Driven by a steadfast fascination with airline management, Weinberg senior Andrew Curley walked into Northwestern’s Transportation Library on Foster Street one night during his junior year determined to find books that would make him an expert in the airline industry.
But rather than walking out with a stack of old, dusty hardback books and an expanded knowledge in airline transit, Curley left the library with an academic minor: transportation and logistics.
“I went to the Transportation Library and ended up randomly on the Transportation homepage when I tried to use the Internet,” he said. “I had always been trying to find a link between econ and airline transportation, and this program seemed to be it.”
Created in 2002, the Transportation and Logistics minor is an interdisciplinary academic program that focuses on the sociological, political and economic implications found in the process of moving goods and people across the country and abroad. Its purpose is to prepare students for engineering, business and public policy jobs in the transportation field.
“(The minor) encourages students who are interested in transportation to get a more broader perspective in different disciplines relating to transportation,” said economics professor Ian Savage, the program’s co-director.
Although the minor welcomes students from all schools, only 15 students have officially declared the minor or expressed some interest in it, Savage said.
“Word about the program is only just getting out,” Savage said. “Many students, especially those in the engineering program, think the program is too complicated and requires too much work. But it really is a reasonable amount.”
Students who are transportation and logistics minors benefit from the small size of the department. The size allows each student to get more attention from faculty members.
“The staff and faculty within the program are very supportive in terms of helping students find jobs and developing curriculum,” said Weinberg sophomore Todd Lewis, a transportation and logistics minor. “Being in a program where the advisers knows the names and faces of everybody in the department is very refreshing.”
To complete the minor, students must take seven related courses. One of these courses must be Transportation 390, a senior seminar taught by Savage.
Three units must come from a list of pre-approved core courses in economics and engineering; two must be outside students’ majors.
The remaining three courses can be from the core courses or from an additional list of elective courses related to transportation, ranging from geography, history, political science and sociology.
“(The program) is a cross-schedule initiative to encourage people to study in multiple schools,” said Savage. “To be successful in transportation, you need to have an appreciation of all the aspects that affect the subject.”
Students who declare the minor are granted membership to the Northwestern Transportation Club, an organization affiliated with the Kellogg Graduate School of Management’s MBA transportation program that encourages networking between undergraduates and graduate students. Minors also have access to the job placing and advising services available at the Transportation Center.
“The Transportation Center has a long history of being involved with business placement services,” Savage said. “They can get people interviews with businesses that students would otherwise be unable to get.”
Students who wish to declare the minor should contact Savage or economics professor John Panzar, co-directors of the program.
Reach Allan Madrid at [email protected].
