Marketing Honors Program
Brings Students and Companies Together by Pamela Mclaren
From Dateline March 13, 2003
Q:
What is so special about
this program?
A:
This program has been enormously
successful in encouraging, rewarding and showcasing our best
marketing majors.
The meeting venue is comparable to that of attending a professional
meeting like that of the American Marketing Association.
The corporate partners truly appreciate the professionalism
of this program. Seven of the corporate partners/directors
have been with the program from its inception. Several have
commented that they have gone to other universities, like
USC and UC Riverside, and have not had the success in finding
potential candidates as they have with the Honors Networking
Program. All of the corporate partners feel that this program
should serve as a model because of the added value it provides.
Q:
How are students selected
for the program?
A:
Students must have at least
a 3.0 grade-point-average - or if they are just short
of that, at least recommendations from two marketing faculty
members to even be invited. The biannual breakfast meetings
are by invitation only.
Before they can attend, the students have to go through an
orientation meeting with either Neil Granitz, who is co-director
of the program, or myself. At this orientation, we explain
the program, define and discuss networking, tell them what
is required of them - business attire and resumes -
and how the process works. And that they can participate every
semester until they graduate, as long as they maintain their
high grades. So as they meet the corporate partners, relationships
develop and it's through these relationships that they
get interviews that may lead to job offers.
Q:
What companies are corporate
partners?
A:
There are a balance of companies
from various industries that take part in the Honors Networking
Program. Participating companies include Minolta Business
Solutions, Target, Macy's, Helpmates, Enterprise Rent-A-Car,
Hunter Barth, Kent H. Landsberg, Donahue Schriber, Bank of
America, PepsiCo, Walgreens, Mervyn's, Hershey Foods,
ADP, Celtic Leasing, Wallace, Compass International and the
Anaheim/Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau.
Q:
How do corporations become
partners?
A:
Companies are invited to attend
the program as corporate guests the first time. Then they
can join the program as a corporate partner. There is an annual
fee that they pay to help support the cost of the program.
In addition, several corporate partners also sponsor scholarships
for the HNP students. Target, Enterprise, Celtic Leasing,
ADP, Walgreens and Anaheim/Orange County Visitor & Convention
Bureau have all been very generous in funding annual scholarships
for our students.
Many of the partners have volunteered to participate with
some of our marketing classes by providing guest speakers
and sponsoring field trips.