Recognizing the growth in e-commerce, Johnson & Wales University will introduce two new majors next year that will combine marketing savvy and elements of web management and design.
Through the School of Technology and the School of Creative Marketing, a four-year bachelor’s degree program will be offered in Web Management and Internet Commerce and a two-year associate program in Web Site Development.
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”Our graduates will possess the technical ability to create and maintain web sites, plus the business acumen needed to use the Internet as a tool for marketing and communications,” said Stephen Andrade, chairman of the technology school.
Andrade said the new majors – to begin in September – fill a void left by the majority of colleges and universities. In the process it makes Johnson & Wales more competitive in attracting students.
”I think right now we might be the only school that has a four-year major in this area. Certainly other schools have classes and seminars, but nothing like this,” he added. “We have to distinguish ourselves with majors that are very contemporary.”
Staying ahead of the curve has been important to Andrade since he left Brown University’s computing and technology department last fall to join Johnson & Wales.
He said when creating the majors it was important not to make them technologically heavy, but provide a “hybrid” program that mixes a variety of topics
PUZZLING IT OUT are Donal Owen, left, and Mike Cannoto.
“What makes a successful web entrepreneur is someone who is a good communicator, knows technology, understands business plans and know how to market a product,” he said.
One-third of the major’s courses will be focused on the technical side – ranging from web design to electronic database marketing – while the remaining classes will include a variety of subjects like math, language and sociology.
Mark Neckes of the university’s School of Creative Marketing said it is important for marketing students to gain technical skills, something that is often avoided.
”We have not even seen the tip of the iceberg in terms of (e-commerce) and the area of marketing,” said Neckes. “The industry is demanding a person who crosses over from marketing to the more technical side.”
He said some needed skills include desktop publishing, web design and “data mining,” the use of consumer information to develop patterns of purchasing behavior.
Johnson & Wales has sent 35,000 brochures to the usual student recruitment sources (i.e. high school guidance counselors) to promote the new majors.
The school has also made a substantial investment in creating a “web studio.”
“The studio will be like a client server environment. There will be an Oracle database and various Internet hosting services. We want an environment that will simulate the working conditions students will find once they graduate,” said Andrade.
Before spending time and money on the new programs, school administrators did their homework. They went through a process they call “DACUM” or “developing a curriculum,” which included holding a two-day discussion with 10 professionals in the field of marketing and web development.
They picked the brains of these practitioners, ranging from employees of Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island to Blue Moon Industries, and created a document outlining the needs of the web majors. That document was then sent to from 80-100 other professions for their review and then it received final revisions.
“The curriculum was developed by experts, who gave us concrete and vital information,” Andrade added.
The relationship between the school and the business community will be just as important to the new majors in the future.
Andrade said he is talking to companies like GTech, CVS and Ocean State Online to form “virtual internships” for Johnson & Wales students.
“Yes, people can buy a computer program and learn some of these skills. But here we have the chance to do work for a real company (albeit) in a virtual mode. It’s a chance to succeed and fail, and most importantly to learn,” he said.
