New Wharton, Annenberg concentration to begin in fall

Faculty members in the Wharton School sat down to talk business Tuesday, approving a proposal for a dual concentration in Marketing and Communications which will be implemented next fall. Students who choose the concentration, which will only be offered to Wharton students, will study Marketing in Wharton and Communications in the Annenberg School for Communication. The dual concentration represents the first time Wharton students will be allowed to study a concentration -- Wharton's equivalent to a major -- in another school. The program is also the first official Wharton dual concentration, said Wharton Vice Dean Richard Herring, who organized the program. Wharton students currently have the option of majoring in two concentrations, but the school has not officially recognized any other combined concentrations. The dual concentration will be twice the size of a single four-course concentration, requiring students to take four courses each in Marketing and Communications. Wharton students taking two concentrations are generally not allowed to "double-count" classes toward both concentrations. Dave Schmittlein, chairperson of Wharton's Marketing Department, submitted the official proposal for the concentration in October. The program has been under consideration for the past two years since Paul Messaris, Annenberg's associate dean for undergraduate studies, first suggested the idea. Undergraduate Communications majors already have the option of studying Marketing in Wharton as part of the five major-related courses they are required to take outside of Annenberg. Messaris said he decided to approach Wharton "because of the previous relationship we had." Herring said the concentration "seemed to make sense on both sides" because "a lot of marketing is how you influence people to buy your product." Annenberg Professor Joseph Turow, who teaches Communications 130: "Mass Media and Society," one of the courses Wharton students will be required to take as part of the concentration, agreed that marketing and communications tend to go hand in hand. "People who want to understand the role of marketing have to understand the role of media and vice versa," he said. Although Annenberg students will not be directly affected by the new concentration, Messaris said they will benefit from more diversity in the classroom. Increasing the number of Wharton students enrolled in Communications classes will add "valuable perspectives to our courses." Herring said he hopes Wharton students will take advantage of the opportunities presented by the new concentration, which he said is not offered at any other business school, to his knowledge. Although an unlimited number of students will be allowed to take the concentration, Herring admitted that only a small portion of them are expected to take it because it adds an additional four courses to their load. Wharton currently offers three undergraduate dual-degree programs -- Management and Technology in coordination with the Engineering School, International Studies and Business with the College of Arts and Sciences and Health Care Management with the Nursing School. Although Messaris claimed developing multi-disciplinary programs is a "secondary activity" for the Annenberg School, the school recently announced a communications minor in the Nursing School which will also begin next fall. Annenberg is also in the process of working with the Engineering School and the Graduate School of Fine Arts to develop a new Engineering major called the Design of Digital Media.

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