Monmouth College faculty members Amanda Cleland and Tom Prince are shown team-teaching a class last spring that analyzed the commercials that aired during Super Bowl LVII
MONMOUTH, ILLINOIS (February 7, 2024) — Monmouth College students have learned about marketing for years, but, beginning this fall, they'll have the opportunity to focus on the growing discipline as a marketing major or minor.
Beginning with the 2024-25 school year, Monmouth will offer an interdisciplinary marketing program that will prepare graduates to excel in one of the fastest-growing professions. The innovative program will focus on developing creative-marketing professionals who also have a solid foundation in working with data.
"Marketing is an essential aspect of modern life for both profit and non-profit organizations," said Business Department chair Mike Connell. "Individuals with marketing skills are, themselves, highly marketable for high-median income positions. Marketing skills — combined with liberal-arts communication skills and creativity — will be a powerful combination of job market and career skills, and that is why it is an ideal program for Monmouth to offer."
Market-research analysts and market specialists are listed by the website CareerFitter among a dozen careers that afford job-seekers the best chance of getting hired in 2024. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the employment of advertising, promotions, and marketing managers will grow by 6% over the next decade, faster than the average for other occupations.
One of the strengths of Monmouth's marketing program is that several of its classes will be taught by veterans of the profession, including Tom Prince, who spent several decades working in advertising and marketing, and Amanda Cleland, whose career includes leadership positions at Amazon and eBay.
"Marketing is in everything," said Cleland. "It's a critically important concept for our students to understand. Tom and I come to the table with real-world experience. We've lived and breathed this stuff in real life at Fortune 500 companies."
In addition to courses in accounting, business and economics, the marketing program will include offerings from the College's well-known majors in art, communication studies, and psychology.
"Our marketing program provides what students are telling us they want: A vocation-focused major with great liberal-arts knowledge to surround it," said Vice President for Academic Affairs Mark Willhardt.
"The combination of the two is a powerful motivator and a powerful set of skills for life after graduation."
Monmouth's marketing major is the latest example of the College's expanding academic programs. In the last six years, the College has added majors in engineering, neuroscience, and health science and human movement.
