RICHARDSON, Texas (March 14, 2006) – A new center at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) School of Management is designed to help executives hone their workplace skills while achieving a widely acknowledged certification.
Participants at the Birkman Learning Center at UTD will receive training in the well-known Birkman Method, a multidimensional assessment which integrates behavioral, motivational and occupational data with the goal of improving workplace and employee performance.
Matthew Zamzow, director of training for Birkman International, which is based in Houston, said this is the first time the company has offered on an on-going basis its certification training for consultants away from its home office. Zamzow said there are a number of reasons Birkman, which was established more than 50 years ago, believed the time was right to expand its base of operations and UTD’s School of Management offered a prime location.
Dr. Robert Hicks, director of SOM’s Executive and Professional Coaching Program, is a certified Birkman consultant. Hicks, who is a licensed psychologist specializing in industrial and organizational psychology, said offering Birkman training complements other programs in the school’s executive coaching curriculum.
“Dr. Hicks was looking for different opportunities to enhance UTD’s executive education programs,” Zamzow said. He also noted that UTD’s location, near a major airport hub, makes it easy for his company’s clients to come for training sessions and will offer both the university and Birkman cross-development opportunities.
He said UTD students may learn about Birkman and decide to get certification in that methodology; meanwhile those coming to UTD specifically for training or to update their certification will be exposed to UTD’s executive education offerings and may wish to continue their studies in other School of Management programs. In addition, Zamzow said, there are long-term partnership opportunities for the school and Birkman, possibly with students using the Birkman instrument as part of their research. “We are hoping to capitalize on that in the future,” he said.
About 60 percent of those who hold Birkman certifications are independent management consultants and the remaining 40 percent are internal consultants, Zamzow said. Hicks said that the Birkman assessments have “a wide variety of uses for organizations and individuals within organizations.”
For more information on the Birkman Learning Center at UTD, please visit http://som.utdallas.edu/birkman.
About the UTD School of Management
Based on publications in the top 24 business journals spanning all areas of business, The University of Texas at Dallas School of Management faculty ranks 33rd in research productivity nationwide. Financial Times, using a broader set of 40 journals, ranks UTD’s management faculty 32nd worldwide. Financial Times also ranks The UTD Executive MBA program 46 th in the world and 25th in the U.S., and U.S. News and World Report ranks the school’s Cohort MBA program among the top 35 at public colleges and universities in the nation. The School of Management is the largest of UTD’s seven schools, with an enrollment of nearly 4,700, of which 2,500 are graduate students.
About UTD
The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor®, enrolls nearly 14,500 students. The school’s freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The university offers a broad assortment of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. For additional information about UTD, please visit the university’s website at www.utdallas.edu.