A Farmer School of Business undergraduate program has been ranked among the best in the nation.

Gartner, a global research and advisory firm, released its rankings of the top 25 supply chain management programs for 2024, and the Farmer School's program was ranked No. 20 among public universities and No. 23 overall.

The supply chain operations and management program has grown considerably in just the last few years. “Due to an increase in corporate and alumni involvement, the Center for Supply Chain Excellence (CSCE) was launched at Miami University in 2021. Having a center of excellence represents the university's recognition that supply chain management is an important area for businesses, and one where we have significant competencies to serve as a resource for students and businesses,” CSCE director Monique Murfield said. “The CSCE was created to be a hub to connect companies with students and faculty from the supply chain & operations management program within the Farmer School of Business.”

The CSCE built on an existing Supply Chain Executive Speaker Series and created a Corporate Partnership program, where companies invest in the Center for Supply Chain Excellence annually in order to build a long-term relationship with students and faculty.

“We work strategically with our Corporate Partners so that instead of just sending us jobs when they have them open, we have a long-term plan of how they'd like to engage with students and faculty throughout the year, which includes brand-building events even in the ‘off’ recruiting season,” Murfield said.

The center launched a mentorship program, which pairs students with alumni and supply chain professionals in order to help them build their network and work with someone one-on-one to identify an appropriate career path and specific objectives for getting there. 

“Having the CSCE umbrella over our program has also provided us with the resources to devote a focused effort to reaching out to alumni and get them involved or keep them updated about new offerings and achievements coming out of our program,” Murfield said. “We now have both an executive-level Advisory Board as well as a Young Alumni Board, and have strategically focused on the involvement of more young alumni to keep them engaged early in their careers, and provide a realistic perspective for our students about what entering a specific career path in supply chain management may look like.”

The supply chain program has also adjusted its curriculum to better account for the breadth of career paths that students may go into from a degree in supply chain and operations management. 

“The smaller size of our program coupled with our industry collaboration and hands-on programming with our students gives us a leg up, and provides significant value for companies that partner with us,” Murfield said.