GE To Partner With Indiana Kelley

For nearly 25 years, General Electric bragged that “We bring good things to life.” While the company’s slogan has changed, its commitment to innovation hasn’t wavered. Through a new partnership with the University of Indiana’s Kelley School of Business, GE continues to stay on the leading edge of technology and professional development.

GE announced yesterday (July 24) that it would be developing a customized graduate education curriculum for its IT professionals as part of its Information Technology Leadership Program (ITLP).

This 15-credit certificate program, which will initially include 150 GE employees, will be taught through a hybrid of in-person and online coursework. Based on performance, these credits can also be applied to a Kelley MBA degree or a Master of Science degree in information technology management, finance, global supply chain management, management or marketing.

The curriculum will be based on five broad specialty areas, including analysis, project management, service management, and platform and infrastructure management. The courses will derived from existing content from Kelley’s Executive MBA program and the university’s School of Informatics and Computing. However, faculty will customize the courses to align with GE’s unique needs. New courses may also be developed as needed.

According to Jamie Miller, GE’s Chief Information Officer, the partnership is a necessity to keep up in today’s rapidly-changing marketplace. “This program is a great example of the investment GE is making in training and development. Our IT professionals push the limits of technology and the courses offered through this program, which will focus on rapidly disruptive technologies like cloud and mobility, and will arm participants with the skills needed to drive breakthrough levels of efficiency, productivity and innovation for GE and our customers.”

Idalene Kesner, the dean at Kelley, adds that the partnership with GE is also a reflection of how well-regarded the school’s Master of Science in Information Systems program has become. “Some of our school’s recruiting companies have asked us to teach the new hires from other business schools how to manage IT the way our graduates do.”

Over the past 25 years, Kelley has developed customized education programs for clients like General Motors, John Deere, Booz Allen Hamilton, Deloitte, United Technologies Corp, and Ingersoll Rand. In the past year, Kelley has also expanded its executive certificate programs overseas, including India, South Korea, and Brazil. Overall, the school’s online program ranked #1 in Poets and Quants’ 2014 ranking of online programs. It also earned the top marks for student satisfaction in a recent survey by Bloomberg Businessweek.

GE’s ITLP also represents a major opportunity for Kelley. GE currently employs over 10,000 IT professionals in nearly 50 countries. The two-year ITLP program includes 12 weeks of technical training, along with further training in project management and leadership. Job assignments during the period are designed to reinforce this training. To qualify, enrollees must have earned a 3.0 GPA or higher as an undergrad in technical field. Along with passion and aptitude, GE also looks for geographic mobility from ITLP candidates.

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