Next Fall, Morningside College plans to merge its Advertising major into Marketing in order to increase job opportunities for students. 

According to Professor Marilyn Eastman, the proposal to combine the two majors has yet to reach the Morningside College Curriculum and Policies Committee. “The proposal is done, but it needs to be polished up,” stated Eastman. The group of business and marketing professors, which includes Eastman, will be sending their proposal in within this week, and, if approved, it will come into effect next Fall. 

If the proposal passes, the new “marketing major” will have new structure and course work for students. Classes will not be added or eliminated from the change, but their content will reflect more of a digital focus.

According to Eastman, “money is going out of traditional spending and being spent in the digital space.” Advertising agencies no longer focus on billboards and bus benches, rather they spend money looking into their customers. Tracking internet cookies and data, modernized agencies release ads and “pop-ups” related to what you search for on the internet. To reflect this new conjoined marketing and advertising tactic, next years marketing courses will put emphasis on digital sales and social media advertising in order to equip students with characteristics commonly sought out by agencies looking to hire. 

Additionally, Eastman, and the other professors who drew up the proposal, hope this change towards a more digital focus will peak students interest in the field of marketing. As she stated, “this is a twenty-first century type of marketing, so, hopefully, students will find this attractive.”

Sophomore at Morningside College, Jemar Lee, a Business Administration and Public Policy major, shared his thoughts about the possible combination of Advertising and Marketing. 

When informed the thought process behind the proposal, Lee stated, “I was unaware this was a thing, but I do understand why they would want to make the change. Most companies in sales use the internet to sell their goods, so it only makes sense to teach students how to appeal to online buyers.” 

Senior at Morningside College, Diego Marquez, a Mass Communications major also shared his thoughts over the change. 

“I had heard that they might be merging the two majors in the future, however I did not know it would happen this soon,” stated Marquez. 

Marquez has taken many business classes, in particular, that fall under the under the umbrella of Advertising and Marketing.

 If not graduating next year, Marquez might have seen completely new course work in his classes. He stated, “I am not opposed to the idea because I know how much our world revolves around the internet. However, if I was required to learn new business strategies in order to match the new course work, I do not know if I would be totally accepting.” Nevertheless, he believes this change will be “a step in the right direction” for Morningside College as they try to modernize their coursework for students.