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Hankamer’s new Supply Chain Advisory Board bridges the gap between students, industry

By Justin Walker

The Hankamer School of Business and the Department of Management have initiated an advisory board to assist in the promotion of and development of curriculum for the Supply Chain Management (SCM) major.

The Supply Chain Advisory Board was first suggested in the spring of 2020, Associate Professor of Management Blaine McCormick said. The board will serve as a connection to the real world, providing the School, department and major with valuable information from industry experts to better equip students for their careers.

“If you do not have an outside council, you are essentially in a closed system,” McCormick said. “Having this board will help close the college-industry gap and open more avenues for networking.”

The advisory board first met in October 2020, with six members. By December, membership had grown to 10, with a mix of alumni and non-alum representatives. McCormick hopes to see membership double by the end of the 2021 calendar year.

Craig Fuller, BBA ’06, CEO of FreightWaves, a FreightIntel provider offering current digital intelligence and context to the freight community, was an inaugural member of the advisory board. As a Baylor graduate, he is excited to give back to the school using his industry experience.

“What I do every day is cover the news, data and analytics of the global supply chain,” Fuller said. “This is an area where I feel I can contribute. We have a pulse on what is happening across the global economy.”

Fuller’s involvement with FreightWaves puts him at the center of the supply chain ecosystem, he said. He sits at the intersection of where theory is put into practice on a macro scale. Fuller believes his perspective can be very beneficial to SCM.

Supply chain has evolved so much over the years, especially since Fuller graduated. There are a lot of opportunities now and when companies recognize this, they will thrive in the coming years, he said. He views this advisory board as a chance to prepare students with the right perspective to become thought leaders in the industry.

Robert Cook, BBA ’92, vice president of Operations at Argonaut Manufacturing Services, has a special connection to the School having grown up in it. His father, Alan Cook, BBA ’59, MS ’63, PhD, taught at Baylor for more than 30 years and Cook grew up running around the halls of the old Hankamer building. Cook eventually attended Baylor himself, graduating with a degree in Management and Entrepreneurship.

“My passion for Baylor is strong,” Cook said. “I have been involved with a supply chain advisory board here in California for another university but I wanted to support a board at Baylor.”

Cook sees his involvement on the board as a way to give back to students just as he was invested in as he was coming out of college. His father had a strong history of ensuring students were not only educated but left with the right connections for their careers. This is an opportunity for Cook to continue that legacy.

The advisory board will provide the University and professors guidance on where the supply chain industry is headed, Cook said. The industry is evolving constantly and it is important for industry leaders to share these changes with educators, he said.

“If we can provide additional information about how to prepare students for a career in the management of the global supply chain then it will contribute to a strong BU program which supports both the students and industry,” Cook said. “My desire is for students to exit the program ready to hit the ground running.”

The advisory board has already charged the SCM major to develop an alumni group, with the goal to cultivate future advisory board members, McCormick said. The team developed a LinkedIn group—Baylor University Supply Chain Management Alumni—to help advance the careers of SCM graduates. The next step is to review the curriculum to close the industry gap.

For more information on the Supply Chain Advisory Board or for questions on how to be involved, contact McCormick at blaine_mccormick@baylor.edu.