Representatives from SAIC present a $94,000 donation the business school at UAHuntsville. (Click photo to enlarge.)

The SAP software is used in ten graduate and undergraduate business school courses, with as many as three other courses -- including a course in business intelligence management -- in various stages of development, according to Dr. Jeet Gupta, UAHuntsville’s eminent scholar in management.

More than 1,000 students have taken classes using the SAP software since it became part of the UAHuntsville curriculum in June 2006. That includes more than 20 business school alumni who are members of the SAIC team supporting NASA’s SAP environments.

“Continuing to incorporate SAP/ERP into our business classes means that this resource will touch the lives of hundreds of additional students every year,” said Dr. Jim Simpson, dean of the UAHuntsville College of Business Administration. “The feedback we have received from industry and government reveals that these classes give our students a unique advantage, and benefit the organizations that employ them.”

“Maintaining strong ties to universities is important for SAIC,” said C. Daniel Harris, SAIC senior vice president. “The pursuit of joint curriculum initiatives is critical in meeting future challenges in business and technology for our key customers like NASA. We look forward to our continued work with the students and faculty at UAHuntsville to support these customers in Alabama.”

Since the program’s inception, SAIC has supported the development of student skills through internship programs, content assistance and guest speakers.

“This is the beginning of a new, closer working relationship between SAIC and the business school,” Gupta said. “This will establish a long-term relationship between us to serve both the students and the community.”

“In this community, one of the critical elements needed for taking full advantage of the opportunities presented by the BRAC realignment is going to be growing the pool of people who are skilled in ERP,” Gupta said. “This grant from SAIC will allow us to grow our ERP teaching programs using the same SAP software used by the U.S. Army, NASA, their contractors and many other businesses in the community.”