RMU’s new Center for Sales Excellence

The Center for Sales Excellence is a new addition to Robert Morris University’s School of Business as of this year, 2019. Just a few steps away from the School of Business, the center is located on the first floor of Massey Hall, which is also home to the offices of RMU business professors and the RMU Colonial Theater. By the end of October 2019, the Center for Sales Excellence team expects to have a fully furnished area with the necessary technology to have mock sales events and role play sales conferences. The Grand Opening is expected to be held in January 2020.

The center will be the hub for the new sales certification process. The classes necessary to get a sales certification at Robert Morris University are Principles of Marketing, Managing and Selling the Brand, The Psychology of Sales, Consultative Sales, and Advanced Professional Selling. The Center for Sales Excellence is expected to have a sales accreditation by February 2020. This will make Robert Morris the only university in Western Pennsylvania to have this accreditation, allowing for students to take advantage of that while searching for jobs in the area.

Dr. Manna is the Director of The Center for Sales Excellence, where he has many duties to keep the center running. Some of his duties as director are to make sure the center reaches its full potential, attain the sales accreditation, and develop the sponsorship of competitions. One of their bigger events this semester will be a sales competition with U.S Steel, where students from multiple schools have a sales competition. More programming is in the works, and there will be many exciting events in the semesters to come. One of the most important goals of Director Dr. Manna is that the Center for Sales Excellence succeeds, and according to him “it 100% will”.

Written by Jackie Medvid and Paul Kurlfink

Edited by Dr. Cathleen Jones

Meet Dr. John Kozup

We got the chance to learn a little about the newest member of the RMU Marketing department and we think he’ll be a great fit here on campus! Dr. John Kozup grew up in Uniontown, PA which lies about 30 miles south of Pittsburgh. When he isn’t teaching he enjoys spending his time running, reading, and writing. Before arriving here at Robert Morris, he taught at Villanova University and Duquesne University. He was drawn to RMU due to the emphasis the university places on the “student experience and student learning.” He also believes the University has a great faculty and atmosphere. Dr. Kozup says that not only is it important to enjoy what you do, but also you have to enjoy the environment where you work. He says that RMU provides the best of both worlds.

 As for why he chose to teach in the field of Marketing, Dr. Kozup offers an interesting answer. In his own words “The growth aspects of a business have always appealed to me. I subscribe to pro-growth, entrepreneurial principles in my work and look forward to interesting discussions with my students.” We asked Dr. Kozup if he had any specific advice to offer Marketing Students here at RMU. He recommends that all Marketing students obtain the Sales and Logistics certifications.  His reasoning for this recommendation is that credentials are key in the current marketplace so that you can differentiate yourself. We also wanted to get Dr. Kozup’s opinion on the rise of social media. He offered this answer, “Social Media is here to stay.  As a pragmatist I tell my students to use it.  Use it and volunteer for a business or a political campaign to grow your expert network.” Keep an eye out for Dr. Kozup on campus and keep him in mind when scheduling your classes!

By: Alex Scrabis and Noah Baughman

Edited by Dr. Cathleen Jones

RMU AMA Triumphs

Are you looking for a group of highly skilled marketers for your business? Do you need people who give a hundred percent effort on every task? If so, then look at Robert Morris University’s AMA team. They are an extremely talented group of people that take pride in what they do. At RMU there are no classes that are offered that are dedicated to doing the case studies like the AMA does. They are volunteering to do these case studies because it is something that they are passionate about and it provides experience that they want to obtain. Other schools have classes dedicated to doing case studies, which take roughly four hours a week to do. 

Robert Morris University’s AMA chapter had gone through a lot of ups and downs last school year. For example, the president of the association graduated halfway through the year, so someone else was needed to fill the vacant spot. It is never easy losing a person this high up in any organization when the school year is half over, but they did not let this stop them.  Sophomore Nina Guenther stepped up and filled the vacant president position, and the group started to come together very well. 

The chapter was able to qualify for the national case study which was held in New Orleans that year. This competition consisted of 330 schools mostly from around the United States. RMU’s team ended up finishing 21st place out of those 330 schools.  This is the second time that the RMU chapter has achieved a top 25 ranking at the New Orleans conference.  RMU AMA officer Anthony Puglisi mentioned that Robert Morris is the most awarded chapter in the greater Pittsburgh area.

