When you were young and thought of what you “wanted to be when you grew up” your ideas for a future career may have included a police officer, actress, astronaut or zookeeper. However, as we become adults and pursue higher education, those career paths may change into something not quite as exciting, but just as important and relevant.
As the years go by, times change along with job industries and demands. Consequently, when choosing to attend college, the deciding factor for today’s students comes down to whether or not they offer a competitive program that appeals to them.
Some more modern jobs that may not have existed 10 years ago, include mobile or internet marketing, app developers, data scientists, cloud computing and cloud service specialists, and the list goes on.
So how does the University stack up with unique programs? According to MU’s website, some of our 48 undergraduate programs include Art, Communication, Fine Arts, Criminal Justice, Math, Business and Sociology to name a few.
MU offers seven programs relating to music or the arts, but on the other hand, only four in business. Here at the University we have over ten programs relating to the sciences, compared to three relating to computer sciences or technology.
The University undoubtedly offers a wide array of programs in many different fields, but are each of the programs necessary or truly beneficial to current and prospective students? I believe there is room to improve.
While every major and area of study is equally important, in the current job market, some may be more competitive and in turn more attractive to students.
Additionally, technology advances rapidly everyday, and it could be extremely beneficial for students to maybe have more IT or computer courses offered to them.
Not only would offering some of these new areas of study benefit students in their future careers, but they could in turn also benefit the University itself. Developing new and cutting edge programs has definite potential to bring in more students and can also help recruit the best and brightest of them.
If graduates of Monmouth possess a cutting edge and trendy skill set that gives them a competitive advantage in the job market as a result of their education, it only gives a degree from the University even more credibility.
Even if it means just expanding and growing in the current offered majors. It would also be wise to re-evaluate each current program and possibly eliminate those that are not as popular, to make room. In my opinion it would definitley be a positive change.
It is imperative to stay competitive in the ever-morphing job market as an individual student or even collectively as an institution. In order to do that, we need to be aware of new job titles emerging, new skills necessary to do such jobs and changing demands in the market.
The University already has a great reputation. Adding to its programs and adapting with the job market to better educate its talented student body could only further enhance this reputation in the long run.
