Any undergraduate student who takes a course offered by the Tufts Gordon Institute will explore and develop personal insight, practical skills, profound purpose, and confidence to lead a fulfilling, impactful life in college, business, and beyond.
Tufts Gordon Institute’s Business, Management, and Leadership Minor aims to provide graduates with the mindset and skills to address and solve complex personal, professional, and societal challenges. As students launch their careers, they will make purpose-driven contributions to their professions and to society, promote social good, and achieve personal success.
Some of the core outcomes and objectives of the Business, Management, and Leadership (BML) Minor are:
*This minor was developed out of the Foundations of Future Leadership (FFL) minor, and subsequently the Leadership and Management minor, and as of January 2025, will replace these. As a result, the credit value and other course details of some courses on this webpage have changed. Students who matriculated prior to Fall 2024 who wish to complete the FFL minor will have the option to, or can opt to complete the new BML minor instead. Interested students may email TGIstudent@tufts.edu to schedule an advising session to discuss these options.
Our aim is to help the next generation of leaders, whatever their chosen career path, to develop the skills and mindset to make a real difference in the world and take from their Tufts education a sense of profound purpose to use their leadership skills for the benefit of all of society.
This minor is open to students in Tufts School of Engineering, School of Arts and Sciences, and School of the Museum of Fine Arts.
To receive this minor students must complete a minimum of 15 credits: the Required Foundation Course, at least 6 credits from the Core Course options, and electives from Tufts Gordon Institute's portfolio of courses to complete a total of 15 credits at minimum for the minor. Course details are listed below:
This foundation course is a requirement to complete the Leadership and Management Minor and counts towards the 15 credit minimum.
This course will cover:
Theory and practice of leadership. Development and application of leadership skills across a range of contexts including startups, corporations, and nonprofits. Focus placed on developing self-awareness in preparation for the initial leadership position.
Notes: Required course for Leadership and Management Minor
Students must select at least 6 credits of Core Courses from the following options:
This course will cover:
Introduction to sound money management in personal and professional finance. Creation of greater financial awareness, and development of financial vocabulary. Financial requirements across life stages including student finances, purchasing the first home planning, and investing for life events and a comfortable retirement. Basic business finances, such as budgeting, accounting statements, and taxation.
This course will cover:
Development of effective verbal communications skills across a range of personal and professional scenarios, including public speaking, interpersonal communication, storytelling, public narrative, speeches, presentations, interviewing, and networking.
This course will cover:
Practical examination of marketing from startups to nonprofits, including opportunities to gain hands-on, applicable experience, emphasizing the mindset and skillset to apply marketing principles. Consumer behavior, market research, audience targeting and segmentation, positioning, digital marketing, and the elements of the marketing mix. Importance of personal branding and the application of marketing principles in professional settings.
This course will cover:
Exploring the skills and knowledge needed across an individual's career. Planning for internships and placements, preparing for a job search and gaining the skills and confidence for interviewing and starting a job. Students will develop the skills and knowledge needed to plan for a successful and fulfilling career.
This course will cover:
By taking a holistic view of life and leadership, this course will challenge students to explore practical and profound questions related to living a purpose-driven life both personally and professionally. The course will address issues such as work/life balance, personal ethics and effectiveness, self-knowledge, discovering one's own authentic voice and vision, and how to contribute to a global society with an ethical mindset and cultural sensitivity. The course is designed to be an engaging interactive seminar which will use literature, film, social commentary, and real-life leadership portraits as springboards for personal and professional discernment.
The Business, Management, and Leadership minor includes the required courses listed above + elective coursework to reach a minumum of 15 credits for the minor, all taken for a grade. For the elective requirement, students may choose from Tufts Gordon Institute’s portfolio of courses (EM, ENT, and TML).
It is for undergraduate students from the School of Engineering, School of Arts and Sciences, and School of the Museum of Fine Arts. This minor is for students seeking to gain foundational skills and competency related to personal and professional leadership and management within the business context. The courses in this minor can also be taken individually by undergraduate or graduate students from A&S, SOE, SMFA, Fletcher, Friedman, TUSM, TUSDM, or Cummings. Please note: Graduate students should check with their department about enrolling in or receiving credit for undergraduate-level courses.
The minor can serve as a foundational part of every student’s Tufts education and also as a gateway to additional business studies in leadership, innovation, management, and entrepreneurship.
The minor is an opportunity for students to discover their personal values and professional purpose and to develop their own path towards leadership to make a meaningful impact in any profession. Pursuing this minor serves as a meaningful and practical complement to the undergraduate majors offer across Tufts University.
Students can complete the minor in 2–6 semesters, depending on their schedule. The foundation and core courses in the minor are offered every fall and spring semester to provide flexibility in scheduling and a student could take two or more minor courses concurrently, if needed.
For SOE students, the courses that you take for this minor can count for another minor and/or major without restriction.
For A&S students, no more than two courses used for any minor may be used toward a major or another minor.
All of the foundation and core courses for the Entrepreneurship (ENT) and Engineering Management (EM) minors can count towards the elective requirements of the Business, Management, and Leadership (BML) minor. Likewise, all BML foundation and core courses can count towards the elective requirements of the ENT or EM minors.
Yes, complete details about the transfer credit process are available in SIS on this Tufts website. During this process, if you request TML course credit, then your request will be routed to the Undergraduate Transfer of Credit Department Representative listed here for Tufts Gordon Institute.
Typically, transfer credit is issued only for elective course credit. Transfer credit requests are reviewed on a monthly basis. If you do not receive a response to your request in SIS within one month, then please reach out to TGIstudent@tufts.edu.
Please email TGIstudent@tufts.edu. Thank you!
Students must declare the minor with the Registrar’s office. Please visit the Major and Minor Declaration page to learn more about this process. You can complete this process at any point during your experience with the BML Minor.
After declaring the minor with Student Services, students must complete the Minor Certification Form below. This can be completed before you have finished all required courses and before you have received final grades. Once the form is approved, we will return a signed copy to the student's email address. Students will then bring the signed form to Student Services before their graduation period's deadline.
If you have any questions about the Business, Management, and Leadership Minor, please contact TGIstudent@tufts.edu.