Fostering Faculty Commitment to Student Success

“The more we can crank out people with data expertise, the more business appreciates this”: a big, bold statement by renowned Gartner consultant Val Sriber during his keynote presentation at the 11th SAP Curriculum Congress ‘08, Atlanta. And one that captured the commitment and concerns of the more than 250 faculty attendees from 13 countries and 120 universities.

In his lively and rapid-fire presentation, Sriber stressed the significance of the “impact of data, data quality, and data deluge on businesses”, emphasizing that business process evolution will drive new skills needs. “A lot of us were taught to automate the people out of the process,” he states. “But now there are not so many people to automate out.” In fact, there is currently a deficit of 50,000 SAP experts. All the more reason, according to Sriber, for students to close this gap by acquiring the necessary technical skills.

This is a challenge that both university faculty and SAP meet head on during the annual Curriculum Congress, an annual event organized by the Global Communications department of SAP. In the nearly 20 breakout sessions and workshops of this year’s congress, SAP topic experts, university faculty, and Gartner IT industry analysts presented faculty attendees with the latest development in SAP offerings as well as new ways to train their students in the company’s solutions. SAP also shared plans to offer a new worldwide SAP ERP baseline certification for students who plan to enter the IT workforce as business process integration consultants. The 10-day course and exam will be offered at US$500 – a dramatic cost reduction from similar, past certifications.

Many faculty members came away from the workshops not only informed, but also inspired. Thanks to the Netweaver workshop, says Christine Davis, Walton College of Business, “I will be able to equip my students with a skill set that they can immediately put to work when they start their new jobs.” And for an enthusiastic Steve Hunt, Morehead State University, the Curriculum Congress is “an absolute must if you are keen on networking with visionaries and the cream of the crop in enterprise education.”

Hands-on learning

His enthusiasm was shared by the presenters of the breakout sessions on the third day, who showed their colleagues the courses they are developing to equip students with SAP skills. Gail Corbitt from California State University Chico, for example, heads a team that is developing teaching modules to simulate a project environment in the classroom, using SAP Solution Manager as a project management tool. Her teaching is a departure from the traditional “sage on the stage” approach. “It’s hands on and experiential,” she clarifies. “I offer my students an opportunity to learn.” And faculty members can also use the modules to teach themselves and then adapt them for use in their specific classroom situations.

The name of the game

Simulation and active classroom participation are also essential to Pierre-Majorique Léger, HEC Montréal, one of the developers of ERP simulation (erpsim.hec.ca), an innovative ERP simulation game where students have to run a business with a real-life ERP system. According to Léger, this is really a paradigm shift in the way the ERP concept is taught. “We move from the traditional point-and-click to discovery of how SAP can help achieve business goals,” he says. The ERP simulation game enables students to make business decisions in an integrated context. “And that’s important,” adds Léger. “After all, the name of the game is not only plan utilization but also profit.”

But in order to play the games, you have to know the rules. Fawzi Noman and Ross Quarles, Sam Houston State University, are making this possible for their students. After discovering that many of their students had no background in SAP, they developed a three-week training course that takes a look at SAP from a business perspective without any configuration. Flya Kite, an integrated case study that allows students to process transactions through logistics and support processes in SAP software, was an immediate success. “Response from the students has been great,” said Noman. “We’ve also taught instructors how to use Flya Kite – and they love it.” The best proof of success? All of the Flya Kite students have gotten a good job. “As a matter of fact, even their colleagues have asked us if they could take the Flya Kite course,” adds Quarles.

University Alliances in Colombia

The SAP Curriculum Congress has traditionally provided faculty from around the world with the opportunity to share their knowledge and experience. The South American perspective was provided this year by Santiago Aguirre, Carlos Fuquene and Gabriel Zambrano, all from Javeriana University, Colombia. The SAP University Alliances program has been accepted primarily by engineering schools in South American countries, states Zambrana. “Consequently we see it as our mission to integrate manufacturing with management.” They demonstrated the fully automated environment they have developed for industry managers. “Here planning and manufacturing are linked,” says Aguirre. “This enables managers to test their processes before they invest in expensive technology. But it’s also important that students can relate process planning to manufacturing. This know-how gives them a head start in their careers.”

This need to equip students with an SAP skill set in a simulated environment underlay all Curriculum Congress sessions. “By learning and practicing these skills, students get to see if this is the type of work they want to do later on,” summarizes Corbitt. “And conversely employers know that these students are going to be ready and able to work in a consulting environment.”

Preparing for the future

In his closing keynote, Steve Strout, CEO of the Americas’ SAP User Groups (ASUG), picked up on this message from a user group and business perspective. He warned that it is essential to address a global market with the right technological skills. Since the business environment five years from now will be very different from today, Strout feels that greater interaction between the University Alliance and ASUG is an exceptionally good idea. “We want to continue to extend the ASUG ecosystem to include not only partners and customers but also universities,” he states. “The active contact with and interaction with the students is important to best address their needs and those of local businesses.” And with world demographics shifting to a younger population, it is of utmost importance to acquire and maintain contact with young talent. “Having University Alliances partners providing us with access to students is the feeder system of tomorrow,” Strout asserts.