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The BYU Global Supply Chain Management (GSCM) program is dedicated to providing students with the critical thinking skills and crucial tools needed for them to be successful managers. Efficient lecture and online course formats are effective at helping students learn step-by-step procedures and memorizing facts, but not at developing higher learning. The critical thinking and deep synthesis of material that GSCM students need to excel as supply chain professionals requires more intense interaction between professors and students.

Dean Lee Perry of the Marriott School has defined this engaged and rich educational model as the “learn-do-become” model. The learn-do-become model emphasizes experiential learning, doing actual hands-on business projects, and experiencing life-changing events. The GSCM Savage Scholar Program helps provide GSCM students with a learn-do-become education.

Purposes of the Savage Scholar Program

  1. Increase the diversity in the GSCM program by attracting a broad set of talented students.
  2. Create an educational opportunity that rivals the most elite educational institutions in the world.
  3. Create a competitive program that will attract some of the very best and brightest BYU students into the GSCM program.
  4. Develop students into employees who will successfully loft the BYU banner into the executive ranks at the world’s best companies.

Overview of the GSCM Savage Scholar Program

The GSCM Savage Scholar Program is an experiential learning endeavor reserved for up to twenty handpicked graduate and undergraduate GSCM students each year. These students will receive intensified mentoring leading to a “super-charged” learning experience. The program spans a calendar year, with phases that emphasize portions of the learn-do-become objectives.

Preparation: During Fall semester all admitted students take core courses. MBA students take the MBA Core, which includes a course in Operations Management, and MBA 632. The undergraduate students take the GSCM Junior Core including Operations Management, Quality Management, Purchasing, Logistics, and Career Preparation.

Application and selection: Students desiring to be admitted to the Savage Scholar Program must apply by the March1st deadline. Admissions criteria include performance in GSCM courses and professional potential (as demonstrated by application and interview). Applications will be reviewed by faculty and awards will be announced before Christmas.

Learn: Accepted students join the Savage Scholar Program by enrolling in the Global Supply Chain course fall semester (MBA 637A). This course will study supply chain problems involving carefully selected target (“CST”) companies. This course will bring executives into the classroom to share cases and experiences with the students. Students, in turn, will focus on understanding the process of executive level decision making.

Do: Savage Scholars will be required to participate in the Global Immersion Program (GIP), which may involve 8 sessions of Introduction to International Business training (ISP 201, 2nd block of winter semester) followed by an approximately 2 week expedition studying the supply chain of a CST company (ideally involving travel to Asia). The GIP will allow students to see first-hand the complexity and nuance of global supply chains. Decisions made to solve problems from the CST companies will be visited during the GIP. These will be tremendous perspective-building experiences.

Internships: All GSCM students are expected to have internships during the Spring/Summer terms. Note that the GIP is scheduled immediately after final exams in order to allow return in time to begin summer internships.

Become: Savage Scholars will take a section of the Global Supply Chain Strategy (Capstone) course the fall semester after their internships (BusM 469 or MBA 633). This capstone course will involve Savage Scholar Program students working together on a consulting team to solve a specific problem of a CST company. The teams will be mentored by a supply chain faculty member and, if possible, a member of the GSCM Advisory Board. These consulting projects will focus on areas of faculty expertise such as process design, quality management, logistics design, strategic sourcing, and service innovation.

The Savage Scholar Program is summarized in the following diagram:

First Year in
Marriott School

 

Second Year in
Marriott School

Fall

Winter

Spring/Summer

Fall

Winter

Core Courses.

MBA 632.

Apply by March 1st.

GIP preparation.

GIP, followed by internship.

MBA 637A.

Capstone consulting project.

 MBA 637B.

Savage Scholar Program

 

Savage Scholar Program Funding

The Savage Scholar Program is funded by a generous endowment provided by the leadership of Savage Services, headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Savage Scholar Program requires one or two semester courses that count as GSCM electives, the GIP, and supervised consulting projects. Program expenses are estimated to be about $6000 per student. The Savage Scholarship will cover most of the expenses; although students will be expected to contribute $1000 towards participation in the program (students with special financial needs can apply for financial aid).

Information on this page is deemed reliable – subject to change and revision. Contact the department for updates.