It may feel like a scorcher out there today, but what's really hot are the new program offerings in the Merrick School of Business.

There is nothing like a hot June day in Baltimore. However the real hot topic we're talking about today are the new and updated academic offering that our faculty have rolled out over the past few months.

While mostly these include new specializations in the school's two largest programs, we did have considerable new offerings created that can enhance an accountants career. Check out what's new and hot.

New to the B.S. in Business Administration program

• New to the B.S. in Business Administration program is the specialization in Data Analytics. Businesses today, and every sector of the economy overall, are increasingly dependent on big data. Business analytics involves using that data to improve decision making / leverage insight from data, and is used for everything from optimally pricing hotel rooms, to figuring out which TV shows will be successful, or identifying procurement fraud. The data analytics specialization provides students skills in database and big data technologies like online analytical processing, business intelligence, and data manipulation and transformation, as well as skills in predictive and prescriptive statistical modeling, and project management.
• Just added to the BSBA program is the specialization in Real Estate and Economic Development. Real estate is still the largest asset class in America, creating vast opportunities in the field of real property. The business of real estate is far more than the acquisition and sale of property. Real Estate includes not just selling, but building, developing, managing, lending, appraising, investing, and legal oversight. But real estate, land use, housing policy, and economic development include more than business. The public side of real estate addresses the issues of neighborhoods, jobs and economic growth, construction safety, and government.

UB MBA Program

We have expanded our MBA specialization offerings to better align with what employers are saying are important areas to their businesses. Among our 11 MBA specializations we've added:

• Cybersecurity and Organizational Resilience may be a mouthful to say but for this region qualified candidates are needed to bridge the gap between the technical side and the management side of the business. Employment of information security analysts is projected to grow 28 percent from 2016 to 2026, much faster than the average for all occupations. Demand for information security analysts is expected to be very high, as these analysts will be needed to create innovative solutions to prevent hackers from stealing critical information or causing problems for computer networks. [Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook , Information Security Analysts, (website visited May 10, 2018).]
• Specializing in Data Analytics, is a growing field and all facets of business, government and non-for-profits are turning big data for actionable intelligence to gain a competitive advantage and growth. The Merrick School of Business is home to one of the best examples of using data to improve outcomes in the Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance's (BNIA) annual report "Vital Signs." This important project is spearheaded by researchers in the Jacob France Institute—the nonpartisan economic research center housed in the school—and produces reliable and actionable quality of life indicators for Baltimore’s neighborhoods.
• Digital transformation and innovation are forcing business to rapidly adapt. The MBA specialization in Digital Business will provide students with an understanding of the key effects of technological change on business. Think about this. Mobile data traffic will reach the following milestones within the next 5 years:
  • Monthly global mobile data traffic will be 49 exabytes by 2021, and annual traffic will exceed half a zettabyte.
  • Mobile will represent 20 percent of total IP traffic by 2021.
  • The number of mobile-connected devices per capita will reach 1.5 by 2021.
  • The total number of smartphones (including phablets) will be over 50 percent of global devices and connections by 2021.
  • Over three-fourths (78 percent) of the world’s mobile data traffic will be video by 2021. [Source: Cisco Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update, 2016–2021 White Paper, (Visited website May 2, 2018)]

M.S. in Cybersecurity Management

UB recently obtained from the Maryland Higher Education Commission the necessary approvals a to begin offering a M.S. in Cybersecurity Management degree. This program designed to meet the needs of security specialists who want to climb the ladder in business, government, defense, and other organizations where data protection and IT systems management. The degree, which is currently accepting students for the fall, is entering the market at a time when the demand for effective protections against electronic threats has never been higher. In the Baltimore-D.C. corridor, for example, employer demand for master's-level cybersecurity management professionals grew 68 percent between 2013 and 2017. Last year, that number—doubled. UB's foray into this growing field is not focused on the technical side of cybersecurity, instead, the new program is about building leadership skills, the ability to evaluate and reduce risk, and gain knowledge of cybersecurity strategy and policy development, and so on. In a field that is rapidly changing by design, the management of an organization's cybersecurity footprint requires a solid educational foundation. And we are here to make it happen.

Accounting and Finance Certificate Programs 

You might be sitting in your office as you read this and be saying, "How can I up my professional game?" The Merrick School of Business' accounting faculty have built academic pathways for just that reason.  In the last year they have either development or updated the 12-credit graduate certificates aligned with accounting to better position you for career advancement or professional enhancement. And all these certificates can feed right into the M.S. in Accounting and Business Advisory program. Check out the new options.

• Accounting Fundamentals is designed for students who want to strengthen their understanding of accounting or for students seeking to fulfill some of the accounting requirements to sit for the CPA exam.
• Business Valuation is a stackable credential for people who want to hone their skills in estimating the economic value of an organization's financial interest and risk. This certificate will allow students who seek more focused training in business valuation to develop necessary expertise to advise their clients. It will also address the needs of students in accounting who are need to complete 150 credit hours for purposes of CPA licensure, but who do not necessarily seek a full master's degree.
• Government Financial Management has the biggest news. We are now offering the certificate at two sites; the University of Baltimore and at The Universities at Shady Grove campus in Rockville, MD. The certificate is designed primarily for individuals who are interested in careers in government financial reporting, government auditing, and government contracting and budgeting. It also prepares you for the Certified Government Financial Manager and Certified Defense Financial Manager examinations.
• Internal Audit Services The graduate certificate Internal Audit Services is designed primarily for individuals who want to strengthen their understanding of internal audit and prepare for the Certified Internal Auditor examination. The field of internal audit is one that is expected to see growth through the next decade.