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Connect classroom learning to real-world settings through immersive experience.

• Complete one of the following: 
  • Verified internship with 120 or more hours or for credit with a B or better in addition to any core course requirements, or
  • Business-focused study abroad with required grades
• Submit evidence for hours or grades, and a supervisor’s letter for internships, along with your reflection paper on applied marketing experience

Develop your professional presence and contribute to the marketing community.

• Complete at least three marketing-related activities totaling 100 or more hours, such as student organization leadership or membership, Student Ambassador service, with a maximum of 40 hours, professional organization involvement, service learning or volunteering, and career workshops
• Submit logged hours and letters or other evidence from advisors or organizers, along with your reflection paper on engagement in the marketing community

Build research skills through faculty-mentored work and scholarly communication.

• Complete at least two of the following:
  • Conference presentation,
  • Directed research, or independent study with a grade of B or better,
  • 40 or more non-credit hours in research workshops,
  • Marketing or sales competition, national or international awards, or
  • Honors Thesis
• Submit logged hours and letters or other evidence from advisors, along with your reflection paper on research in marketing

Strategy content, paid social, and measurement across major platforms.

• Earn the Meta Social Media Marketing Professional Certificate with six courses and about 76 hours, including a capstone
• Upload your Coursera certificate and include the reflection paper on digital marketing

Planning scheduling Agile and Scrum risk and stakeholder communication.

• Complete one of the following: 
  • IBM Project Manager Professional Certificate with eight courses and about 111 hours, or
  • Google Project Management Certificate with seven courses and about 179 hours
• Submit the certificate and reflection paper linking tools to marketing projects

Frontline service excellence and role readiness for retail or call center.

• Complete the CVS Health Retail Customer Service Professional Certificate with four courses and about 65 hours
• Submit the certificate and reflection paper on customer service

Build job-ready skills for an in-demand career as an entry-level Sales Professional.

• Complete one of the following:
  • Salesforce Sales Operations Professional Certificate with four courses and about 103 hours,
  • Salesforce Sales Development Representative Professional Certificate with five courses and about 114 hours,
  • Keller Williams Real Estate Agent Professional Certificate with five courses and about 125 hours, or
  • Zoho Sales Representative Professional Certificate with five courses and about 117 hours
• Submit the certificate and reflection paper on sales

Discovery strategy roadmaps, Agile delivery, launch, and iteration.

• Complete one of the following: 
  • IBM Product Manager Professional Certificate with seven courses and about 94 hours, or
  • Xbox Product Manager Professional Certificate with five courses and about 100 hours
• Submit the certificate and reflection paper on customer value and trade-offs offs

Collect, analyze, and visualize data to drive marketing decisions.

• Complete one of the following: 
  • Meta Marketing Analytics Professional Certificate with eight courses and about 123 hours, or
  • Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate with about 152 hours
• Submit the certificate and reflection paper connecting analytics to optimization and decisions

• Evidence for the Star, such as letters, hours, or grades, or a Coursera certificate, as specified
• Reflection paper of three or fewer pages, double-spaced spaced 12 pt Times New Roman

Submissions are on a rolling basis. Awardees are announced near the end of each semester. Each Star may be awarded once during your studies.

Submit your application here:

By earning Stars, you are completing resume-ready credentials that highlight specialization and showcasing your drive with verifiable achievements. 

Yes. Each Star can be earned once during your studies.

Completing marketing-related tasks for a non-profit organization. Several service-learning courses are offered in the School of Marketing, which can be taken for credit, but must be in addition to any core course requirements of the student’s program. If taken for credit, the student must earn a B or higher in the course. For non-credit or volunteer work, the student must log 50 hours, and a recommendation from someone in the organization’s leadership is required, indicating the hours logged and the scope of activities.

Yes, when they are marketing relevant and hours are logged and verified as described.

Yes. Submit the certificate and the Reflection paper for each Star earned.

Email the committee, and we will confirm.

The 'macro' question that you are answering in this paper is "SO WHAT?" So what did you do during this internship? So what that you were engaged in the marketing community? Or so what that you participated in research-related activities? What was the essence of the Coursera Certificate you got? Who does it affect? How might it be useful? How did your experience connect to your academic work? How did you grow intellectually and/or personally?

Remember that since your internship/marketing community engagement/research was a highly individual experience, your paper will also be unique, addressing those specific topics and questions that concerned you. 

Therefore, please include a short description of what you actually did (daily during your internship, during the community engagement activities - however many they may be - or when you are working on your research or honors thesis), and then demonstrate your analytical ability in your reflection on your experiences. Finally, proofread and spell check! This is crucial because this shows how serious you are.  In some cases, mistakes even prevent the content from being understood.

Working with a research faculty on a marketing research project. Research hours must be beyond what is required by the student’s program. This can be completed for credit (1-3 credit hours), with a grade of B or better required. If non-credit, at least 40 hours must be logged, and a recommendation from the student’s mentor (USM faculty member) is required.

• Taking a directed research class (Eg., MKT 492 or HTM 492)

Yes, UGS counts as a conference presentation.

Attending at least two research-focused workshops/training, with a total of at least 20 hours. These are available through USM, as well as other marketing organizations. Hours must be logged and approved by the workshop coordinator. A typical research workshop lasts between 4 and 12 hours.

• Participating in the marketing research workshop – provided by USM or outside USM (e.g., SPSS, NVivo, R, etc.) Contact SoMKT professors if you need help with research. 

Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis. Awardees are announced near the end of the Fall and Spring semesters.