Just like retailers must carry products in order to make sales, universities must offer a robust selection of their “product”–in this case, classes and degree programs–so that students can get what they need and when they want it. It’s no small task from a planning standpoint, though, to ensure that the bread and milk of our merchandise portfolio is consistently available. We are doing just that in the College of Business.
Across the various disciplines, efforts are underway to ensure that a broader variety of courses are taught more frequently, and across the on-campus and online modalities. This is being done to help offer students required and elective courses in a regular rotation such that they can better plan their own curricula and graduate in a timely fashion.
The effort includes offering previously online- or campus-only courses, and adding the other modality, as well as rejuvenating some courses not taught in several semesters. Dr. Syed Anwar, for example, has added MKT4360 Product Management to his long list of courses he has taught through his 38 years at WT. This was necessitated by the departure several years ago of the person who previously taught the course. It is a specialized area of inquiry within Marketing, but it is very important to offer it as an option for majors. The class will now be offered each Fall term, with plans to rotate through on-campus and online delivery every other year.
Another course that Anwar has volunteered to teach is MKT6370 Health Care Marketing, a course that has been on the books for some years, but never offered. The steady number of MBA students who have chosen Health Care as their emphasis area is all the rationale that was needed for Anwar to develop this course, which will be offered online.
Dr. Nick Gerlich is re-launching MKT3354 Hospitality and Tourism Marketing, coinciding with the development of a new major in that field. The course will be available to all Marketing majors, though, and will be held on-campus in Spring 2025. With more than 8000 hotel rooms in Amarillo alone, there are many opportunities for employment in this field. Nationally, there are 5.29 million rooms, a number that continues to grow. Travel has returned to pre-COVID levels, and even exceeded it in some areas. We thus seek to help prepare students for employment in this growth sector.
Also in the MMGB Department, Dr. Jimmy Kim offered MGT 3333 Small Business Management on-campus for the first time in many years. This is an important foundational course for anyone seeking a concentration in entrepreneurship and small business management.
In Finance, Dr. Anne Macy is offering FIN 3311 Real Estate Finance on-campus for the first time in many years. The previous instructor, who is no longer with us, had offered it strictly online. Dr. Macy’s rendition will allow for guest speakers in the classroom, as well as site visits to help illustrate key concepts in the course
Dr. Scott Jone is also reviving FIN 4325 (also available to graduate students as FIN 5325) Financial Modeling. The course, which will be offered online, had not been offered for several years, thanks to the departure of its instructor. It is a technical course, one that requires a refined skillset, which Dr. Jones brings to the table.
There are others as well, illustrating our commitment to bring as many course options to our students as we possibly can, and in both on-campus and online versions. The depth and breadth of academic choice serves to make our degrees relevant, personalized, and doable.