New FSB leadership co-major open to students across Miami University
Business Leadership co-major for Miami University students to be offered in spring 2026
New FSB leadership co-major open to students across Miami University
A new Farmer School of Business program will help FSB students and students across Miami University to develop and hone their leadership skills.
The Business Leadership program will be offered as a co-major for Miami University students and as a minor for Farmer School students starting in spring 2026.
“There’s a need to train the next generation of leaders across every industry. The key pillars of this program are necessary no matter what your passion or discipline is. If you want to lead in that space, understanding change, ethics, strategy, and leadership are key to having an impact,” professor of Management Megan Gerhardt said.
The co-major is comprised of two minors. The first part is the Business minor, which provides non-FSB students with a foundational understanding of various functional areas of business and the necessary business foundation for the Business Leadership minor. The Business Leadership minor develops the professional and leadership skills needed to effectively lead and contribute to organizational success. Students must have a minimum GPA and pass an academic integrity requirement to be admitted to the program.
“We're asking you to do things that are above and beyond what you have to do. No one has to get this co-major/minor. But leadership is about the willingness to invest in yourself and invest in other people,” Gerhardt said.
Students in the co-major or minor will take classes focused on four key pillars:
- Change management
- Leadership and Learning
- Ethics
- Strategy
"This co-major is for people who want to lead in their current areas of passion: those who aspire to be athletic directors, work in healthcare administration, represent artists, or manage construction, engineering, or data science teams," Gerhardt said. "We want them to have the opportunity to get the business leadership foundations and pillars that will allow them to make the impact they want to make in all those spaces."
The point of the co-major is not to turn students into business majors, Gerhardt said, but to give students the skills to amplify and accentuate their abilities within the major they’re passionate about. “You can know everything about your subject matter. Expertise is really important. But if you really want to be able to mobilize people and make change, you have to have leadership expertise as well.”
Gerhardt said that making these skills available to everyone now is critical to developing leadership earlier in their careers. “The average age people get leadership development is 42. We want to give it to our students by the time they're 22,” she said. “While the future of work in any field remains uncertain, there is one thing we know for sure: leadership is fundamentally about change. It will require navigating constant transformation. Leaders are those who can identify opportunities where others see threats and can guide organizations through change based on strong values and clear vision. That's exactly what our new Business Leadership program is designed to help students learn to do.”
