Chancellor Venkat Ready announced in a tweet on March 30 that he has approved a new program of study for students in male modeling management (MMM).
Students who complete the 200-credit degree requirements in the School of Business will be awarded with a Bachelor of Innovation in MMM.
“I’ve decided to approve of this major as a way to allow students who aren’t built for male modeling to still be involved with the business,” Ready explained.
“Male models justifiably have difficulty deciding where and how to walk on the runway, where to eat, what to eat, and how to walk and chew gum at the same time. Because of this, there has been a growing demand of male model managers since 2001.”
(From left to right): Brandon, Devon and William.
The program is designed to be completable in six years, but more gifted students can complete the full degree in five.
Although daunting, the degree was designed to prepare future managers for potential real-world problems that they might face in the industry.
The degree requires a variety of courses to be taken including Money and Banking (ECON 4500), Men and Masculinities (SOC 4080), Psychology of Aging (PSY 3510) and beginning Italian (ITAL 1010).
Two students in the program were interviewed regarding their views and opinions of the MMM degree.
Kelvin Cline, an international student who transferred to UCCS from Austria this year, expressed his excitement.
“I’ve always dreamt about becoming a male model, ever since I was three. I was actually an underwear model for a while but after my knee injury, I had to give up my dreams. But thanks to your grand Chancellor, I can still contribute meaningfully to the industry without having to strut,” Cline said.
The 35-year-old was the first student to enroll in the new degree program.
Haul Ister, a third-year freshman, was a former accounting major who decided to switch to the new major after talking to the Chancellor about the degree.
“I always knew that UCCS had a PGA golf management major, so I figured that a male modeling management major had to be in the works. Frankly, it’s about time that UCCS stepped up to the world stage,” Ister remarked.
Ister added, “When I was talking to the Chancellor, he told me that male model management was like an onion. When you peel back the tasks of a modeling manager, what do you get? You get more and more tasks. From that point on, I knew that I wanted to study this rich intercultural multidimensional field.”
Cline said he believes that this degree will help him to secure an internship with the top fashion companies in the world like Abercrombie and Fitch, Aéropostale and Dillard’s.
“I think the competition will be cutthroat but rewarding at the end. The modeling industry is growing and so there will always be a constant demand for good managers, especially overseas,” Cline said.
Many faculty, students and staff have already expressed doubts about adding such an intensive and demanding degree plan to UCCS, but Ready said he hopes that installing such a program of study will help to unite the campus.
Ready responded to doubts from the UCCS community by saying, “I know that this news will be celebrated by many, while some students, faculty and staff might feel anxious about the transition… but we are beginning to see light on the horizon.”