For quite some time, Scott Converse and Carl Vieth had been noticing that technical professionals, such as engineers and scientists, were being given new responsibilities at their jobs that they were not fully trained to meet and found the new tasks extremely awkward.
So, last spring, Converse and Vieth decided that there ought to be a way to help ease the transition. They helped create, and now are co-directors of, the UW-Madison Technical Leadership Certificate Program, a collaboration between the School of Business and College of Engineering.
\My interest in the program came from talking to technical professionals in business and government about how UW can help them be more effective in their professional roles,"" Veith said. ""For the most part, these technical professionals had little or no undergraduate courses in business and leadership. Rather than learning by trial and error, these people were looking for help transitioning into their new roles.""
The UW-Madison's Technical Leadership Certificate is one of the few programs of its kind in the country. Unlike many managerial training programs that are overseen solely by business schools, the program's curriculum is shaped by the both the College of Engineering and the School of Business, making it a more natural learning environment for technical professionals.
""We knew we needed both groups to be involved with this; it was ironic that when we laid out the menu of courses we wanted to offer, it ended up being almost a 50/50 split between the two schools,"" Converse said.
""We all focused on how to best 'make it happen' between the two departments,"" Veith added.
The T.L. Certificate program tries to be as accommodating as possible to its students, most of whom have already completed their undergraduate work. It is designed for technical experts who, as their careers have progressed, have responsibilities beyond their areas of technical expertise, according to Charles Krueger, associate professor of executive education.
""Now, they are part of the management team, leading others, with responsibility for managing others, making business decisions and accountability for the finances associated with their responsibilities,"" Krueger said. ""These individuals are now focused beyond their project at hand, to integrate their operations with the direction of their organization.""
The T.L. Certificate is structured around 20 courses in two broad areas-Strategy and Leadership along with Process and Innovation. Students pick at least six courses lasting two to three days that must be completed within three years.
""[Students] needed the program to be flexible, they already have full time jobs and limited schedules,"" Converse said.
""As a faculty member of the School of Business, I welcome the opportunity to teach people new to management, especially those from technical disciplines. I really enjoy the discipline, intelligence and energy of technically oriented people. They are hungry and bright; they ask insightful questions and like to stretch themselves,"" said Buck Joseph, associate professor of management.
The program is very new-so much so that no one has been enrolled long enough to earn a certificate from the program. However this also means that the program has a lot of room for growth and enhancement.
""This is the best program we could design, and any improvements or additions that we were aware of have already been incorporated into this offering,"" Krueger said. ""When we look back 10 years from now I do see the program having steadily grown with more participants, and earning national recognition as a program for technical professionals moving into management.\
