people who need to begin training for succession of leadership positions.
The program will have six specializations, Deahl said. Each student will be required to take five core classes, five classes within his or her specialization and then the program will end in a six-credit hands-on project.
He said some of the classes will be specialized to the needs of Harley-Davidson, including the emerging issues dealing with the environment. The company currently has a plan to get rid of its product's current engines and replacing them with more environmentally friendly engines that still retain the look and feel of Harley.
Edwin Yaz, chair of the electrical and computer engineering department, said the classes dealing with leadership will be held at the Harley-Davidson headquarters while the engineering classes will be in the Olin Engineering Center in the evenings so workers can come to classes after work.
Deal said the company also wants to work on expanding its leadership because Harley employees often work in smaller circles and teams and they always need leadership within these teams.
He believes there are 12 Harley employees who are interested in using this program this fall. If it does well enough, this program will be pitched to other major companies around the Milwaukee area, like Rockwell Automation, according to Yaz.
"Many companies may want something like this for succession of their leadership," Deahl said.
Yaz said it is difficult to tell right now whether or not this program will be offered to other companies in the future, but he does believe this is a very unique program. If there is any interest from other companies, Marquette might need to go out and see what type of courses these companies need and then custom-make a program for them as well, he said.
"It is not just any management program," he said. "Marquette adds more value to it and that's why companies would be interested."
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