January 20, 2000
Tiffin University reorganizes offerings; e-commerce courses part of mix
By Cathy Willoughby
Staff Writer
Tiffin University students should have an easier time matching classes with specific job skills next fall.
The marketing department has been reorganized to differentiate the course offerings, allowing students to specialize their business majors.
Marketing professor Shawn Daly said an electronic commerce concentration will be offered fall semester. Plans call for eventually including sales management and advertising/public relations areas.
Daly explained that rather than adding courses, each new concentration will have courses that highlight the information needed to earn that degree. For example, the e-commerce would be a merging of marketing and information services courses.
"There are three or four courses that are pulled out and substituted,'' Daly explained.
"It's important for the students to have very definable, clearly demonstrated skills when they graduate from college,'' Daly said, "rather than a generic set of marketing and managerial skills.''
Another offering TU is examining is arts management.
"That would be a combination of management, marketing and performing arts,'' Daly said. "That could be either the performance or visual arts, which could include the business side of music, the recording industry, all of that stuff. You can just envision all of the things you can get into.''
Daly said that the whole electronic business concept is becoming more popular.
"The total wave is upon us,'' Daly said. "E-commerce is just to tie in with one of the other pieces. It's a big piece of e-business, from business to business through marketing or supply channels.''
He said the public sees the consumer side, with new Web sites springing up daily, selling products and services through the technology. And the United States is on the cutting edge when it comes to using the Internet.
"We are only talking two or three other countries that are at the same point we are,'' Daly said. "And yes, some larger international companies are involved at different extents.''
He cited the Finns, who routinely use the Internet for such tasks as paying their bills, as another of the more advanced countries. The other is Canada; the rest of Western Europe trails.
"Right now we certainly are the first in Ohio,'' Daly said of TU's plans to offer the e-commerce concentration. "I have not seen more than a handful in the Midwest; there are some in the Northeast and California, but we are the first in this region.''
"The initial response from admissions and recruiting has been great,'' Daly said. "Prospective students are really excited by this. We may have more students than we had anticipated.''