Welcome back for another action-filled semester!

Please take a moment to review the contents of our January 2005 Marketing Newsletter. Our plans are to share these with you at least twice each semester to keep you on top of issues and plans relating to your major.

Today (aside from all of your New Year`s resolutions), please note information regarding the Status of the Marketing Major, news from Academic Advisement, the newly revised Marketing Website, and Feedback on Use of the Page Facilities.

The Status of the Marketing Major

Registration for Marketing courses to be taken in Spring, 2005, went very smoothly, despite the Departmental challenge of offering an adequate number of electives to meet your needs. The Marketing major continues to grow at a double-digit rate annually, much faster in fact, than enrollments in the College overall. This tells us that Marketing not only continues to be a popular major, but more popular in fact, than some alternatives.

By the Numbers…

The number of 3rd-week, Fall 2004, Marketing majors (this is when the Registrar`s office recently audited enrollments) stood at 145, up from fewer than 100 just a few years ago. The Marketing faculty is pleased to see the interest in an area so critical to organizational success, and has been scrambling to ensure that we maintain coverage of courses we know to be important. Comparatively, this places Marketing among the leading majors in the College in terms of number of students in the
major.

Winter graduation (December 17th) included 119 students from the College of Business and Public Administration--24 were Marketing majors. Best regards and good luck to all!

Staffing…Retail Management, Marketing Research I, Personal Marketing, Marketing Foundations, and Marketing Management

Retail Management. For some of you, our efforts fell short when we found it necessary to cancel the always popular course in Retail Management (315), otherwise scheduled for this Spring. Finding a qualified instructor outside of our regular faculty has been difficult, though we are at work on this in earnest for Fall, 2005.

Marketing Research I. For those of you taking Marketing 320, Marketing Research I, this will be your first introduction to Dr. Sheila Hanson. Dr. Hanson is a Marketing Research Manager at the EERC, offering the added ability to bring a great deal of practical experience to bear on the process of designing and implementing marketing research projects. Dr. Hanson taught two sections of this course in the Fall, and will be covering this area in the Department in the Spring. Her section will be meeting from 7-9:50 PM on Tuesdays. Her office will be located in Room 118F, across from the break-out rooms in the Page Marketing Department suite.

Personal Marketing. Some of you may already have taken the ever popular Personal Marketing (201), recently taught by Ms. Traci Kovar. Ms. Kovar is returning in the Spring to offer this course on Wednesday from 6-8:50 PM. There continue to be a few seats remaining in this class.

Marketing Foundations. A new wrinkle is being advanced in the delivery of Marketing Foundations (305). Long-time faculty member, Mr. Bard Stillerud, will be offering this course in larger sections (3:30-4:45; 5:00-6:15) on a Tuesday/Thursday schedule. This change has been implemented in response to the large numbers of students entering the College and the Major. Mr. Stillerud has a broad range of activities planned for this course and it promises to continue to be an excellent introduction to our field.

Marketing Management. Two sections are offered again this Spring. There was a time change implemented during the Fall registration period that is worthy of a reminder. Both of these sections will be taught by Dr. Connie Bateman. Section 1 will meet per the schedule book at 3:00 PM on M/W; note that section 2 will meet at 5:00 PM (revised time) on M/W.

Overall, virtually all sections are full. There will of course, be some last minute changes made to the schedules of some, but we are now operating at capacity.

Preparations for Fall, and Spring 2005-2006…

As your think about your schedules for next year, you might want to note the following planning by the Department involving Retail Management, Advertising, and Promotion Management.

Retail Management (315) is tentatively scheduled for both Fall, 2005, and Spring, 2006, pending successful identification of an adjunct instructor. We hope to offer this during the early evening.

Advertising (312) will be offered as one larger section only, during the Fall semester of 2005. It is not currently planned for the Spring, 2006 line-up.

Promotion Management (412) has been planned as an elective during both Fall, 2005, and Spring, 2006. Note that Advertising (312) is a pre-requisite. We have not been able to offer this course in some time, and we’re pleased to be able to include it for next year. Those of you interested in obtaining depth in the promotional category should think seriously about including it in your plans. Section size will be limited to 35.


Academic Advisement

News you surely can use includes:

• Last date to apply for graduation in May, 2005: February 8. Stop by the Office of Academic Advisement to complete the form.
• Registration Dates to Remember
  • Summer Schedule will be available on March 7
  • Fall Schedule will be available March 22
  • Registration for Summer and Fall will occur April 4-2

Web Site for Marketing

Like all departments in the College, Marketing has revised its web pages. When you have a chance, check this out, and send us some suggestions for any additional information you might like to see. We’re not yet finished--look for more changes in the Spring. Send any comments or suggestions to Ms. Lisa Spencer, at lisa.spencer@mail.business.und.edu.

The Page Family Marketing Center Facilities

This year saw the benefits of alumni support in ways never before experienced by the Marketing Department. The substantial gift by Greg and Cindy Page enabled the renovations you have all seen and enjoyed this past semester. These include the two large, break-out rooms, the lab, and for those of you in Marketing 320, the use of the Conference room for research. If you used any or all of these facilities, let us know. Please tell us in your own words, in a note (lisa.spencer@mail.business.und.edu) and let us know how any or all of these improvements aided you in completing the requirements of your classes, how often you used these facilities (each and every), and what, if any, problems you may have encountered in their use. Further, let us know what you like most about the renovations recently completed. We’d like to hear from you!

And, please complete the Feedback Form if you used either the Page breakout rooms or the Page computer lab during the Fall. Your replies will help ensure the most effective use of the space well into the future. Your responses will be tallied without reference to any of you individually.

In Sum

Overall, this is shaping up to be a great year for the Marketing Department. We look forward to your return and wish you well as we start our first week. On behalf of all the members of the faculty, thanks for your contributions to the classroom, the College, and the field. Have a great semester!