FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Students graduating in spring 2006 from the University of Arkansas industrial engineering department’s advanced degree program in operations management have a new designation for their master of science degree.

The degree name has changed to Master of Science in Operations Management, or M.S.O.M. The change from the more generic Master of Science with a major in operations management was initiated by Sandra Parker, director of the operations management program.

Parker’s objective was to bring the official name for this degree into line with both the format and field specificity of the other designations currently used by the College of Engineering for its advanced-degree programs. The name change also creates consistency with the designation used by other universities and clarifies the nature of this degree for potential employers of the program’s graduates, Parker said.

The focus of the operations management program is on building a student’s skills as a manager of work processes and people, regardless of the business that the student is in. Coursework consists primarily of the concepts, methods and tools that today’s manager needs to function effectively in a private business, government agency or nonprofit institution. Operations management is equally applicable to organizations that produce goods and those whose primary output is the delivery of services.

The M.S.O.M. program is structured for the convenience of the working professional.  It offers evening or home study classes, conducted in five accelerated terms per year. At two classes taken per term, students can complete their studies in as little as one year. In addition to an M.S.O.M. degree, students may opt to specialize in one of several areas of concentration, ranging from industrial management to human resources management.

While the operations management program has been offered by the university since 1974 at a number of locations around the country, it has been available on the Fayetteville campus for only the last few years. Originally developed as a program for the military, it now serves military, corporate and traditional students at six different locations, as well as distance students, who are not affiliated with a specific site.

More than 3,500 students have graduated from the program and current enrollment stands at about 235, making this the largest master’s degree program offered by the University of Arkansas.