Marketing Fellows
The program is student led and managed, with support from CCIMS and Marketing faculty.
Developing Marketing Excellence in MBA Candidates
The Marketing Fellows program gives selected McCombs MBA students committed to pursuing leadership in marketing the opportunity to develop their marketing acumen and management skills through a combination of focused curriculum and consulting projects. The program elevates the caliber of marketing students produced at McCombs, and the reputation of the Marketing Department overall.
School Objectives
  • Develop increased recruiting interest in UT marketing students, from both existing and new companies
  • Diversify the types of organizations that recruit marketers from UT
  • Demonstrate dedication to developing elite marketing talent, helping prospective student recruiting efforts
  • Leverage the program’s accomplishments to elevate the overall industry and academic strength of McCombs
Student Objectives
  • Exercise new marketing knowledge immediately through sponsored projects
  • Diversify their experience and leadership skills to ensure future success in their chosen career path
  • Develop advanced hard and soft skills that are transferable to any future marketing occupation
  • Work with other committed marketing students in a collaborative environment, enabling more advanced final deliverables
  • Provide students with more diverse internship and full-time employment options through the relationships that are developed through Marketing Fellows, benefiting the entire marketing student body

Program Structure & Application

Fellows who are selected to participate register for the weekly, two- to three-hour “Marketing Fellows” course during their 2nd and 3rd semesters of their MBA program.

There are two core elements to the program:

1. Curriculum

2. Praticum

In addition, there are multiple opportunities to further develop leadership skills and marketing acumen.

Application Components

It is strongly recommended to prepare all essays before opening the application. Once submitted, the application cannot be changed.

  • Resume indicating name, email, address and contact phone
  • Two essays (double-spaced, one-inch margins, must be 250 words or less)
    • Why are you interested in becoming a member of Marketing Fellows? How does learning more about marketing support your career goals?
    • As a marketer and leader you will be tasked with understanding a variety of customer bases and expected to work with diverse teams whose views and interests may differ from your own. Share a time when your perspective shifted by engaging with someone with a different experience, culture, or identity than you. How did you adapt to it and what impact did it have on your work?
  • One short answer (must be 100 words or less)
    • We are looking for candidates who are not only passionate about marketing, but who also want to be actively involved in improving the Fellows program. Please tell us about a time that you’ve shown leadership or taken initiative, either in a personal or professional setting. If selected, how would you contribute to or improve the Marketing Fellows organization?
  • One of the biggest pieces of recruiting is demonstrating your ability to market yourself. Upload a four-slide PowerPoint document in PDF format that shows the committee why you’re a great candidate for the program.

The Marketing Fellows program is designed around real-time company projects. To enhance the quality of these projects and student access to information, many of our partners require Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) so they can provide students a complex and authentic marketing challenge facing the company. Partners may also ask students to relinquish rights to intellectual property developed in the classroom based on intellectual property of our partner company and related derivative works.

Curriculum

Leadership training (~40%)

  • Effective communication and presentation skills on how to gain support and mutual prioritization
  • Effective career management determining desired/right career path and how to achieve one’s goals
  • Effective management skills developing and supporting others to succeed

Strategic Thinking (~40%)

  • Strategic, big idea thinking on how to identify the next big thing, how to manage through options, and how to determine the optimal way to achieve success in the market place
  • Innovations in marketing on how to identify new opportunities within the market place based on consumer insights

Tactical Execution (~20%)

  • Effective agency management – getting the most from one’s agency
  • Launching and assessing marketing program performance

Practicums

Fellows participate in marketing projects for sponsoring companies in conjunction with their classroom experience. Special projects will give fellows the opportunity to apply their learning in real time for sponsoring companies.

  • Fellows are required to participate in at least one major project
  • Marketing Fellows are surveyed so projects that fit their personal interests can be identified
  • These projects are strategic in nature and not limited to research oriented projects
  • Smaller and local companies are invited to participate so students can get involved in broader projects and possibly attend meetings, allowing for face‐to‐face interaction
  • Projects can turn into summer internships or ongoing “consulting” projects

Opportunities

Fellows will have opportunities throughout the school year to develop leadership skills and strengthen their marketing acumen outside of the curriculum and practicums.  Here are a few of those opportunities:

  • CCIMS MBA Brands Program
  • Marketing Conference
  • Marketing Brand Camp
  • Attendance at various marketing conferences 
  • Marketing Fellows officer positions

Frequently Asked Questions

What additional courses are required as a part of Marketing Fellows?

Marketing Fellows students are automatically registered for two additional courses – one in the Spring semester of Year 1 and the second in the Fall semester of Year 2.

  • The Spring Speaker Series is a customer strategy course featuring top leadership from a variety of companies and real-time marketing engagements with participating companies.
  • The Fall Consulting Practicum class allows Fellows to participate in group consulting projects for marketing divisions of top companies, with guidance from faculty.

How Does the Marketing Fellows Program Differ from Graduate Marketing Network (GMN)?

GMN is a student-run MBA organization that provides members with the tools and resources to connect them to their marketing interests and help them discover new ones. Membership to GMN is paid and open to all MBA students.

Marketing Fellows is a selective MBA fellowship program that handpicks students who are committed to pursuing leadership in marketing and seek an opportunity to develop their marketing acumen. Marketing Fellows have direct access to professional development, recruiting assistance and alumni mentorship through the CCIMS program.

Marketing Fellows and GMN collaborate to organize the McCombs Marketing Conference every year.

What Are Some of the Events that Marketing Fellows Participate In?

Marketing Fellows oversee Brand Camp for incoming first-year students. They also participate in interview workshops and mentorship programs with partner organizations like Dell, Keurig Dr Pepper and Deloitte. The Fellows program also periodically organizes social and networking events, including happy hours, community service and even an exclusive visit to the Circuit of Americas F1 race track.