Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies

at Thompson Rivers University - Kamloops Campus Canada

Worldwide economic growth is rapid and there is an urgent demand for management practices that balance financial gains with sustainability. Businesses across the public and private sectors are increasingly incorporating these considerations into their planning. Managers who understand them will be at the forefront of leading change, and TRU’s master’s degrees in environmental economics and management prepare graduates to make major contributions to this growing field.

Thompson Rivers University's new master's degrees in environmental economics and management prepare graduates to make major contributions to the field of economic sustainable management.

Two program options: same core content, choose your specialization
Both two-year programs provide graduates with a broad knowledge of the business environment and specialized environmental economics and sustainability knowledge. In addition to the shared core content, each program offers a specialization:

• Master in Environmental Economics and Management (MEEM)
• Master of Science in Environmental Economics and Management (MScEEM)

Program structure

• Both degrees are divided into two parts:
  • Year One: Graduate Diploma in Business Administration (GDBA)
  • Year Two: MEEM or MScEEM degree

Year 1 Graduate Diploma in Business Administration - two semesters
The purpose of the Graduate Diploma in Business Administration (GDBA) is to ensure all students, regardless of their educational backgrounds, have the business knowledge and skills to successfully apply the economic sustainable management principles learned. Students must complete the six courses in the GDBA to be admitted to the masters degree, but may receive a course waiver for some or all of the GDBA courses based on their previous academic record. Applicants with a four-year business degree from an acceptable institution may be eligible to proceed directly to the masters degree.

Year 2 Master of Science in Environmental Economics and Management (MScEEM)
Prepares graduates to make major contributions to the field of economic sustainable management. They acquire management skills, specialized knowledge in the emerging area of sustainability as well as important academic and applied research expertise through the completion of a graduate thesis or project. Completion of a thesis or project can serve as a stepping stone to a PhD program and an eventual career in academia and/or consulting.

One-year option

• If you’ve recently graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration or Bachelor of Commerce, you may be eligible to enter directly into the second year of the program and complete your graduate degree in 12 months.

Obtain knowledge on the practical applications in many areas such as physical and life sciences, finance and economics, computing and information theory, social sciences, and even fine arts. Gain an understanding of math as the science of patterns, which have evolved from roots in simple arithmetic to a complex language.

The finance major is fun, interesting, and rewarding from a money income perspective. The profession is divided into two main fields: investments and corporate finance. Investments deals with a professional such as a financial advisor or money manager choosing to invest in GICs, stocks, bonds, options, futures, swaps, real estate, commodities such as gold or collectibles, to name a few. The primary goal is to make your client rich. Another purpose in wealth management is to minimize the risk of your client’s portfolio perhaps through the use of derivatives and their strategies such as butterfly spreads, call bear spreads, put bull spreads, collars, and straddles. Potential employers include banks, insurance companies, pension funds, private equity firms, hedge funds, and mutual fund companies among others.

The other field is corporate finance. Professionals here may focus on financing an organization's daily operations and future growth. Sources of capital to finance the firm include vehicles such as lines of credit, commercial paper, term loans, mortgages, bonds, leases, venture capital, and IPOs to fund seasonal build-ups in working capital and major asset purchases. Additional specialization in corporate finance may be cash management, accounts receivable management like collections, payables management, and working in mergers and acquisitions teams. Possible employers are corporations, not-for-profit firms, governments and their agencies.

Math majors participate in department seminars and do independent study and honours research projects with faculty members. The department employs its students as tutors in the Math Centre and for summer research projects.

Associate diplomas recognize the achievements of students who have completed two years of academic work. They are of particular value to students who want to save money by completing the lower level requirements of a business degree in their local community before transferring to another university such as Simon Fraser University or University of British Columbia for third and fourth year. Associate diplomas are also intended to recognize the accomplishments of student who for financial, family, work or academic reasons are not able to complete a full four-year business degree.

The Associate of Commerce and Business Administration Diploma is awarded to students who have completed the lower level requirements of the Bachelor of Business Administration degree. Students may substitute General Education Electives for MATH 1170 – Calculus for Business and Economics and ECON 2330 – Economics and Business Statistics 2.

Graduates of the Associate of Commerce and Business Administration Diploma may return to TRU in the future to complete the Bachelor of Business Administration and receive full credit for courses taken in the associate diploma.

