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y Focus
“The biggest thing that I learned is that most sites rate their success on the amount of hits they get, but it is important to also pay attention to the retention rate of these hits,” says senior Jesse Wilkerson from Battle Creek, Mich. “Getting many new customers is good for a growing company, but you should also be retaining these people, or there is a problem within your social media campaign.” Veeck says inspiration for her teaching comes from her students, faculty colleagues and research and that staying on top of trends is an important step in creating effective classroom challenges. “Social media is a relatively new way to reach customers, and being able to use it will help make me more attractive to potential employers,” adds Wilkerson. “One of the most enjoyable aspects of teaching marketing research is that the industry is constantly changing. Some of
the new trends include ‘big data,’ creating online community forums to provide ongoing feedback, new forms of qualitative data and the analysis of consumergenerated social media data,” says Veeck. “I expect my students to learn definitions and concepts outside of class, so we can reserve class time for activities in which students actively apply the concepts we are learning. I constantly seek out methods to actively engage students in the course materials.” Veeck meets weekly to discuss teaching methods and ideas with Dr. Beth Hoger, professor of business information systems, and Dr. Ola Smith, associate professor of accountancy. She also collaborates on teaching ideas with her husband, Dr. Gregory Veeck, professor of geography. “The university is full of inspiring and caring teachers from whom I can get ideas. I constantly discuss innovative teaching approaches and ideas with my peers in the
marketing department,” says Veeck. Research keeps her knowledge of the field current and her teaching strategies evolving. “I believe that my programmatic research in the world’s largest market provides great contemporary examples for the classroom,” says Veeck. “Active involvement in research strengthens professors’ ability to positively influence students, since dynamic research requires constant exposure to new methodologies, theories, philosophies and contexts. All of my trips to China really help inform my lectures and the material I select to teach.” And the reason it is all so important to Veeck: “Being a marketing professor at WMU is my dream job. WMU students are an enormous pleasure to teach. They have great attitudes and are very supportive of each other,” says Veeck.
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Active involvement in research strengthens professors’ ability to positively influence students.
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– Ann Veeck
Photo: John Lacko
Faculty Focus