Marketing Association Student Group Moves Over to TMP

Santa Barbara, CA – The Technology Management Program (TMP) at UC Santa Barbara (UCSB) is pleased to welcome the collegiate chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMA) under its program. A UCSB student-run organization, AMA officially joined the program this past year and will have TMP lecturer Sheetal Gavankar serving as the co-advisor for the chapter.

The chapter has been on campus since 2012 and was previously housed in UCSB’s Department of Communication with Karen Myers, Professor of Communication, serving as the faculty advisor. Gavankar will take on the role as the new co-advisor for the group starting this academic year 2016-2017.

“I am very excited to join Dr. Myers to signify TMP’s association with UCSB AMA,” Gavankar expressed. “UCSB AMA’s move over to TMP makes for a fitting collaboration. Many engineering and TMP students are interested in marketing careers, but very often they don’t know where to begin. For them, this collaboration provides an opportunity to explore further.”

While the campus does not offer a major or minor in marketing, students from all majors can join the marketing group and have exclusive access to marketing internships and networking opportunities. Similarly, students from all majors across campus can take marketing courses through TMP, such as Entrepreneurial Marketing, Creating a Market-Tested Startup Business Model, or Market Research for Business.

Both TMP and UCSB AMA are committed to broadening students’ learning experiences and developing them into business and marketing-savvy professionals.

Continuing the Chapter

Since its inception by students Aaron Cohen and Christina Collins, who would serve as the first presidents for 2012-2013 and 2013-2014, the AMA chapter has grown gradually in membership and as of 2016, has more than 100 active members.

Myers, who was there from the beginning and served as the first faculty advisor, noted the need for a marketing-focused organization.

“So many UCSB students have career interests in various aspects of marketing or business ownership. The Marketing Association gives students the chance to apply what they have learned in their classes giving them exposure to marketing careers and the marketing challenges they will encounter as entrepreneurs.”

As a group, they have participated in AMA’s Collegiate Case Competition since 2013, a national event that brings together top students from each chapter to work on a marketing challenge. Last year in 2015, they entered in the Hershey’s Ice Breakers marketing challenge and finished in the top third of the competition.

Throughout the year, UCSB AMA offers talks from local marketing experts, provides enrichment workshops and hands-on marketing projects, and connects students with internship and career opportunities. This past year, they sold advertisement spots on folders and distributed 2,000 of these folders across campus, a challenging learning opportunity for members of the group.

Another project involved creating marketing materials for the Women’s Economic Venture (WEV), a local non-profit organization. In the coming year, AMA will continue to look for partnership opportunities and offer similar marketing services to local companies and organizations.

Karen Kyi, who will serve as the UCSB AMA president for the academic year 2016-2017, anticipates a busy year ahead. "My hope for AMA is to expand the organization to reach all students. Marketing is such a broad industry so I think the more students are exposed, to it the better.” She further adds, “With this in mind, AMA is definitely amplifying efforts this year to connect with other student organizations and groups!" 

About UCSB American Marketing Association

The University of California, Santa Barbara, Marketing Association (UCSB AMA) is a collegiate chapter of the American Marketing Association and is open to UCSB students of all majors. The organization’s goal is to give members exclusive access to internships, provide students with up-to-date on current marketing trends, and allow them to learn first-hand from local guest speakers. The group also provides a community for young enthusiasts who are excited about the myriad facets of marketing.