Mar 28, 2024  
2014-2015 Catalog 
    
2014-2015 Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Services Science Minor


The economies of most developed countries are dominated by services; even traditional manufacturing companies such as General Electric and IBM are adding high-value services to grow their businesses. Improving productivity in services often requires combining technical, social and business innovations. Effective combinations of these innovations often develop naturally together. Cross-disciplinary knowledge and skills relevant to services are becoming necessary for most college graduates. The minor in Services Science aims to provide these skills by drawing together cross-disciplinary courses to understand services from management, economics, engineering and/or cognitive science perspectives.

Minimum Requirements


  • MGMT 150: Service Science [4.0 units] 
  • One upper-division MGMT-project course
  • Three additional courses, one from each of the following areas (at least two must be upper-division):
    • Cognitive Sciences
    • Computer Sciences and Engineering
    • Economics

Services Science Minor Program Learning Outcomes


  1. Describe through a multidisciplinary lens the process of how knowledge is converted to value in the services sector.
  2. Assess how goods and services can be improved, administered and optimized.
  3. Apply appropriate information technology to analyze basic business processes and recommend strategies for improvement and optimization.
  4. Present basic knowledge of the relationship between IT and service systems.
  5. Use professionalism in writing and speaking that is consistent with the discipline

The following guidelines pertain to all SSHA minors:


  • To complete any SSHA minor, students must complete a minimum of five courses, at least four of which must be upper division.
  • All courses must be taken for a letter grade.
  • All minor course requirements must be completed with a C- or better.
  • A minimum overall grade point average of 2.0 (C) in upper division courses is required. The only exception is a minor in Arts, for which the minimum GPA in upper division courses is 2.7 (B-).
  • At least three of the five required courses must be taken at UC Merced.
  • Only one course may be used simultaneously to satisfy requirements for two minors.
  • Only one course may be used to satisfy both a minor and a major requirement.
  • Students must consult the UC Merced General Catalog for prerequisites to required courses.