Jay Gary, founding member of the Association of Professional Futurists (APF), reports that Regent University's new Master of Strategic Foresight degree has successfully completed its inaugural year.

Thirteen people started the MSF program this past year, and a similar sized group is projected to start the program this year. The program was three-years in the making and drew upon leading academic futurists worldwide, including Dr. Leonard Sweet, Dr. Peter Bishop, and Dr. Richard Slaughter.

MSF students develop professional skills to help organizations chart their future, beyond their present horizon. Tom Hoffmann, a graduate of the Studies of the Future program at University of Houston, joined Gary to teach in the MSF program.

The emphasis at Regent's School of Global Leadership & Entrepreneurship (GLE) on foresight, strategy and innovation has not just been limited to the MSF degree, but has now been incorporated into the MBA degree for executives and entrepreneurs. In addition, a 3rd year major on strategic foresight has been launched in the Doctor of Strategic Leadership.

And the "Global Leadership Major" in the Ph.D. has incorporated an elective, LDGL 715 Futures Research & Global Change, to equip researchers with forecasting skills to help government, military, or non-profit leadership do long-range policy analysis decades out.

The launching of the MSF degree, and its majors and emphasis in other degree programs such as the Futures Studies concentration in the Master of Organizational Leadership, has put Regent University on the map in the world of futures thinking and practice.

Last summer Regent University joined APF as an organizational member, raising its profile further to offer a professional certificate for futurists in private business, public service and non-profit contexts.