Strategic Design
Fellows Program
The Strategic Design Fellows program in the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland is a unique opportunity for marketing and design undergraduate students to gain the skills through experiential learning that they need for today’s business and nonprofit world.
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ABOUT
In this 12-15 credit program, you'll learn strategic design thinking, a powerful framework for solving complex problems and creating innovative solutions while gaining hands-on experience working on real-world projects with businesses and nonprofits.
This hands-on program allows marketing students to learn everything they need to know to create stunning posters, print layouts, websites, videos, and more using Adobe Creative Suite.
With students' growing knowledge through ACS projects, they will be able to put their skills to the test by gaining real-world experience and competing in case competitions, where they’ll consult with businesses and/or nonprofits, collaborate with team members, and pitch final concepts to companies and judges in a 10-20 minute presentation.
PROJECTS
CASE COMPETITIONS
Throughout the semester students have the opportunity to participate in a variety of case competitions.
An annual case competition that the BMGT 458B class participates in is the American Marketing Association (AMA) International Case Competition. The case sponsor will provide a detailed strategic marketing challenge for students to work on during the fall.
In the spring of 2023, our SDF-AMA team was among the 3rd place awardees out of 72 college and university submissions and earned the honor to pitch their case solution to Wall Street Journal marketing staff.
Our students stand out as they gain a unique edge in the job market by combining design and marketing business practices to create and implement marketing campaigns that are both effective and visually appealing.
COURSEWORK
Design Fellows will master the creative problem-solving and innovative-thinking skills and experiences along with marketing strategy and design techniques needed to be competitive in the job market.
APPLICATION
1. Be a rising senior (by special request), rising junior, or rising sophomore
2. Minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA
3. Must be a marketing or studio art major
4. Students who have not taken BMGT 350 – Principles of Marketing will be expected to take it concurrently with BMGT 458A and BMGT 458Q or R in the fall
Note
Students will be selected by faculty teams in marketing and in art. Art students will be chosen on the basis of their portfolio submissions.