Faculty Expectations For Students Majoring In Marketing

If you are considering a major in marketing, you probably find the topic of considerable interest. The faculty agree that marketing is both personally interesting and professionally rewarding. However, we encourage you to realize that an interesting major does not mean this is an easy major. Our courses have the average School of Business grade point average of 3.0 for the introduction (MKTG 300) course and 3.2 for higher level courses. We expect you to be challenged to think your hardest in this major. Therefore, do not be disappointed if you find yourself “enjoying” class but getting an average grade. The faculty in the department are among the best teachers in the school. Therefore, you should find the classroom experience very satisfying. However, whether that enjoyment translates into a high grade rests on your willingness to work hard.

A successful manager of any type, including a marketing manager, will ultimately be evaluated on how well they persuade others of the importance of their ideas. Therefore, all marketing courses have a participation requirement as part of the course structure. The only exception is the MKTG 300 which involves a large class section. The capstone class (MKTG 460) often requires 20% or more of the grade based on participation. Given this, we expect you to learn to share your ideas in class while a student in our major. If English is not your first language, we encourage you to try to participate as best you can and to get help to improve your ability.

Marketers must also have strong analytical and financial skills. Our courses require students to apply statistical concepts and to estimate the profitability of marketing programs.

We expect you to show up for class and to work hard. Certainly we understand if you have occasional interviews or must miss for family crises. However, you should plan to be in class and actively contributing to the class. Faculty will look poorly upon students who miss sessions. After all, if you are not there you cannot participate.

On the issue of working hard, we believe this willingness should not come at the expense of acting as a true professional in the classroom. Students should always uphold standards of academic integrity in and out of the classroom.

This includes common courtesy in interacting with students and faculty, getting involved in student organizations such as Mu Kappa Tau, and showing real interest in marketing – not just in beating out peers for the best job.

We think it is worth noting that faculty have considerable input into the job recruiting process. It is our intention to retain a list of students who consistently exceed our expectations on matters of performance, participation, and good citizenship. This list will be used to give prospective employers feedback on job candidates. Furthermore, students often do choose to enter graduate programs after several years working. Letters of recommendation from faculty are integral to these applications. Therefore, it helps to make yourself stand out in your classes and other activities in positive ways.