Supply Chain Management, Bachelor of Science (B.S.)

The supply chain management program offers a robust foundation for diverse career opportunities covering sourcing, logistics, sustainability, operations, process, quality and inventory management. The curriculum equips students with essential qualitative and quantitative methodologies to enhance supply chain efficiency and responsiveness. Students develop analytical skills to address contemporary challenges in global supply chains and enhance organizational operations. By engaging in hand-on applications and utilizing modern analytics software, students apply their knowledge to make well-informed decisions with complex, real-world data. Our program highlights the importance of cultural competence, ensuring students are prepared for success in diverse global supply chain environments.

Learning goals

Graduates will employ knowledge of supply chain management and effectively utilize analytics tools to provide insight and solutions to complex business issues. 

Student learning outcomes

Upon completing this program, students will know and know how to do the following:

1. Qualitatively assess the core responsibilities and measures of performance for supply
   chain functions
2. Identify and apply appropriate managerial strategies to supply chain problems
3. Quantitatively analyze the risk exposure of organizations within a supply chain and
   propose solutions to mitigate it
4. Evaluate the requisites and available data pertaining to analytics-based problems
5. Determine suitable analytical techniques for problem analysis and deploy those methods
   to facilitate decision-making
6. Employ computational tools and quantitative techniques to improve supply chain
   performance.

Special requirements

The admission requirements for the School of Business detail the deadlines and other requirements for students to be admitted to one of these major programs of study. The following courses must be completed before the student may declare a specific business major: ACCT 203, ACCT 204, BUSN 201 or BUSN 205, BUSN 212 or MATH 200, BUSN 225, ECON 210, ECON 211, UNIV 111, UNIV 112 and UNIV 200.

The School of Business has special academic policies, including policies on transfer credits, that apply to all undergraduate degrees. 

All baccalaureate degree programs in the School of Business require successful completion of the business knowledge exam as administered in BUSN 499. 

Students may need to take additional mathematics courses as prerequisites to BUSN 212 or MATH 200. These credits will count as open electives in the degree program. 

No more than six credits from the BUSN 16X Digital Literacy courses may be applied to the degree.

INTL 493 may not be counted toward a business degree.

Credit for SPCH 121 or SPCH 321 will substitute for BUSN 225, and no more than three credits of these courses may be applied toward a business degree. Students who earned a minimum grade of B in either ECON 203 or ECON 205 at VCU may substitute that credit for ECON 210.

The pass/fail grading policy may not be used for many course requirements. Students should check with their academic adviser before taking the pass/fail grading option.

Degree requirements for Supply Chain Management and Analytics, Bachelor of Science (B.S.)

The minimum number of credit hours required for this degree is 120.

What follows is a sample plan that meets the prescribed requirements within a four-year course of study at VCU. Please contact your adviser before beginning course work toward a degree.

Freshman year
Fall semester		Hours
UNIV 111 Play course video for Introduction to Focused Inquiry: Investigation and Communication	Introduction to Focused Inquiry: Investigation and Communication (satisfies general education UNIV foundations)	3
General education course		3
General education course		3
General education course		3
Open elective (prerequisite to BUSN 212 suggested)		3
	Term Hours:	15
Spring semester
BUSN 212	Business Problem Solving and Analysis (satisfies general education quantitative foundations)	4
BUSN 225	Winning Presentations	3
UNIV 112 Play course video for Focused Inquiry II	Focused Inquiry II (satisfies general education UNIV foundations)	3
General education course		3
Open elective		3
	Term Hours:	16
Sophomore year
Fall semester
ACCT 203	Introduction to Accounting I	3
BUSN 201 or BUSN 205	Foundations of Business or Introduction to the World of Business	3
ECON 210	Principles of Microeconomics (satisfies general education BOK for social/behavioral sciences and/or AOI for global perspectives)	3
UNIV 200	Advanced Focused Inquiry: Literacies, Research and Communication (satisfies general education UNIV foundations)	3
General education course		3
	Term Hours:	15
Spring semester
ACCT 204	Introduction to Accounting II	3
BUSN 301	Career and Professional Development	1
BUSN 323	Legal Environment of Business	3
ECON 211	Principles of Macroeconomics	3
MKTG 301	Marketing Principles	3
SCMA 301	Business Statistics I	3
	Term Hours:	16
Junior year
Fall semester
MGMT 303	Creativity and Ideation	3
MGMT 310	Managing People in Organizations	3
SCMA 302	Business Statistics II	3
SCMA 320	Production/Operations Management	3
SCMA 350	Introduction to Project Management	3
	Term Hours:	15
Spring semester
FIRE 311	Financial Management	3
INFO 360	Business Information Systems	3
SCMA 303	Business Analytics	3
SCMA 386	Global Supply Chain Management	3
Restricted elective		3
	Term Hours:	15
Senior year
Fall semester
SCMA 339	Quantitative Solutions for Supply Chain Management	3
SCMA 420	Strategic Sourcing	3
Open electives		4
Resricted elective		3
	Term Hours:	13
Spring semester
BUSN 499	Business Knowledge Exam	0
MGMT 434	Strategic Management	3
SCMA 410	Logistics and Distribution Strategy	3
SCMA 439	Process Management and Quality Control	3
Open electives		6
	Term Hours:	15
	Total Hours:	120

