(MK) Marketing

MK 116. Intro to Public Relations. 3 Hours.

Students tackle the fundamental principles and techniques of public relations and related communication tools. This course looks at current public relations practices and problems, types of communication, and communication strategies. Students learn how to organize thoughts and disseminate material to the appropriate channels while working to prepare an actual PR packet for an off campus non-profit agency.

MK 211. Search Engine Marketing. 3 Hours.

Search Engine Marketing provides students with a fundamental understanding of website promotion from both the marketing and technical perspectives. In addition to learning web analytics, students learn how search engines work and rank. They also learn all aspects of search engine optimization. This course explores the future of search and the semantic web.

MK 216. Principles of Advertising. 3 Hours.

This course provides an understanding of the basic principles and practices of advertising. It examines the development process including target audience identification, product positioning, creative messaging, media strategies and campaign execution. It also looks at the roles in an advertising agency and how marketers build brands and integrate their communications.

MK 220. Marketing Fundamentals. 3 Hours.

This course is an overview of marketing concepts, tools, and methods with an emphasis on learning to develop responsive marketing strategies that meet customer needs. The course focuses on identifying market opportunity, product development, promotion planning, pricing decisions, and channels of distribution.

MK 228. Digital Marketing Principles and Strategies. 3 Hours.

This course provides students with critical information about the current state of digital marketing and its strategic use for business. Students learn principles of inbound marketing, organic search engine marketing, online advertising, and analytic and conversation tracking. Students also develop and execute an actionable plan for digital marketing of a business as well as personal brands.

MK 314. Cross Cultural Communication. 3 Hours.

MK 314 is a communications course aimed at helping future professionals in a broad spectrum of fields better serve themselves, their colleagues, and their clients/audience by examining cultural paradigms and attempting to provide a comprehensive overview of communication in various professional contexts across lines of race, culture, gender, age, sexual orientation, and ideology. Connections between rhetoric (public speaking), composition (writing), and the marketplace of ideas in an increasingly global economy (culture) will be examined and practiced in ways that will enable students to become stronger thinkers, writers, and speakers. During this course, students will use their new understanding of communication to strategize for career success and practice real-world applications in professional and social situations.

MK 315. Agency Practicum I. 4 Hours.

This course provides students the experience of being part of a marketing communication agency by working with real-world clients to meet their needs. Strategic planning, implementation of strategies, and creation of visual, digital and written work for a variety of clients are performed in a teamwork setting under faculty supervision. Additionally, students work on agency promotion, brand identity, website, and other collateral materials. All majors are welcome. Note: Course is repeatable with permission of instructor.

MK 317. Public Relations Techniques. 3 Hours.

This course is designed to apply the fundamental principles of public relations. Through case studies and application, students learn how to develop and implement public relations campaigns. Emphasis is on the application of the four-step process in solving public relations problems. In this course, a student carries out public relations research, develops a public relations plan, implements components of that plan, and evaluates the results. Students also explore ethics and legal considerations, measurements and assessment methods, media relations, news conferences, special event planning, and crisis communication. Prerequisite(s): MK 116 and GV 245.

MK 322. Social Media Marketing. 3 Hours.

This course utilizes a highly interactive format and simulations to introduce students to the uses of social media as a marketing tool. The course looks at current social media practices and problems for businesses as well as communication strategies, techniques, and analytics to measure success. The intent of this course is to provide students with practical guidelines for utilizing all types of content and social media platforms to reach a selected audience.

MK 326. Consumer Behavior. 3 Hours.

This course examines theories of consumer motivations and psycho-social and biological variables which influence consumer attitudes, preferences, and decision making. It also looks carefully at the methods that can be used to develop approaches for planning new products and developing effective marketing strategy.

MK 330. Marketing Communications Internship. 3-9 Hours.

This experiential course is a supervised work experience with participating employers for Marketing Communications students. It provides for the application of classroom learning in a professional work environment. Each student finds, chooses, or is provided with an internship site to engage in experiential learning.

MK 332. Marketing Communications Internship II. 3-9 Hours.

This experiential course is a supervised work experience with participating employers for Marketing Communications students. It provides for the application of classroom learning in a professional work environment. Each student will find, will choose, or will be provided with an internship site. The site chosen will be based upon; (1) an interview conducted by the management of the internship site, (2) the acceptance by the internship coordinator, and (3) the student’s preference of location based on availability. The internship coordinator will have the final decision on all internship placements. The coordinator’s decision will be based on his/her interaction with the student during previous coursework and his/her understanding of the requirements of the student and the internship site. Every consideration will be given to the student’s personal preferences with regard to location and type of internship site. Junior or Senior Level. Prerequisite(s): College Level=Junior or College Level=Senior.

MK 338. Marketing Research. 3 Hours.

In this course, students examine the basic research concepts and practices as applied to the analysis of marketing problems. Topics include sources of data, collecting data, sampling, questionnaire construction, tabulating data, and report preparation using computerized statistical software.

MK 404. Advanced Digital Marketing. 3 Hours.

This course examines the essential role of analytics in digital marketing. Students learn to collect, analyze, and interpret marketing data to optimize strategies across various digital channels. The curriculum focuses on translating analytics into actionable insights, emphasizing both technical skills and effective communication. Practical applications include measuring campaign performance and creating data-driven recommendations. By the end of the course, students understand how to leverage analytics to enhance marketing effectiveness.

MK 418. Agency Practicum II. 4 Hours.

This course provides students the experience of operating a marketing communication agency, including working with clients to meet their needs, strategic planning, creation and implementation of strategies and tactics. Additionally, students manage agency policies and procedures, promotion, brand identity, website and other collateral materials. All majors are welcome. Note: Course is repeatable with permission of instructor.

MK 422. Sales and Sales Management. 3 Hours.

This course provides students with the fundamentals of good salesmanship and sales management. Prior to studying management principles students practice sales techniques in simulations. Cases are used to illustrate and evaluate principles of sales management.

MK 499. Topic/. 3 Hours.

This course listing is intended to provide the opportunity for faculty to offer advanced courses of interest in Marketing Communications students that would not normally be part of the University curriculum.