Demand Leads to Creation of Two New Majors

Student demand has led to the creation of two new majors at Millersville University; music business technology and manufacturing engineering technology. The Council of Trustees approved the new degrees at their meeting Dec. 20, and will now forward them to the Board of Governors for approval in early January. The plan is to begin offering both degrees in the fall of 2018.

“The new majors are designed with students and their future careers in mind,” says Dr. Vilas Prabhu, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Millersville University. “They are the result of increased demand and enrollment in these areas.”

The music business technology major will come with a choice of three concentrations; music production, music management and audio technology. The new major was developed in response to marketplace and student demands for greater depth in music business than is provided by the existing concentration in music business technology within the Bachelor of Arts in music.

“There are a number of State System Universities that have programs similar, but none have the breadth and depth in the three areas of music technology, music business and commercial music performance,” explained Prabhu.  “And, with companies like Rock Lititz, Clair Solutions, Clair Brothers, Atomic and others in our area, employment opportunities for graduates of this program are very good.”

The new manufacturing engineering technology major will introduce students to the fundamentals and advanced concepts of engineering, materials and production processes used within industry. The program will provide in-depth technical content of advanced manufacturing with emphasis on automated manufacturing, robotics and computer aided drafting & design. Graduates of the program will be prepared for opportunities that exist locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.

“Despite misconceptions that manufacturing is dead or moved overseas, the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation estimates that the manufacturing workforce employs approximately 12 million people nationwide,” says Prabhu. “Over the past few decades, manufacturing has evolved from a labor-intensive set of mechanical processes to a more sophisticated set of information-based processes.”

“I commend the faculty in the Music and Applied Engineering, Safety and Technology departments for their foresight in developing these new majors for our students,” Prabhu said.   Both new majors will result in Bachelor of Science degrees.