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Special to the Reporter | Neal Wagner

Marketing students in the University of Montevallo’s Stephens College of Business will be able to specialize their degrees and skillsets through the college’s new marketing concentrations.

Through the new concentrations, marketing majors will be able to choose courses fitting their areas of interest and career aspirations, and will graduate prepared with the skills employers are looking for in today’s job market.

“The marketing landscape and the skills required of new marketing graduates has shifted due to the adoption of new technology tools,” said Carolyn Garrity, associate professor of marketing. “To better reflect the current professional marketing environment, we decided to add marketing concentrations.

“These specializations will help students develop skills in a sub-field that will expand their depth of knowledge with the marketing practices employers need. This should help our students be better prepared for success after their time at the University of Montevallo.”

UM marketing majors are now able to specialize their degree in any of the following areas:

General marketing: Focused on developing a comprehensive overview of marketing theory and professional practices, preparing students to make an impact in a number of fields.
Sales: Focused on teaching skills and techniques needed for a dynamic career in sales and sales management.

Digital marketing and analytics: Focused on developing a competitive skillset needed to work with the latest trends in online marketing, social media marketing, email marketing and mobile strategies.
Advertising: Focused on developing an understanding the skills necessary to be a successful account executive, including copywriting, design, layout and competitor research.

The college also offers a marketing minor for all UM students, which prepares students to serve as the interface between a company and its customers.

These concentrations will prepare graduates for jobs such as account managers, public relations specialists, marketing specialists, sales representatives, sales managers, marketing managers and digital and social media marketing specialists. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, jobs in marketing-related fields are expected to grow faster than the national average for all occupations between now and 2029.

“A marketing degree offers students multiple career paths in our competitive marketplace,” said Dr. Gary Johnson, assistant professor of marketing. “Our new marketing concentrations will help our students fine tune skills and techniques needed for them to more effectively contribute to a company’s strategic objectives and deliver results. These concentrations will increase a student’s marketability in their job search, but also enables them to develop a more focused-approach to their future career in marketing.”

To learn more about the Stephens College of Business marketing program, visit Montevallo.edu/marketing.