Running head: Marketing Plan 1

Marketing Plan: 2 Year Master of Arts in Accountancy and 5-Year Bachelor of Arts in
Accountancy/Master of Arts in Accountancy
Cathy Mangan
iena !eights "ni#ersity
MAR$%&'() P*A( 2
Executive Summary:
&he +ain o,-ecti#es of the +arketing effort are to ,reak e#en or create a sur.lus the
inaugural year of the Master of Arts in Accountancy/ Budget and su..ly costs 0ould account for
the +a-ority of the .rogra+1s e2.enditures/ &he cost of adding a full ti+e .rofessor to start the
.rogra+ 0ould range fro+ 3456555-3456555/ 7ull ,enefits 0ould raise the cost to 3856555 total/
Additional costs 0ould incur fro+ hiring ad-unct .rofessors at the rate of 326455 .er course and
an additional 326455 for an o#erload cost to current faculty/ &he first year .ro-ected ,udget cost
including recruit+ent6 o#erhead and fees 0ould ,e 3956555/ 7or a full acade+ic year in &he
)raduate College6 the tuition cost .er student .rior to technology fees is 3116455/ 'n order to
,reak e#en6 at least 15 full ti+e students 0ould need to ,e enrolled in the .rogra+/
An esti+ated 356555-3156555 for +arketing 0ould ,e re:uired to +eet the desired
outco+e of 15 or +ore students/ &he +arketing a#enues to the target +arket 0ill consist of .rint
+arketing6 use of .u,lic relation +entions in ne0s.a.ers and .u,lications6 indi#idual .ro+otion
through the )raduate Colleges Recruiter and Custo+er Relations Coordinator6 announce+ents in
the alu+ni .u,lication6 and ad#ertising on the institution1s 0e,site/ &he )raduate Colleges
Recruiter6 'nstitutional Researcher6 and !u+an Resources Associate ;ice President all .ledged to
#olunteer ti+e to the .rogra+1s launch/ &he successful outco+e <15 or +ore students= 0ill ,e
assessed at the co+.letion of the inaugural year of the Acade+ic Progra+/
Business Overview:
The Market
&he target +arket for this .rogra+ is .ri+arily .ros.ecti#e iena !eights
"ni#ersity tudents/ Current iena !eights "ni#ersity undergraduate students
MAR$%&'() P*A( >
0ho 0ish to o,tain the needed t0enty additional credits ,efore taking the CPA
licensure e2a+/
Product and Service:
&he .roduct offers students 0ho +eet .re-re:uisite re:uire+ents the o..ortunity
to earn a Master of Arts 0ith >5->? credits o,tained through the iena !eights
"ni#ersity )raduate Progra+/ 15 credits 0ill ,e o,tained through core classes
and the other 15-22 through electi#es/ 'f a student only 0ishes to take the 25
credits re:uired for the CPA licensure e2a+6 they can take any co+,ination of the
follo0ing core classes as 0ell as electi#e o.tions for a total of 25 credit hours/
Core Classes:
Business *a0
Conte+.orary Assurance and Audit er#ices
Cor.orate 7inancial Re.orting: @.erations
Cor.orate 7inancial Re.orting: 7inancial &ransactions
Cost Accounting for trategic Manage+ent
e+inar in Accounting &heory
&a2 Planning for 'ndi#iduals and Business %nter.rises
'f students re:uire .re-re:uisite classes6 they can enroll in those classes in the
undergraduate CA .rogra+/
Electives:
Accounting 'nfor+ation yste+s
Accounting Research and Co++unication
Ad#anced Auditing and Professional Practice
Ad#anced Business *a0
Ad#anced 7inancial Re.orting
%thics in Business and Accounting
MAR$%&'() P*A( 4
7inancial tate+ent Analysis
)o#ern+ental and (ot-for Profit Accounting
'nternational Accounting
'& Audit and Risk Manage+ent
*egislati#e and Audicial 7oundations of 'nco+e &a2
tate and *ocal &a2
&a2 Research and Procedure
Pricing:
&he .rice to enroll in the graduate college full ti+e <si2 credit hours= is 3>6B55
.er acade+ic tri+ester/ &his cost includes t0o6 three credit classes .er tri+ester/
7or a full acade+ic year6 the cost 0ould total 3116455/ 'ncluding the 3>95 tech
fee6 the final cost 0ould ,e 3116?95/
Distriution !ssum"tions:
&he distri,ution assu+.tion for this .lan ste+s fro+ the e2istence of
undergraduate students at iena !eights "ni#ersity 0ho 0ould 0ish to continue
their acade+ic career at the graduate le#el .rior to o,taining their CPA licensure/
&he current gro0th in the accounting field +akes this acade+ic .lan a s+all risk
for a graduate college that is looking to e2.and and increase its degree offerings/
&he e2istence of the 155 credit re:uire+ent is an i+.ortant factor to consider
0hen analyCing the .otential for success at the Adrian Ca+.us/
Com"etitors:
The to" com"etitors #acing the launch o# the new Master o# !rts in
!ccounting "rogram are Eastern Michigan $niversity %&"silanti' M()'
*alsh College %+ovi' M()' $niversity o# Michigan %!nn !ror' M()' and
MAR$%&'() P*A( 5
Calvin College %,rand -a"ids' M(). Siena /eights $niversity will have a
com"etitive edge due to a smaller student to #aculty ratio.
