Dr. Andy Wood, Department Head
Phone: (540) 568-2332
Email: wood3ja@jmu.edu
Location: Zane Showker Hall, Room 535
Website: http://www.jmu.edu/cob/marketing
Professors
D. Boyd, I. Clarke, T. Clarke, V. Larsen, A. Wood
Associate Professors
W. Faranda, M. Tokman
Assistant Professors
G. Atav, J. Derby, J. Guthrie, J. Parker
Lecturers
S. Hertzenberg, R. McMillen, L. King, J. Manuli, C. Snyder, R. Tate
Mission
The marketing department’s mission is to develop highly successful marketing professionals who deliver exceptional value to their customers, employers and communities and to advance the practice of marketing through academic and professional engagement.
The marketing curriculum focuses on traditional and online marketing skills needed in various business settings and industries. The curriculum seeks to develop competence in five areas: factual and conceptual knowledge, problem solving skills, communication skills, experiential learning, and use of information technology. Students will be prepared to enter corporate, small business or not-for-profit environments with highly valued skills and an understanding of the need for continuous learning.
Goals
- To deliver a solid foundation of the concepts and theories of the marketing discipline, including market environmental issues; strategic market planning, implementation and evaluation; marketing research; buyer behavior and market segmentation; and development of marketing programs.
- To engage students in critical thinking processes, requiring in-depth analysis of qualitative and quantitative market data and development of subsequent marketing strategies based on this analysis.
- To enable students to evaluate marketing alternatives and commit to a course of action, using financial, organizational, environmental and ethical criteria as bases for decision making.
- To teach students a variety of information technology tools and techniques to improve marketing and overall business performance and deliver greater value to customers.
- To facilitate students’ continuing development of listening, writing and oral communication skills.
- To develop students’ marketing-based interpersonal skills, such as group-based negotiation, consensus building, delegation and performance evaluation.
- To integrate classroom study with exposure to industry practices throughout the marketing curriculum and ensure marketing students access to experiential learning opportunities in marketing career tracks.
Career Opportunities
- Consumer marketing and business-to-business marketing: sales, direct marketing, market analysis, product development, Web-based marketing and customer relationship management.
- Communications: advertising account management, communications management, technical writing, media planning and coordination, and public relations.
- Consulting: marketing consultation, data analysis and data sales.
- Marketing research: database management, market research analyst and project management.
- Product/Brand management: business-to-business sales, product specialist, channel development and promotional marketing.
- Retailing: store management, merchandise buying, trend analysis, Internet sales and visual merchandising.
- Not-for-profit marketing: fund-raising, public relations and customer service.
- Sports/events marketing: merchandising, contract administration, event marketing, trade show management and e-commerce marketing.
Co-curricular Activities and Organizations
- Madison Marketing Association. This student club is affiliated with the American Marketing Association, a national marketing association for marketing professionals, faculty and students. MMA is open to all JMU students. MMA is comprehensive with its marketing programming and offers students information and activities in direct marketing, retailing and marketing management.
- Professional Sales Club. This organization strives to help all students that are interested in sales and give them the knowledge and skills they need to be successful in a professional sales role.
- Pi Sigma Epsilon. PSE is a professional fraternity, which focuses on programming and extracurricular experiences in marketing, personal selling, and sales management.
- Mu Kappa Tau. This is an honorary marketing fraternity for students with high scholastic records. Admission is by invitation only. The club invites speakers and engages in joint programming with other JMU student organizations.
- DECA. Collegiate DECA is a student-driven organization that values competence, innovation, integrity and teamwork.
- Ad Club (MAAF). The MAAF is JMU’s only student advertising organization and a student chapter of the American Advertising Federation (AAF).
Special Admissions Requirements
Admission to the marketing major may be limited and competitive if student enrollment exceeds available resources.
Only those students who have been formally admitted to the College of Business will be considered for admission into the marketing department.
Degree and Major Requirements
Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing
Marketing majors conform to the general structure of the B.B.A. degree program. The B.B.A. degree in marketing requires a minimum of 120 credit hours of undergraduate course work.
Fifty percent of course work, or 60 credit hours, must be taken outside of the College of Business. In counting the 60 credit hours of non-business courses, B.B.A. students may include all hours taken in general education (usually 41), up to a total of nine hours in economics and three hours of COB 191 or MATH 220. The remaining hours to bring the total to 60 must be taken from any academic unit outside the College of Business. Students should carefully select these non-business electives to help them gain additional knowledge and expertise for their careers and personal lives.
Major Requirements
Students planning to major in marketing must complete the 30 hour, lower-division B.B.A. core requirements (see the College of Business section for the list of courses) prior to enrolling in upper-division B.B.A. core and marketing courses. Upper division courses normally begin in the first semester of the junior year. The lower-division core curriculum should be completed during the first two years of study along with most of the university General Education curriculum. Failing to complete all lower-division core requirements on time will delay enrollment in upper-division core and major courses. Two upper-division B.B.A. core courses are required: COB 300 (parts A, B, C and D) and COB 487.
Marketing Curriculum
The marketing curriculum consists of 27 credit hours in marketing. The required courses equip students with knowledge and skills all marketers should have. Elective courses allow students to pursue areas of special interest and prepare for specific career tracks in marketing.
Students will complete a concentration in one of the following:
- Marketing
- Professional sales
Concentrations
Marketing has many aspects and marketers engage in a wide variety of activities. Marketing concentrations enable students to prepare for specific career paths within marketing.
Transfer Credit Policy
The marketing program will accept no more than two courses for transfer credit toward the major. These courses must be from AACSB institutions In addition to this general College of Business policy, there are restrictions on which courses will be accepted for transfer credit.
Students must take the following courses at JMU:
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