By: Tyler Gierl & Adam Newhard

Edited by Dr. Cathleen Jones

2018 graduate Marissa Spade

We sat down with 2018 graduate Marissa Spade to talk with her about her education at Robert Morris University in the Marketing Program. Marissa Spade previously attended the Community College of Beaver County before transferring to Robert Morris University in 2016. She graduated from the marketing program Cum Laude (3.5 GPA). She currently works for Falk Library at the University of Pittsburgh focusing on marketing classes and resources to health science students. 

   

    Marissa told us that without the help and support of professors such as Dr. Marco, 

Dr. Apostolopoulou, and Dr. Jones she would not be where she is today.  Professors like these helped encourage her to do her best and to always strive for something better. She might only be two years out of college, but she has already started thinking about a masters and potentially a PhD program in the future, thanks to professors like these.

    Last but not least, we asked Marissa to share with us the advice she felt would be most helpful to current and future students pursuing a degree in marketing. She felt strongly about encouraging students to pursue certifications that are readily available to them, and usually free of cost while attending school or when enrolled in specific courses such as Social Media Marketing. Certifications she felt increased her understanding of the market and suggests current students to take advantage of were the Hootsuite Platform Certification as well as the HubSpot Certification. Marissa felt strongly that students should take advantage of the resources available to them while in college in order to be prepared to join the workforce.

Written by Lexi Hauptman and Christian Rogers.

Edited by Dr. Cathleen Jones

Recognizing Dr. Budziszewski

By Madalo Mtingiza and Nicole Olinger

Edited by Dr. Cathleen Jones

The RMU Marketing Department is comprised of many hardworking faculty and staff that do their best to help produce successful graduates. While professors play a large role by engaging in the classroom there are many more “behind the scenes” faculty members also making an impact. Dr. David Budziszewski or “Buda” as many business students know him is an advisor who’s made a lifelong impact on many young academics. This semester the two of us, Nicole and Madalo, sat down in an interview with our old advisor to get to know him a little better. We uncovered interesting information, valuable advice, and discovered exactly why Buda should be recognized for the value he adds to the Marketing Department as well as the School of Business as a whole.

Buda has been in the role of student advisor for sixteen years. He was also an adjunct professor for four years prior to this position, which totals to two decades spent working on campus. However, his association with RMU dates further back to his time spent here as a student, during which he earned his three degrees. If that isn’t cool enough, his wife as well as one of his sons, also have degrees from Robert Morris University. You’d be hard pressed to find someone else with that much experience with the RMU campus.

If you’re ever interested in getting to know Buda he can be found walking around campus in the mornings and saying hello to everyone, non-business students included. This is something done out of his own preference as a way to begin the day before he gets started on his routine of answering student questions about their courses, having meetings, and advising.  Always a friendly guy, he likes to look out for everyone and gives great advice. Both Nicole and Madalo can attest to his helpfulness as they previously experienced it when they were lucky enough to be advised by Buda during their freshman year. 

In addition to his friendliness, Buda is known for being approachable and accessible for students of all majors. His coworkers and superiors also cite him as being very reliable. There is never a situation that is too difficult for Buda because his strategy is to come at situations with a sense of humor and then not give up until the question is answered or the problem is solved.

           

Buda states that he never thought he’d end up in his current position when he was a young academic but couldn’t turn down the offer when the opportunity came. He’s previously worked in the printing industry and had some military experiences which prepared him for his job today. One of his biggest sources of success and pride is watching all the students that he’s met and advised go from unsure freshmen to capable scholars walking at graduation. He loves hearing back from students and listening to their success stories.

With this kind of experience and career, Buda is sure to have valuable wisdom and advice for young professionals. He offered much advice for careers and job searching including that when one is looking for jobs, the one thing that should be highlighted on a resume is interdisciplinary skills. These can often be skills or classes that diversify you from others competing in the job market. He also believes that students should have a vision not only for the present but for their future as well. Since marketing is an ever changing, versatile field Buda does not believe  marketing only equates to  sales.

In his opinion both quantitative and qualitative concepts should be brought together to do the best marketing. When questioned about other areas of marketing that are interesting to him Buda explained that he finds the fact that marketers are now able to cater their ads specifically to you based on cookies or search history very interesting.

As fascinating as his career has been, Buda is also interesting from a personal standpoint. His favorite pastimes including fishing, tending to his garden, and playing with his three grandchildren. It became clear to us that he holds his grandchildren near and dear to his heart as he spoke fondly of them and excitedly mentioned that there is a fourth on the way. Something special he does for each of his grandchildren is getting tattoos in their honor. We asked if he’d ever want to be famous for anything and he thought for a moment before saying “for being such a great dad and grandfather”. He is one to give back and said that if he were to step out of his office and find ten million dollars his first step would be to share some with family and friends, enough that they would be instant millionaires.

