A Complete
Curriculum.

Our two-year business program will equip you with a firm foundation to launch your business career. Our business program covers a broad range of subjects including sales, business communications, operations, management, and much more. Read on to learn more about the curriculum.

Year 1

Fall

During your first term, you’ll get to know the professional vocabulary, concepts, and processes you will use in a business career, from communication skills to business math, accounting, economics, and business systems.

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Winter

For your second term, you'll delve into the roles of key departments in any business, ranging from marketing to human resources, operations, and customer service. We'll also cover the basics of microeconomics.

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Spring

Put your new knowledge to the test with six weeks of hands-on learning in one of our North American operations.

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Summer

Wrap up your first year of training with a deeper dive into business topics. Coursework includes business writing, law, and statistics, along with principles of management and organizational behavior.

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Intro to Business Communication

Learn about the communication skills required for today’s workplace, from writing to presentation skills. Study tools and practices that will advance your career and foster strong relationships in the workplace.

Customer Service

Examine the value of providing exceptional customer service in today’s business environment. Lear about key customer service skills such as communication, empathy, and how to deal with challenging customers.

Microeconomics

Cover the assumptions and core principles of economics. Learn to analyze behavior in perfect competitive markets as well as imperfectly competitive market structures such as monopolies and oligopolies. Use economic models to study market failures caused by externalities and public goods, and analyze current social issues from an economic perspective.

Intro to UFP Business Systems

Explore the business systems utilized at Universal Forest Products (and other companies). Topics include Microsoft applications, production management, inventory management, shipping in OLM, accounts receivable management, and report warehouse.

Business Math

Gain competence in fundamental mathematical skills, especially those that apply to UFP and its industry. Review relevant math skills, including Universal Forest Products’ “lumber math,” and begin to apply them to UFP situations.

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Marketing 101

Review the critical building blocks of marketing management and strategic planning, focusing on marketing/business fundamentals with the power to affect a variety of real-world opportunities and challenges. The course will be taught through case method instruction.

Financial Accounting

Discuss the core concepts and functions of financial accounting, such as the accounting cycle, internal controls, receivables and sales, inventory and cost of goods sold, assets and liabilities, and stockholder’s equity.

Human Resources – Employment Law and Employee Relations

Learn about the role of human resources, including major employment and labor laws affecting management and employee rights, and the importance of open communication between management and employees.

Macroeconomics

Discover how unemployment, inflation, and economic growth are measured and how they relate to economic goals. Learn about the Federal Reserve System, fiscal and monetary policies, and how these factors influence the business cycle.

Operations Management

Get to know the production process and business practices at UFP to prepare for your first field placement. Topics include facility design, staffing and people skills, safety, budgets, grades/cuts/yields, lumber math, and automation.

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Field Placement

Trade the classroom for the real world during this six-week field placement. You may have the opportunity to explore production, sales, shipping and receiving, human resources, and other departments, where you can apply many of the concepts you learned in the classroom and broaden your knowledge of processes, operations, products, and business.

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Business Writing

Advance your communication skills by focusing on writing, primarily as it pertains to business. This course will also improve your thinking and analytical skills, which come in handy in every aspect of the business world.

Business Law I

Learn about legal principles, primarily those affecting UFP operations. Topics include contracts, warranties and products liability, employment and health and safety law, antitrust, sales, intellectual property, and business entities.

Business Statistics

Discover how to apply fundamental statistical tools to the workplace. You’ll use these skills to analyze data, draw conclusions, and make predictions throughout your career.

Principles of Management

Get to know the concepts, strategies, and tools of management in today’s business environment. This course will equip you with a foundation to plan, organize, lead, and execute in a management role at UFP.

Organizational Behavior

Cultivate an understanding of individual roles and group behavior to appreciate how an entire organizational system operates to achieve goals. This course will help you understand the role organizational behavior plays in personal career development with UFP.

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Year 2

Fall

Begin your second year by exploring the roles of finance, purchasing, and compliance departments, as well as planning for the future with personal finance and entrepreneurship courses.

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Winter

Continue to hone your knowledge and skills with advanced topics such as sales, managerial accounting, international business, project management, and advanced business communication.

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Spring

Year 2 offers another valuable opportunity to apply what you know during a six-week field placement in one of our North American operations.

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Summer

Complete your UFP Business School education with advanced topics in leadership, e-commerce, business ethics, and marketing as you prepare to step into your career.

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Managerial Finance

Review the financial policies and practices that lead to the maximization of the value of a company, including risk and return, management of current assets, capital budgeting, sources of financing, and optimum capital structure.

Purchasing

Explore all aspects of purchasing, including UFP- specific concerns such as lumber grading, purchasing strategies, species differentiation, inventory control, and transportation.

Personal Finance

Equip yourself with the skills you need for personal economic decision-making. The course follows the typical life cycle of personal financial decisions from early career through retirement.

Risk Management

Learn to identify, assess, and prioritize risk associated with UFP operations. You’ll gain a working knowledge of significant environmental, safety, and insurance laws, polices, and regulations.

Marketing II

Explore the principles of advanced marketing strategy. You’ll practice analyzing a business’s situation and formulating, implementing, and monitoring a marketing strategy in a competitive environment. The primary deliverable for this course will be a comprehensive marketing plan.

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Sales

Discover the trust-based consultative selling model. You’ll develop the skills and knowledge to identify your customers’ business drivers, qualify opportunities, demonstrate value to customers, and respond to objections.

Managerial Accounting

Examine the development and use of accounting information for internal planning, control, and decision-making. Topics include cost behavior analysis, costing, budgeting, variance analysis, pricing, and performance evaluation.

Management II

Tackle real-world management challenges being faced today. You will identify an opportunity for improvement at a UFP facility, and craft a solution utilizing the knowledge and skills attained through coursework, internships, and facility experience.

The Job Search

Cap off your business communication education with a focus on the job search process. You’ll practice everything from writing resumes and cover letters to interviewing and networking.

Project Management

Gain a basic understanding of how to accomplish a specific objective utilizing core Project Management Professional (PMP) concepts and toolsets.

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Field Placement

Once again, you'll leave the classroom for a real-life assignment in a new location in the UFP family. You'll have the chance to see classroom concepts in action in production, sales, shipping and receiving, human resources, and other departments, and you can continue to expand your knowledge, experience, and professional contacts.

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Leadership

Discuss various leadership theories and the UFP leadership culture. You’ll acquire the knowledge and skills to prepare you for both professional and personal leadership roles.

E-commerce

Focus on the principles, concepts, and skills for the strategic use of e-commerce. Learn to analyze e-commerce solutions to issues surrounding business-to-business, business to consumers, and intra-organizational trade.

Business Ethics

Equip yourself with a practical, decision-making framework to aid in the identification, understanding, and resolution of ethical dilemmas faced in the workplace.

Entrepreneurship

Investigate the idea of entrepreneurship and its application to UFP. You’ll learn how to identify, assess, and develop a business plan and then apply your knowledge and skills to a realistic business experience.

International Business

Explore how and why firms become global and how they sustain their global position. Learn about the skills needed to manage firms operating in foreign business environments and to work effectively with people of other cultures.

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A Complete Curriculum.

Year 1

Fall

Winter

Spring

Summer

Year 2

Fall

Winter

Spring

Summer

A Complete
Curriculum.