Portland, Ore.
OHSU's OGI School of Science & Engineering expands its management courses for busy professionals
Engineers, managers, marketing professionals and information experts at Wilsonville-area technology companies work hard and on tight deadlines, particularly when they have new products heading to market. So pursuit of a graduate management degree -- almost essential in today's fast-changing environment -- is often put on the back burner. It doesn't help that many local management programs are located about an hour's drive from such companies as InFocus, Mentor Graphics, Xerox, HP and others along the I-5 corridor.
Enter OHSU's OGI School of Science & Engineering. This past winter and spring, the school's Department of Management in Science and Technology offered its first two evening courses in Wilsonville: "New Product Development" and "Principles and Trends in Technology Management." For professionals who would prefer to keep their weekends free and who want a master's program focused on technology management rather than general business administration skills, the courses are a perfect choice.
"Our employees work hard so they prefer evening classes to weekends," notes Denise Macrigeanis, manager of organization management at InFocus, who helped the OGI School of Science & Engineering bring the program to Wilsonville at the request of her chief executive officer, John Harker. "And commuting at the end of a long workday is a lot. The quarterly classes that the Department of Management in Science and Technology is offering, we think, will be a big draw not just for people in the Wilsonville area, but for those in Tigard, Tualatin, Salem and Corvallis, too."
The courses in Wilsonville are held on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday evenings at the Clackamas County Community College's new Wilsonville Training Center (29353 Town Center Loop East).
"The midweek courses are perfect for working professionals who do less midweek traveling and want to keep their weekends free but still pursue a master's degree," notes Paul Newman, Ph.D., an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Management in Science and Technology who worked with Wilsonville-area companies to get the master's program there off the ground. "We are offering two degreed courses in Wilsonville every quarter which will enable someone to complete a master's degree over a few years.
Fall 2002 courses (which begin on Oct. 1 and 2 in Wilsonville) will focus on marketing and international management. Students may elect to take one or both courses during any given quarter. The classes are held weekly in the evening and typically run for eight weeks. For more information about the offerings in Wilsonville or to enroll online, visit www.ogi.edu/MST or contact Victoria Tyler at tylerv@ohsu.edu or 503 748-1335.
HIGH-TECH FOCUS A PLUS
The management courses at the OGI School of Science & Engineering differ significantly from typical business administration classes in that they focus more on science and technology in fast-changing markets. Students say they especially value the "real-world" experience of the faculty members, all of whom work or have worked in high technology.
"I found the discussions in class and meeting people from other technology companies who are faced with similar challenges highly valuable," said Christine Egli, 36, of Tigard, a product manager for a technical support Web site at Mentor Graphics. Egli attended Management in Science and Technology courses on the main campus in Hillsboro before classes were offered in Wilsonville. She earned an M.S. degree in 2001. "I'm a big believer in the Management in Science and Technology program," she said. "The combination of technology management subjects and the caliber of people in class and the instructors makes the classes fascinating."
Management in Science and Technology courses also are offered at the main OGI campus in Hillsboro on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings each quarter. Online versions of the degree courses are also available for students whose location or schedule doesn't accommodate the Hillsboro campus or in Wilsonville.
ABOUT THE OGI SCHOOL OF SCIENCE & ENGINEERING
The OGI School of Science & Engineering (formerly the Oregon Graduate Institute of Science & Technology) became one of four specialty schools of Oregon Health & Science University in 2001. The school has 63 faculty and more than 300 master's and Ph.D. students in five academic departments, including the Department of Management in Science and Technology.
The OGI School awards more than 20 percent of Oregon's advanced high-tech degrees. In 2001, nearly 1,400 working professionals attended OGI School of Science & Engineering courses.
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