Jada Seaman faced a dilemma as she neared the completion of her bachelor’s degree at the University of Virginia. The Maryland native, a track athlete since eighth grade, wanted to pursue a graduate degree but had only one more year of eligibility to participate in track.
Then she found the M.S. in Marketing program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Haslam College of Business. With its 10-month format, she could achieve her goal of earning a master’s degree in marketing while finishing out her track career. She applied and was accepted to the program’s 2023-24 cohort.
“UT checked all the boxes,” she says.
Data-Driven Solutions for Real-World Clients
The Haslam master’s in marketing offered Seaman balance in more ways than one. As a self-described “creative marketing person” who plans to pursue a career in advertising, she was drawn to the program’s data-driven strategy. “I love making and designing things, but I want to excel in the data-driven side as well,” she says. “With the fact that this program [emphasizes] data analysis, I can balance the creative and the data side of marketing.”
Seaman believes this well-rounded skill set, along with the hands-on work Haslam graduate marketing students do with actual clients, will help her and her cohort stand out in the job market.
“On my resume, I’ve already added bullet points based on the courses I’ve done so far,” she says. “The fact that we’re able to talk with real people, [address] their companies’ real problems, use the data they’re giving us and we can actually see an impact that we’re going to make — that’s the most exciting part for me.”
Supportive Cohort, Faculty and Community Fostering Success
The Haslam M.S. in Marketing’s face-to-face format enhances its spirit of collaboration, Seaman says. “Since the program is centered around group work, having an in-person program is really important. We’re always ideating, coming up with ideas, talking with each other, and some of that would not be as smooth if it was online.”
That cooperative environment has created a tight-knit cohort in which the 28 students feel supported both by each other and by the program faculty. “Everyone in my cohort is really supportive [and] the faculty are always open to questions, and I really appreciate that,” Seaman says. “As students, we all came here because we want to learn, and the professors want to help us. We all have a common goal.”
As a student-athlete who relocated to Knoxville, she also feels huge appreciation for the school spirit and sense of community she sees throughout the town. “The thing I love most about Knoxville is that it’s centered around UT,” she says. “Everybody’s wearing the Power T. I love how everyone’s really proud to be a Vol and to be in Tennessee.”
The Haslam M.S. in Marketing program is now accepting applications for the 2024-25 cohort. Visit the program’s website to learn more.
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CONTACT:
Stacy Estep, writer/publicist, sestep3@utk.edu
