For the first time, Texas A&M University-San Antonio offered MKTG 3311, Principles of Marketing, and MGMT 3311, Principles of Management, courses at Northeast Lakeview College in spring to encourage Alamo Colleges students to transfer to Texas A&M University-San Antonio.
Dr. Jeremy Roberts, adjunct professor of marketing, said it is considered a pilot program.
“A&M-SA is trying to identify ways to further opt for classes that are easier for students to take,” Roberts said. “If you have a whole bunch of students who live on the Northside, it takes a long time for them to drive all the way to Southside.”
The class runs as a split, “starting with Spring One, Principles in Management and Spring Two, Principles in Marketing.”
“It makes it visible for Northeast Lakeview students who are going to be transfer students who can go from a two-year associate’s degree to a four-year bachelor’s degree,” Roberts said.
However, a general lack of knowledge about this purpose was expressed by students in Roberts’ marketing class.
Biology junior Jeremy Cruz said “the campus itself is fine.” However, it is a hassle getting out there.
Northeast Lakeview is located in Universal City, about a 40-minute drive from A&M-San Antonio.
Cruz, who lives near Ingram Park Mall, said he has to take Principles of Marketing to fulfill his graduation requirements.
According to Dr. Stephen Taraszewski, director of the Institutional Research and Analytics, A&M-San Antonio had a total of 840 new transfer undergraduates in the fall.
Taraszewski said only 37 transfer students came from Northeast Lakeview in the fall.
At the start of Spring Two, Roberts’ marketing class had about a dozen students. By its conclusion, only eight students remained.
Sandra Degrassi, chair of the department of marketing and management, said that because of low enrollment in spring, they are changing the strategy in the fall.
“We’re trying to make our presence known at Northeast Lakeview campus,” Degrassi said.
Cruz said, “I feel like Palo Alto would be a more reasonable spot.”
“I have a vehicle,” he said. “However, I see some of our other classmates have difficulty making it to class on time.”