The UT Dallas School of Management is launching a master’s program to address the demand for marketing professionals prepared for a rapidly evolving, data-focused, global business environment.

The Master of Science in Marketing program will begin in fall 2011. The new program addresses the industry’s need for graduates who have completed more marketing courses than graduates enrolled in the current graduate marketing degree option – an MBA with a marketing concentration.

“Offering a higher number of marketing courses than would be possible in an MBA program was rated as the most important feature by employers when evaluating the M.S. in marketing program,” said Graduate Marketing Director Alexander Edsel. “In the MBA program, students interested in a marketing concentration can only take a maximum of 15 hours of marketing courses. For marketing professionals not considering an MBA, a shorter duration and lower cost make the program very attractive, too. This was rated by marketing UT Dallas alumni in a recent survey as the most attractive feature of this program over the MBA.”

The 36-credit-hour program consists of 9 hours of business core courses covering topics relevant to today’s data-driven marketing profession, such as database systems, statistics and introduction to marketing, and 9 hours of marketing core courses, including foundation courses in consumer behavior, market research and a strategy capstone market simulation course.

For the remaining 18 credit hours, degree-seekers may choose marketing-focused courses related to one of five tracks:

  • Advertising and Brand Management.
  • Business Development.
  • Marketing Analytics and Market Research.
  • Marketing Management.
  • Product Management.

The school also offers two optional professional certificates in “Marketing Analytics and Market Research” and “Product Management” for degree and non-degree-seeking students.

The new offering is designed to prepare students for jobs in business development, Internet-based advertising and marketing, marketing analytics, product management and marketing management.

Because of the large volume of data available from the Internet – search behavior, social networking and mobile smart phones – and scanner data, marketing has become much more data-driven, Edsel said.

“Our program places a heavy emphasis on this aspect. For example, we require statistics and an MIS database course as part of our core courses so students are comfortable with manipulating data, creating a database and running queries or making decisions using statistics, which some programs like a Master of Arts in Advertising degree, do not require,” he said.

Although the program doesn’t officially launch until next fall, students can enroll and begin taking classes during the summer 2011 semester. The deadline to enroll for the fall semester is July 1 for domestic students and May 1 for international students.

For program details, visit marketing master’s website or contact the program director by phone at 972-883-4421 or by email.