John G. Fitch
The past fifteen years have flown by. In 2001 the department was named Marketing and Supply Chain Management with MSU at the forefront of Supply Chain research and teaching. Due to my wife, Laurie, being the Department Office Supervisor, the department chair and faculty were familiar with my prior Supply Chain practitioner experience in state government and hired me to interface with both students and recruiters.
When I arrived the recruiting process was rudimentary. Job postings were submitted by email, fax or mail and put on the bulletin boards in the hallway outside the Department office. The Lear Center opened its doors that fall and implemented a web-based recruiting system called SpartanTrak, which has evolved to today’s MySpartanCareer. This system now called MySpartanCareer with the capability to assist both students and recruiters far beyond the old bulletin board system.
The number of students has grown immensely. At the beginning students usually became familiar with the field of SCM through their peers. The number of official Supply Chain majors (juniors and seniors) has grown by 20 percent from approximately 500 to 600. However, the number of freshman and sophomores has grown tremendously, from approximately 100 to 600.
Over the years working with 15 Supply Chain Management Associations with annual Career Fairs and Leadership Academies has been a joy. To be a part of the Department that has grown from being highly regarded to being officially ranked as best in the nation is gratifying.
Being able to work with and assist students, faculty, company representatives and staff from other MSU departments and colleges, has resulted in many friendships which are the greatest reward a person could have.
Having Judy Jacobs bring her experience and enthusiasm to my role is comforting. Judy will be a great resource of knowledge and skill for student, faculty and company representative. Being able to spend the last year sharing this role has been gratifying and just one more reason to thank Dr. Closs for providing this opportunity to me. I will miss seeing everyone on a daily basis but have these and many more recollections to reminisce
