Rogers State University is giving students additional opportunities both in and outside of the classroom with assistance from ConocoPhillips and SAP, the world’s leading provider of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and related applications.
RSU’s School of Business and Technology has incorporated SAP software – which helps companies manage business processes in an efficient, integrated system – into its curriculum, using the ERP applications in several courses. The curriculum expansion and related faculty training were made possible with support from ConocoPhillips and RSU membership in the SAP® University Alliances program.
“We are excited and grateful for the generous support of ConocoPhillips and SAP. The companies’ combined philanthropic investments and cooperation will allow us to give our graduates additional skills to take into today’s competitive, global workforce,” said RSU President Dr. Larry Rice.
SAP estimates global demand for certified SAP professionals at approximately 40,000 in the past two years alone. Worldwide, 75,000 companies have adopted SAP solutions, resulting in 12 million users in some 120 countries.
To provide students with highly sought-after career skills while addressing market demand for graduates with SAP expertise from companies including ConocoPhillips, the SAP University Alliances program works with select universities around the world by providing free SAP software licenses and accompanying curriculum materials.
In addition to incorporating SAP software into existing business courses, the School of Business and Technology began offering an Introduction to SAP course last fall.
“We are pleased to assist Rogers State University in its efforts to provide students in northeast Oklahoma with state-of-the-art technology experience and knowledge,” said Marty Schoenthaler, general manager of information services at ConocoPhillips. “This investment in education will provide significant return for students as well as the business community.”
“In addition to learning from RSU’s SAP curriculum offering, several RSU students work as paid interns each semester at ConocoPhillips’ offices in Bartlesville and more than a dozen students have been hired as full-time employees after graduation,” said Dr. Bert Tollison, RSU professor and head of the Department of Business. Tollison coordinates the ConocoPhillips internship program.
ConocoPhillips also has established the ConocoPhillips Opportunities Scholarship Program, providing scholarships for students in the School of Business and supported programs and activities on the Bartlesville campus, Tollison said.
ConocoPhillips is an integrated energy company with interests around the world. For more information, go to www.conocophillips.com.
More information about RSU’s School of Business and Technology is available by calling (918) 343-7520 or by visiting www.rsu.edu