Target Market and Positioning:
&he Master of Arts in Accountancy .rogra+ +eets the target +arket of current and
.ros.ecti#e iena !eights "ni#ersity tudents/ (either Aackson College nor Adrian College offer
a co+.eting .rogra+/ &his ad#antage .laces the .rogra+ in +ore direct co+.etition 0ith
%astern Michigan "ni#ersity and "ni#ersity of Michigan/ Pro+otional efforts 0ill ,egin at the
recruiting le#el for high school students 0ishing to .ursue careers as Certified Pu,lic
Accountants/
,oals o# the Marketing Plan:
&he goals of this .lan are +ultifaceted/
De desire to retain iena !eights Alu+ni and engage the+ at the )raduate
*e#el/
De seek to infor+ high school students of the 5 year o.tion a#aila,le to the+/
&he .rogra+ 0ould +eet the needs of current iena !eights "ni#ersity tudents/
Marketing Strategies:
1) PenetrationE
a) &he .ro.osal suggests ,uilding on the e2isting student ,ase 0hile ta..ing into current
ad#ertising #ehicles6 .u,liciCed through the iena !eights "ni#ersity Ad+issions
Fe.art+ent/ &his .rogra+ 0ill +arket itself in a si+ilar fashion to the fi#e year degree
.lan offered at Adrian College for the Master of Athletic &raining Progra+/
b) tarting 0ith focus grou.s of iena !eights "ndergraduate tudents and current and
.re#ious Master of Arts in Accounting tudents fro+ other Michigan 'nstitutions6 &he
)raduate College 0ill glean a .icture of 0hat is desired ,y .ros.ecti#e students in
addition to graduates/
MAR$%&'() P*A( 8
c) &he 7A7A and )raduate Assistant .ositions 0ill +ake this .rogra+ feasi,le to those
0ho .resent financial need/
d) Print +arketing 0ill ,e achie#ed #ia &he )raduate College recruiting efforts and .osting
in the iena !eights "ni#ersity Faily Announce+ents/
2) Fe#elo.+entE
a) As the .rogra+ de#elo.s6 achie#ing additional licensure 0ill ,e necessary after the first
acade+ic year according to the iena !eights "ni#ersity Associate ;ice-President for
!u+an Resources6 <M/ $ara,etsos6 .ersonal co++unication6 @cto,er ?6 2514=/
(m"lementation Tactics:
'n order to achie#e the a,o#e listed strategies6 the follo0ing indi#iduals 0ill .artici.ate/
&he )raduate College Recruiter and Custo+er Relations Coordinator 0ill ta,ulate and recruit a
total of 5-15 students #ia college fairs/ &he Ad+issions Re.resentati#es 0ill target 15-25 high
school students through indi#idual recruit+ent and at Cele,ration of cholarshi. Fays/
Strategy:
College 7air and Conference attendance ,y the )raduate College Recruiter and Ad+issions
Re.resentati#es fro+ 1/55/15-8/15/15
Budget:
An esti+ated 356555-3156555 for +arketing 0ould ,e re:uired to +eet the desired
outco+e of 15 or +ore students/ Adding a full ti+e .rofessor to start the .rogra+ 0ould cost an
esti+ated 3456555-3456555/ 7ull health ,enefits 0ould ele#ate the cost to 3856555 total/
Additional costs 0ould incur fro+ hiring ad-unct .rofessors at the rate of 326455 .er course and
an additional 326455 for an o#erload cost to current faculty/ &he first year .ro-ected cost
including recruit+ent6 o#erhead and fees 0ould ,e 3956555/
Communication Plan:
MAR$%&'() P*A( ?
'nternal:
a) &he data sheets on current students enrolled in acade+ic .rogra+s6 0hich are a#aila,le to
all e+.loyees 0ill ,e utiliCed/
b) &he )raduate College Recruiter 0ill colla,orate 0ith &he Ad+issions Fe.art+ent to
+ake students and faculty a0are of the ne0 offering/
%2ternal:
a) Client Case tudies 0ill contri,ute to e2ternal co++unication such as the Case tudy
using iena !eights "ni#ersity tudent Allison Brooks/
b) Product Announce+ents at College 7airs 0ill highlight the ne0 acade+ic offering/
Monitoring and Evaluating -esults:
Success Metrics.
a) Career fairs attended6 .rint and electronic +arketing6 and ad+issions efforts 0ill ,e
audited after a .eriod of si2 +onths/
Progress -e"orts:
b) Monthly .rogress re.orts on enroll+ent 0ill ,e re.orted to &he Fean of %nroll+ent
Manage+ent and to the Fean of &he )raduate College6 co++encing on 1/55/15/
c) By 8/15/156 total enroll+ent in the .rogra+ 0ill ,e assessed and re.orted to the Fean of
the )raduate College/