SAINT JOSEPH’S UNIVERSITY

In 2008, Saint Joseph’s University’s Erivan K. Haub School of Business expanded its Master of Decisions and System Science program into the online environment in order to reach a growing market of prospective students. To ensure the success of the program, the school immediately turned to Deltak, an online education leader with expertise in transitioning educational programs. Deltak works with its partner schools to market online programs, recruit students, and provide support services. Deltak immediately suggested giving the program a more marketable and relevant name. Together Deltak and the university chose the title of Master’s in Business Intelligence. Deltak then developed a marketing strategy to generate media interest and alert potential students to the online program.

Deltak suggested that Saint Joseph’s use event marketing and publicity to draw attention and candidates to the program. As the first fully online MS in Business Intelligence, they chose The Data Warehousing Institute™ (TDWI) Conference as the most appropriate forum for the launch. TDWI provides education, training, certification, news, and research for executives and information technology (IT) professionals worldwide. The organization’s mission is to foster a community of learning where business and technical professionals come together to gain knowledge and skills, network with peers, and advance their careers. Understanding that there would be an engaged and qualified audience at the conference, Deltak secured and staffed a booth for Saint Joseph’s to announce the launch of its new program. The conference produced great interest and generated a significant number of qualified inquiries. Deltak also took advantage of its presence at the conference to engage and educate the media on the launch of the online Business Intelligence program. Deltak set up editorial interviews with several influential media outlets in attendance, including DM Review, Beye Network, and Business Intelligence. The interviews resulted in several articles and a monthly column for program’s faculty chair on the Beye Network web site.

The increased visibility generated through the TDWI conference combined with Deltak’s online marketing methods led to a successful launch of the Business Intelligence program. Almost immediately, enrollment in the online program surpassed that of the campus-based program. Deltak’s marketing efforts have paid off, driving enrollments from markets that were previously unattainable by Saint Joseph’s University while also significantly increasing the diversity of its student body as part of the partnership.