Supply chain management junior Enisa Selimagic said the sterling reputation of the MSU supply chain management program is reflected in the way internship supervisors talk about MSU students.

“When they compare Michigan State students to everyone else, you have someone who works really hard, and does a good job, but someone who also knows how to work on a team, and help others,” Selimagic said.

Collaborative skills are a big part of what makes a supply chain professional successful in the real world, and the chance to hone those skills at MSU is welcomed.

Judy Jacobs, a 30-year veteran of the industry, is the supply chain program’s liaison between students and companies and helps students secure internships. Supply chain management senior Jason Heitzeg said some of his classes include collaboration with other majors within the business college, and Jacobs said one capstone class puts supply chain majors in collaboration with engineers.

“We do have an option of taking a class that is designed to have two engineers and two supply chain students do a capstone class together, and I think that’s very unique that we’re across colleges, and they work on a project for a company, a real life project, and if we have two engineers looking at it one way, two supply chain business people looking at it one way, and they’re coming up with unique solutions to offer a company, I think that’s really neat,” Jacobs said.

Closs said there are three key factors that help MSU supply chain management uphold its reputation. The first is an “end-to-end” approach to supply chain management. Closs said this is exemplified by the “farm-to-fork” approach used in the food industry, where careful attention is paid to every step of the supply chain.

The second factor Closs said enhances MSU’s supply chain program is the program’s holistic approach, which includes the purchasing, manufacturing, and logistics segments of supply chain management.

“I know of other supply chain programs at other universities in the country that have more of a specific focus, like maybe a logistics focus or a procurement focus or an operations focus,” Heitzeg said. “But I think we’re unique in that we have specific courses geared towards specific tiers in the supply chain, and it’s all rounded out in the capstone, so we get a more rounded view of supply chain.”

The third factor Closs said leads to the strength of MSU’s supply chain program is working closely with the industry. Jacobs said Apple, Procter & Gamble and Dow are among the long list of well-known companies that come to MSU to recruit.

“We have companies that come here and recruit, and once students get those, once you have a good internship ... you take stuff from the internship and apply it to the classroom,” supply chain management senior Ben Brooks said.

Supply chain management senior Evan Raubacher said he is proud of his school's high ranking, but he also feels pressure to live up to the ranking after he graduates this year.

“You feel — at least I do — a lot of responsibility to maintain that (ranking), especially while I’m in the program, and I think it’s intrinsically empowering to make that how it is," Raubacher said. "Going to this school, you’re trying to make it number one because it’s, down the road, it’s the value of the degree that you’re getting, and you want to maintain that value over time, too.”