We received some exciting news last week! D'Amore-McKim was named as one of 10 “Undergraduate Business Schools to Watch in 2020” by Poets&Quants, a well-regarded and influential business publication. I'm truly grateful for our dynamic, global network of students, faculty, staff, alumni, boards, and employer partners for making this recognition of our school's momentum possible.
The editor and writers at the publication are particularly interested in our school's strategic direction, which aims to address how we can help our learners prepare for a world of business affected by rapid technological change. As consumers and producers, we move seamlessly between the physical and digital worlds – at D'Amore-McKim, we call it digital convergence. This brave new world is upending traditional paradigms, and hence requires new skills and mindsets.
Our vision for D'Amore-McKim – to be widely recognized as a bold business school that prepares the world for a future rooted in digital convergence – is also resonating with our stakeholders. They like that we are preparing our students to be leaders for the future; our co-ops and final placement rates are testaments to this future focus. In my conversations with our stakeholders, three things about D'Amore-McKim excite them:
- First, we continue to invest in building top-notch, talented faculty and staff that truly care about student learning. Our community – through research, teaching, and engagement — is committed to educating our students with the right competencies required for thriving in the future.
- Second, our academic model built on a foundation of experiential learning continues to serve as a catalyst for enriched learning as students apply what they learn on co-op in the classroom. Also, our deep connections to industry enable us to consult, collaborate, and co-design cutting-edge curricula with them in order to prepare our students to navigate the challenges presented by digital convergence and turn them into opportunities.
- Third, our emphasis on a humanics philosophy (the combination of data, technology, and human-centered skills) is proving to be a unique value proposition, but we know we can't do it alone. We are able to give our learners the exposure they need to various disciplines by becoming the connective tissue across Northeastern University. For example, our ability to create in-demand combined majors at the undergraduate level, like Data Science and Business or Cybersecurity and Business, is appealing to the market. The chart featured below illustrates the impressive growth of D'Amore-McKim's undergraduate combined majors. These cross-curricular options enable students to split their time between D'Amore-McKim while also deep diving into an area outside business and still graduate on time. We're even ramping up our new MBA x offerings, like Finance and Artificial Intelligence, so that our graduate students can also benefit from a cross-disciplinary humanics learning foundation.
Humanics education, coupled with experiential learning, has become our “X Factor,” and I believe it will make us the school of choice for elite talent around the world. I look forward to building on this energy as we collectively shape the future of business education for learners everywhere.
Raj Echambadi
Dunton Family Dean
D'Amore-McKim School of Business