Another fun question we asked is his plan for if he were to end up shipwrecked on a deserted island. Besides food and water, he would want a good book to keep him occupied as well as some matches to signal for help, cook food, and stay warm. The last scenario we created involved Buda going out to dinner and inviting any three people that have ever existed. He opted for a nice, traditional dinner and selected Jesus Christ, Albert Einstein, and Gandhi to share a meal with him. Our final question attempted to uncover any pet peeves or things he couldn't speak as positively about. Buda admitted to being bothered by students spitting their gum out onto sidewalks rather than into trash cans. He also expressed disdain for all the vaping and juuling that goes on on campus. He cited disliking the smoke and his concern about the long term effects as his reasoning.

On the whole, Buda is a wonderful advisor that any student can benefit from interacting with. You can ask most business students about their time with Dr. David Budziszewki, and they’ll likely express their gratitude for his help as well as their sadness about hearing his plan to leave in December 2020. Buda admits that he is aging and ready to retire and so as it’s been said, all good things must come to an end. Though he will eventually leave, it is obvious that he will always be remembered and regarded fondly on campus. Buda is a great faculty member that has undoubtedly made his impact at our school. For anyone who hasn't yet met him but feels compelled to: do not hesitate! For those who were previously advised or are currently advised by Dr. Budziszewski: we urge you to pay him a visit in the business building, and just thank him for any insight or help he’s provided you with. Oh and don’t forget to grab candy on your way out! He appreciates it if you do.

RMU’s New Sales Certificate Program

            If you have not heard already, RMU is offering a great opportunity for all students eager to improve their professional background. The new RMU Sales Certificate program is very useful to all careers, not just business. This certificate focuses on all the areas of selling, and requires just 4 classes! There is a pre-req of taking Principles of Marketing to get the background knowledge on Marketing. After that class is taken, the other classes needed to complete the certificate are: Psychology of Selling (MARK3800), Management and Selling of Brands (MARK330), Consultative Sales (MARK4350), and Advanced Professional Selling (MARK4800). Not many people are aware of how important a Sales Certificate can be. It is a great resume builder and the knowledge taken away will help in many professional careers.

We got the chance to interview Dr. James Shock, a professor at RMU and a strong advocate for the new Sales Certificate. Dr. Shock teaches a few of the classes required to complete the sales certificate. We first asked him if this certificate was unique to RMU or if it was available at other institutions. He told us that we are not the only institution to offer this certificate. We found out through some outside research that this certificate is also available at Cleveland State, Ohio University, and multiple online institutions. Since all the required classes are for marketing, We asked him if this certificate was strictly for marketing majors. He assured us that this certificate is available for all majors as long as you have taken the pre-req (Principles of Marketing). We asked around to my fellow marketing majors and most of them are aware of and interested in this certificate, so we wondered if non marketing majors were aware of this as much. WEasked Dr. Shock how or why this would appeal to non-business majors, he said “Selling is a part of everyday life. It's a skill which will pay dividends over your entire career.” We also asked him how this certificate could help students more than just a resume builder. He answered with, “Regardless of your career field, selling skills are important. You may need to sell an idea to top management or sell a concept to the team you lead. Selling skills are very valuable for interviewing as well. You are on a sales call, selling yourself to a prospective employer.” Since selling is a part of everyday life, It is clear that this certificate should be talked about with all majors because it can benefit all RMU students in their future careers.

The sales certificate consists of four learning objectives such as steps in effective selling, analytical tools needed to manage accounts/sales territory, similarities and differences between B2C and B2B approaches, and finally, classifying personality profiling in relationships. These are the steps to become a great seller and are very important considering you sell yourself every day! We got into communication with Dr. Dean Manna who is a professor of Marketing as is Dr. Shock. He teaches multiple marketing courses at RMU and mentioned the goal of the RMU Marketing Department is to “elevate the profession of selling to be equal to that of other disciplines such as Finance, Accounting, Management and Marketing.” In a very competitive business world, with students looking for jobs every day, it is important to differentiate yourself and this sales certificate is of value.

Moreover, there is no specific audience as this sales certificate can be placed on any resume. However, those who are business majors could really take advantage of this offer in order to get an in-depth knowledge and understanding of selling in a variety of situations such as sales itself and management positions. Ultimately, the specialized certificate is offered to all majors and can benefit current and future RMU students.

Written by Regis Nairn and Luke Cirlingione

Edited by Dr. Cathleen Jones