| The primary intent of this study was to develop a database to aid in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of baccalaureate programs in transportation and logistics. Opinions were sought from selected motor carrier supervisors regarding 46 knowledge and skills areas and 38 college courses that might be important for the job performance of new graduates. The areas and courses were developed through a literature review. Also, data were obtained to determine the uniformity of opinions among respondent subsets.; The research instrument was a mailed questionnaire sent to 181 supervisors employed by 10 carriers in 8 southeastern states. Valid responses were received from 106 supervisors (a 58.6% return rate). The opinions were expressed on a 5-point "extremely important"-to-"not at all important" Likert scale.; The data were used to rank by median response the relative importance of the knowledge and skills areas and college courses. The data also were used to test the independence of the supervisors' opinions relative to their years of motor carrier experience, the size of their employer, the geographical location of their employment, and their area of supervisor responsibility. The chi-square test was used with the 0.05 level as the minimum for a significant difference. As a part of the data analysis the areas and courses were categorized as being essentially human relations/communications, technical, or a combination of these.; The supervisors overwhelmingly rated the human relations/communications areas and courses as the more important. Their opinions were generally independent of experience, employer size, job location, and responsibility. Of the 332 chi-square statistics calculated, only 22 were significant beyond the 0.05 level. For the other 310 opinions (93.3%), the proposition of independence could not be rejected.; Conclusions and applications from this study include the need for emphasis on human relations in advanced courses. Also, industry/education interrelationships, possibly through local advisory councils, should be actively maintained. |
