DC Velocity - September 2017

inbound

Colleges have offered online courses for years now, using the technology to unite students and professors who are separated by long distances. Now, one of the nation’s leading universities is putting a new twist on the concept by using its online courses to create a new path to a master’s degree.

Educators at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) recently launched a half-online, half in-person master’s degree program in supply chain management (SCM) that’s attracting many new students. MIT uses free virtual courses to draw in scholars eager to learn the fundamentals of supply chain management. It then skims the top performers in those introductory courses and offers them admission to a paid program on campus to complete the degree.

School leaders say the program is not only making a profit but is also bringing dozens of new degree-seeking students to the Cambridge, Mass., campus. “We are so impressed by what we’re seeing that there’s a debate within the Center for Transportation and Logistics over whether we should replace standardized tests like the GMAT and GRE with taking one full [online] course and seeing how [students] do,” Yossi Sheffi, an MIT professor of engineering and director of the center, told Inside Higher Ed magazine.

MIT launched the program in October 2016, taking a traditional one-year professional program and converting it to the new “inverted admissions” model. Under this model, applicants are invited to take the entire first semester’s worth of courses for free through the online platform edX. Students who complete five courses and pass a final exam can apply to finish the degree program through a paid semester on campus, either at MIT or at one of several other schools.

MIT adopts “inverted admissions” model
for SCM degree program

Visit a supply chain trade show and you’re sure to score some swag—a foam stress ball, a padded Frisbee, or maybe even a nylon backpack. However, one lucky attendee at the Women In Trucking group’s “Salute to Women Behind the Wheel” event next spring will drive off with a much bigger prize—a 2014 Volvo VNL670 truck.

As part of an effort to encourage more women to consider trucking careers, Women In Trucking (WIT) will give away the truck to one of its members, thanks to a vehicle donation by Arrow Truck Sales Inc. of Kansas City, Mo.

The contest is open to WIT members who hold a valid commercial driver’s license and are at least 23 years old. Applicants must submit a short essay on why it is important to attract more women into the trucking industry. Submissions will be accepted at www. womenintrucking.org/2018-truck-give- away until Nov. 15.

WIT President and CEO Ellen Voie will hand over the keys to the winner on March 24, 2018, during the 9th annual “Salute to Women” event at the Mid-America Trucking Show. The show takes place March 22–24 at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville.

If you’re still on the fence about applying, perhaps this will help you decide. In addition to the truck, the winner will take home such goodies as Goodrich tires, an Omnitracs telematics unit, an engine warranty, and a digital map subscription.

Pssst! Want to win a
truck?

The e-commerce boom is widely seen as good news for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), which has watched its package volume soar in recent years. But there’s a downside to all that growth: more dog bites for letter carriers.

The number of postal employees attacked by dogs in the U.S. reached 6,755 in 2016, the USPS reported in a recent study. That’s some 200 more than the year before, and the increase is likely tied to the explosion in online shopping.

The postal service released its latest statistics in April as part of National Dog Bite Prevention Week, along with some tips for ways consumers can help muzzle the trend. They included placing the dog in a separate room with a closed door before opening the front door to receive mail or packages; discouraging family members from taking mail directly from letter carriers in the presence of the family pet (since dogs may see that physical contact as a threatening gesture); and, if the dog is loose or unleashed, picking up their parcels and mail at the local post office.