Program Overview

Fashion Merchandising and Management Bachelor of Business Administration

The Fashion Merchandising and Management Bachelor of Business Administration degree is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the fashion industry and its global reach. The program focuses on developing skills in fashion history, milestones, key business categories, consumer behaviors, marketing, product development, and retail sales.

College and Program Learning Objectives

The program aims to provide students with a solid foundation in fashion merchandising and management, preparing them for careers in the fashion industry.

Sample Program Sequence

The program sequence is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the fashion industry, including fashion history, textiles, merchandising, and management.

Course Requirements

Major Core Courses

• FAS1101 Introduction to the Fashion Business (3 Credits): Provides an overview of the fashion industry and its global reach, familiarizing students with fashion history and milestones, key business categories within fashion, including women's, men's, and children's ready-to-wear, plus consumer behaviors, marketing, product development, and retail sales.
• FAS1111 Photoshop and Digital Graphics I (3 Credits): Explores the role of designing visual graphics, introducing Adobe Photoshop, digital concepts, processes, and creativity, focusing on creating original graphics for promotion and marketing materials.
• FAS1112 Illustrator and Digital Graphics II (3 Credits): A continuation of Photoshop and Digital Graphics I, introducing Adobe Illustrator for print and web services, creating original graphics for artboards, fashion graphics, and marketing materials.
  • Prerequisite: FAS1111
• FAS2230 Fashion Textiles for Apparel and Home (3 Credits): Provides an overview of the textiles industry, covering fibers, yarns, cloth construction, finishes, and embellishments, and principles of sustainability in textile development, manufacturing, and reuse.
• FAS2245 Merchandise Planning and Buying (3 Credits): Covers contemporary inventory control systems, sales records, and projections, teaching students to read operating statements, plan, and determine mark-ups, markdowns, open-to-buy, and terms of sales.
• FAS2222 Product Development (3 Credits): Examines how color, fiber, and style trends are determined, researched, and analyzed to develop fashion products, covering product lifecycle management fundamentals and strategies for achieving profitability.
  • Prerequisites: FAS1101 and FAS2230
• FAS3335 Omni-Channel Retail Management (3 Credits): Provides an in-depth analysis of omni-channel retailing, focusing on developing and managing a layered, digitally connected shopping experience across channels.
  • Prerequisites: FAS2222, MKT2220
• FAS3365 Interactive Fashion Communication (3 Credits): Covers communicating a consistent fashion brand across multiple channels, developing engaging brand experiences, promotions, and content through writing, photography, video, 3D displays, and brand partnerships.
  • Prerequisites: MKT2220, FAS2222
• FAS4110 Fashion Innovation & Digital Transformation (3 Credits): Examines how digitization is transforming the fashion industry, exploring innovation management, changes in consumer demands, and market behavior with digital solutions.
• FAS4475 Fashion Innovation Capstone (3 Credits): Utilizes skills learned in previous courses to develop a successful fashion business, analyzing market trends, assessing consumer needs, and developing sustainable products/services.
  • Prerequisites: FAS2245, FAS2222, FAS3335
• Fashion Electives (3 Credits): Students must choose a fashion elective at the 3000/4000 level.

Business Core Courses

• ACC1111 Financial Accounting I (3 Credits): Introduces accounting terminology and procedures, covering recording and reporting functions, adjusting entries, and financial statements.
• BUS2231 Business Law I (3 Credits): Provides detailed knowledge of laws relating to contracts, commerce, property, sales, and employment.
• BUS4483 Internship (3 Credits): Students work in a position related to their course of study, completing online course requirements that integrate degree program skills and knowledge.
  • Prerequisite: Departmental permission
• CIS1115 Computer Applications (3 Credits): Introduces computer technology with an emphasis on applications, using software such as Microsoft Windows, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
• CIS2201 Advanced Spreadsheets (3 Credits): Provides experience using spreadsheet applications like Microsoft Excel, covering complex worksheets, data import/export, and statistical functions.
  • Prerequisite: CIS1115
• ECO2200 Principles of Economics (3 Credits): Introduces core concepts and principles of microeconomics, emphasizing real-world applications.
• FIN3302 Corporate Finance (3 Credits): Covers fundamental principles of finance, including financial analysis, planning, and control, budgeting, and forecasting.
  • Prerequisites: ACC1111, MAT2215, and MAT2218
• IBS2201 International Business (3 Credits): Explores the environment, management concerns, financial issues, and marketing questions faced by international business organizations.
• MGT2220 Principles of Management (3 Credits): Examines operational theories of management, emphasizing the manager's role in creating and maintaining an internal environment for performance.
• MKT2220 Principles of Marketing (3 Credits): Introduces fundamental principles and practices in the marketing process, including marketing mix tools and marketing research.

Liberal Arts and Science Core Courses

• ENG1105 Writing and Research (3 Credits): Introduces expository writing, teaching students to use words with precision and strengthen their understanding of grammatical and rhetorical principles.
• ENG2205 Writing Through Literature (3 Credits): Develops writing, reading, and interpretive abilities through critical engagement with literary texts.
  • Prerequisite: ENG1105
• ENG2215 Public Speaking (3 Credits): Helps students improve oral communication skills, emphasizing good and poor speech habits, techniques for improving speech, and interpersonal communication.
  • Prerequisite or Corequisite: ENG2205
• ENG3316 The Confident Writer (3 Credits): Explores non-fiction writing genres, building reading, writing, and researching skills while reinforcing fundamental concepts associated with the areas of respective majors.
  • Prerequisite: ENG2205
• HUM2225 Introduction to Ethics (3 Credits): Introduces the study of ethics and moral philosophy, including historical development, major figures, and ethical issues.
• MAT2215 Statistics I (3 Credits): Introduces statistical methods and procedures, covering collection, analysis, and presentation of quantitative data.
• SOC1123 First Year Experience (3 Credits): Explores challenges students face in pursuing and achieving a college degree, helping them identify and implement plans to address these challenges.
• SOC2231 Human Relations (3 Credits): Develops interpersonal skills for successful everyday interactions, focusing on workplace relationships, conflict management, teamwork, customer service, and stress management.

Electives

• English Elective (3 Credits)
• Liberal Arts Electives (6 Credits)
• Mathematics/Science Elective (3 Credits)
• Science Elective (3 Credits)
• Social Science Elective (3 Credits)
• Business Elective (6 Credits)
• Fashion or Free Electives (9 Credits)

Graduation Requirements

120 semester credit hours are required for graduation.