The Marketing Major is a challenging program that prepares students to assume many of the most important positions in business. Marketers, as they like to call themselves, are a company's creative force. Focusing on the marketing mix or four Ps of product, price, promotion, and place, they devise potentially profitable new product or service ideas that meet the needs of specific target markets, and then develop and execute the detailed plans needed for their implementation. Other employees in accounting, finance, or human resource management simply assist marketing professionals in this primary task and depend on them to generate the revenues needed for survival.

After graduation, students secure employment with many types of organizations such as advertising firms, consumer product companies, retail chains, wholesalers, media outlets like TV or radio stations, auto dealerships, tourist resorts, government ministries, and non-profits like hospitals. An increasing number have also been successful in starting their own small businesses, while a few have gone on to earn graduate degrees in hopes of pursuing careers in teaching or research at the college or university level.

The Supply Chain Management Major is all about doing things “right.” Students learn to provide consumers with the right product, at the right place and time, and at the right level of value. A supply chain has three primary functions. Procurement is sourcing of the materials, supplies and services needed by an organization. Operations deals with using these inputs to manufacture goods and provide services. Transportation and logistics involves delivering products to consumers. The goal in all these areas is to maximize customer satisfaction and corporate profitability. These efforts have led to many business innovations such as single and global sourcing, design for manufacturing, agile and lean manufacturing, advanced analytics, 3-D printing, and green supply chains.

Increasingly, companies are outsourcing different supply chain management tasks to external partners to benefit from their expertise and to focus more on their own core competencies. This trend has reduced corporate investments in inventory and infrastructure and resulted in more flexible supply chains, but it is making supply chains increasingly interdependent and complex especially in today’s global business environment. Students with strong quantitative and computing skills and an array of multi-cultural and entrepreneurship experiences will become valued supply chain management professionals.

The Bachelor of Education (Secondary) STEM degree prepares students to teach science and mathematics in the context of engineering and technology in secondary school settings. Graduates qualify for a professional teaching certificate from the BC Ministry of Education, Teacher Certification Branch (TCB), certifying them to teach science and mathematics subjects in any secondary school setting. Graduates often teach in other provinces or territories in Canada and in other countries.

The BEd STEM is an intensive one-year, full-time, 64 credit program that starts in July each year and continues to the end of June in the following year. The program includes foundation courses in education, methods courses, and practica.

Upon graduation from the STEM program, you will have two degrees: the bachelor's degree in science or mathematics required for entry into this program and the Bachelor of Education (Secondary) degree.

Program Highlights:-
Provides students with an extensive knowledge of humanity's recorded past. The study of history offers the student the opportunity to develop mental skills and teaches the student how to organize and classify extensive data.

Careers
History can be directly applied to career such as history and social studies teachers, college and university professors, researchers, museum curators and archivists. It can also prepare students for careers in law, journalism, library work, publishing, government, business, and politics.

The BBA provides students with a demanding and engaging learning experience. In Years 1 and 2, they receive a strong grounding in the humanities and social sciences as well as the core business or business-related subjects.

In Years 3 and 4, students complete the core including the capstone course in business strategy in their final semester. Students also specialize in one of the functional areas of business. These majors prepare students to pursue a professional designation after graduation and provide the extensive course work needed to meet the competencies established by the profession. Students interested in economics can also specialize in that discipline, or those who want to take a variety of courses from different business disciplines or economics can choose the General BBA.

During their studies, students receive quality instruction from accomplished academics and business practitioners who engage in scholarship to remain current in their fields. Case studies, class presentations, guest speakers, field trips, company reports, simulations, and business competitions are used extensively to enhance the student’s learning experience.

Highlights
Access both a broad university experience and the opportunity to specialize in the flexible BBA program. Develop a solid foundation in the first two years, then specialize from a choice of majors and minors, and take advantage of co-op, undergraduate research, study abroad and other experiential learning opportunities. Double degree option with Computing Science available.

• Majors:- Accounting, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Finance, General Business, Human Resource Management, International Business, Marketing, Supply Chain Management
• Minors:- Environmental Economics & Sustainable Development, Financial Markets & Institutions, Financial Services, Leadership, Management Information Systems, Project Management