By Natalie Forster, Features Assignment Editor
The American Advertising Federation (AAF) is a current club and class that is offered at St. Bonaventure University, where students compete in the National Student Advertising Competition.
St. Bonaventure has been involved for over 20 years with 30 students each year. They’ve made past advertisements for companies including JCPenney, Nissan and Yahoo.
There are only two current majors in the Jandoli School of Communication, journalism and mass communication and strategic communication and digital media. Many students have questioned why advertising is not also a major or higher focus in the school. The demand may not be as strong as for other majors, but there is a demand.
“We have a lot of students in AAF who move onto advertising careers after earning a B.A. in strategic communication and digital media or journalism and mass communication,” said Mya Cappellino, a junior journalism and mass communication major. “Having this major would benefit and allow students to be educated in the actual major.”
One of the big issues with creating a major such as this is the lack of professors to teach it. There are already a number of classes that would fall under a possible advertising degree including Copywriting, Advertising Campaign and Graphic Design.
Michael Jones-Kelley, a lecturer in the Jandoli School, is the only main advertising teacher in the Jandoli School. Advertising does also have marketing roots, and there are some classes in the School of Business that students can take to further their advertising knowledge.
Another issue with creating this major is that the creative aspects, which are not covered in the marketing side of advertising, are not skills that are easily teachable.
“There always is that gray area between what is marketing and advertising,” said Haley Schrenk, a senior journalism and mass communication major and the creative team’s curent creative director. “They definitely should have the major, but it deals more with the creative side here.”
The last problem with adding a new major is the lack of current funds. When the time comes that a new major is necessary, faculty will have to be added to create a new department in the Jandoli School.
“The students won’t be able to have me every time or they’re gonna get gypped,” said Jones-Kelley. “They need other eyes, other ears.”
There are some concerns about adding this major, yet some students still prefer that it be an option. Learning under an advisor gives students the opportunity to help with the creative aspect. Seeing success and learning from those who have been successful greatly influences students.
Advertising is most likely not the next possible program to join the school. According to David Kassnoff, interim dean of the Jandoli School, majors such as health care communication and sports communication are beginning to take precedence.
Health care communication is becoming important because of the growing elderly generations. While professors have worked in this field, such as Kassnoff himself, there has yet to be a health communication program set in place. Sports communication is also gaining a lot of interest, and specialization in this field could greatly improve sports journalists who come out of Bonaventure.
“People come from an astounding array of backgrounds, and very few of them had degrees that said bachelor of arts or bachelor of arts in advertising,” said Kassnoff.
As far as the new majors of criminology and health professions being created, the Jandoli School supports it. Instead of taking away from funding, Jones-Kelley notes that it will add more funding into the university, which could later result in more funding for other departments in case they decide a major is necessary to add.
For anyone interested in an advertising path, it still is possible to get this sort of education through the individualized major program. Between marketing and strategic communications classes, there is a way to get most of what is needed for a promising career in advertising, but students interested in the field will also need to go on to a portfolio school after graduating from Bonaventure.
“Everyone in AAF is very passionate about what they do,” said Cappellino. “If Bonaventure had advertising as a major, there would definitely be a group of people who do it.”