The minimum number of credit hours required for this degree is 120.

Accelerated B.S. and M.S.C.M.

The accelerated B.S. and M.S.C.M. program allows qualified students to earn both the B.S. in Supply Chain Management and Master of Supply Chain Management in a minimum of five years by completing approved graduate courses during the junior and senior years of their undergraduate program. Students in the program may count up to 12 hours of graduate courses toward both the B.S. and M.S.C.M. degrees. Thus, the two degrees may be earned with a minimum of 138 credits rather than the 150 credits necessary if the two degrees are pursued separately.

Students holding these degrees are prepared for corporate and government supply chain management positions using data analytics, leadership skills and global perspectives.

Entrance to the accelerated program

Interested undergraduate students should consult with an adviser as early as possible to receive specific information about the accelerated program, determine academic eligibility and submit (no later than two semesters prior to graduating with a baccalaureate degree, that is, before the end of the spring semester of the junior year) an Accelerated Program Declaration Form to be approved by the graduate program director. Limited spaces may be available in the accelerated program. Academically qualified students may not receive approval if capacity has been reached.

Minimum qualifications for entrance to this accelerated program include completion of 85 undergraduate credit hours including SCMA 212 or MATH 200, SCMA 301, and SCMA 302 with a minimum grade of B and an overall GPA of 3.5. Students who do not meet the minimum GPA requirements may submit GRE scores to receive further consideration.

Once enrolled in the accelerated program, students must meet the standards of performance applicable to graduate students as described in the “Satisfactory academic progress” section of the Graduate Bulletin, including maintaining a 3.0 GPA. Guidance to students admitted to the accelerated program is provided by both the undergraduate adviser and the faculty adviser to the graduate program.

Admission to the graduate program

Entrance to the accelerated program enables the student to take the approved shared courses that will apply to the undergraduate and graduate degrees. However, entry into an accelerated program via an approved Accelerated Program Declaration Form does not constitute application or admission into the graduate program. Admission to the graduate program requires a separate step that occurs through a formal application to the master’s program, which is submitted through Graduate Admissions no later than a semester prior to graduation with the baccalaureate degree, that is, before the end of the fall semester of the senior year. In order to continue pursuing the master’s degree after the baccalaureate degree is conferred, accelerated students must follow the admission to graduate study requirements outlined in the VCU Bulletin.

Degree requirements

The Bachelor of Science in Supply Chain Management will be awarded upon completion of a minimum of 120 credits and the satisfactory completion of all undergraduate degree requirements as stated in the Undergraduate Bulletin.

A maximum of 12 graduate credits may be taken prior to completion of the baccalaureate degree. These graduate credits will substitute for the required major or open electives for the undergraduate degree. These courses are shared credits with the graduate program, meaning that they will be applied to both undergraduate and graduate degree requirements.

The graduate courses for the M.S.C.M. that may be taken as an undergraduate, once a student is admitted to the program, are:

Recommended course sequence/plan of study

What follows is the recommended plan of study for students interested in the accelerated program beginning in the fall of the junior year prior to admission to the accelerated program in the senior year.