Noting that the UW-Parkside marketing program is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB), Dr. Dirk Baldwin, interim dean of the College of Business, Economics, and Computing said the program was already an area of strength for the university.

"Our marketing program has been structured to be equivalent to a major for many years," Baldwin said. "Given the high quality of our program, changing the marketing concentration to a major makes its equivalency to programs at other AACSB universities more visible and easily recognizable."

In addition to a highly successful academic program, marketing students at UW-Parkside have received national and international honors. Most recently, a group of four sales and marketing students won the National Team Sales Competition held at Indiana University, defeating teams from Syracuse, Indiana, Toledo, and the University of Wisconsin.

"Our dedicated faculty has provided sales and marketing students with outstanding opportunities in the classroom and in the community," Baldwin said. "The opportunity to advance the marketing discipline to an academic major is due in part to the success of our students."

Baldwin also pointed out the "significant student demand" for sales and marketing courses, and that student demand corresponds with the demand for UW-Parkside graduates by regional employers.

"Marketing is one of the growing areas of professional opportunity for college grads," Baldwin said. "A recent study showed that 80 percent of business grads will have a position in sales or marketing at some point in their careers." Business management, accounting, and management information systems (MIS) comprise the largest group of majors at UW-Parkside with more than 1,000 students enrolled. Traditionally, a high percentage of graduates from UW-Parkside stay in southeastern Wisconsin and northeastern Illinois.