Preparing students for the workforce

At the UC Berkeley campus, CITRIS, in conjunction with  the Haas School of Business, the School of Information, and the College of Engineering, helped to launch a joint program in  Services: Science, Management, and Engineering (SSME).  The SSME program aims to give business, engineering and information science students the skills, knowledge, and experience to contribute to and thrive in a services economy.  Pending faculty approval, each school will offer the SSME program as a certificate program that is part of their Masters degree curricula.

To prepare to take their place in the workforce, students will complete courses that examine how firms change over time and the mechanisms by which they seek innovation and advantage. The lenses of economics, engineering, law, and organizational sociology are used for the evaluation of successful adaptations. They will also study the services lifecycle, with an emphasis on the disciplines of information technology, computer science, operations research, business strategy, accounting and finance, and user-centered design.

As a practical complement to the in-class work, this curriculum will give students the opportunity to put into practice what they learn. Students will select projects where they will have the opportunity to hone their SSME skills and use them to conceive, design, develop, deploy and manage services. Projects will come from both within the Berkeley

campus and outside, and they will serve as real-world practical training for students.

For more information, please visit: http://services.citris-uc.org