Programming for the future

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The list of Aboriginal business education programs offered by the University of Saskatchewan's College of Commerce has expanded, with a new masters of business administration (MBA) in Indigenous management program.

Indigenous management is one of five areas of specialization available to students in the college's revamped MBA program. The other areas of study are agribusiness, biotechnology management, health services management, and international business.

"It's a program designed for people who are already managing, or who are looking for a career in management in an Aboriginal organization or an organization that partners and works for Indigenous organizations. Or somebody who wants to become involved in economic development, particularly in the First Nations context," said Warren Weir, co-ordinator of the graduate Aboriginal education program at the college.

In addition to general courses, students in the Indigenous management MBA complete four courses specifically relating to their area of specialization-management of contemporary Aboriginal organizations, contemporary issues in Aboriginal economic/business development, Indigenous economic development, and treaty, self government, land claims and implications for management decision making. Students will also complete a research project in the area of Indigenous management during their final term of study.

The College of Commerce has been offering an MBA program for 25 years, Weir said. However, a review done four years ago showed there was a need for the program to focus on the sectors of the provincial economy where the need for trained business managers is the highest.

"So Indigenous management, agribusiness, biotechnology and health services management became important," said Weir. "And we realized too that we needed to move away from a two-year program to one-year program-because people who're working can't necessarily leave their job for a two-year period-but at the same time, strengthen the program by making it much more holistic and integrate it into the different specializations."

Weir said it is necessary for Indigenous management to be an entire specialization area because of the rapid population growth within the province's Aboriginal community.