Last March, the architects of the RWC’s Weekend Degree Program would have been happy if 30 students enrolled in the new program; that was the break-even point. They ended up with 81. After years of research and painstaking planning, College Relations Director Mary Stagaman was ecstatic. “It has been an immense success,” she said.Weekend Degree Programs have become very popular around the country. They are tailored to mid-career adults who are fully employed, but, as Ms. Stagaman continued, “They feel that the lack of a degree would eventually get in their way.”
Ms. Stagaman and others on the committee who designed the program held their ground when the suggestion was made that some of the degree classes could be picked up at existing night classes. Ms. Stagaman felt strongly that in order for the Weekend Degree Program to accommodate the demographic for whom it was intended, it should be entirely contained in two Saturday classes, each class lasting five weeks. The advantage is that an Associate’s Degree may be obtained at RWC through the Weekend Degree Program in the same amount of time as those attending classes during the day.
Although the new Weekend Degree Program may have survived on public relations activities and word-of-mouth, Ms. Stagaman emphasizes the importance of the relationship between RWC and a Houston-based advertising firm, Venture Marketing, in launching and maintaining the momentum of the program. As the former Vice Chancellor for Marketing in a community college system, the firm’s president has a unique advantage over other advertising firms with his expertise in two-year college programs. The process of designing the radio ads and follow up print material is a collaboration between Venture Marketing and Ms. Stagaman with Venture Marketing creating the copy and Stagaman tweaking it.
Ms. Stagaman also notes that as a collective media service, Venture Marketing possesses buying strategies to get to the targeted markets and negotiate pricing for key radio air times.
If you would like more information concerning RWC ‘s Weekend Degree Program, call the College Relations House at 745-5685.