DENTON (UNT), Texas — A “dream trip” hosted through the University of North Texas is giving students the chance to experience major retail and digital operations up close. Nine students will travel to the West Coast this May as part of the “Digital Study Tour” course for a behind-the-scenes look inside the headquarters for Facebook, Amazon, Google, Macy’s, Nordstrom, Walmart and Nike.
Course lecturer Linda Mihalick said she intended to create a unique component of the course that maximized student exposure to the spectrum of career opportunities.
“The point is to dream bigger, to open their eyes and to give them the experience of what it might be like to work in ecommerce and digital environments,” she said.
The five-day trip is a perfect opportunity “for any student who wants to expand and see what is out there in digital careers,” said UNT senior Carlos Monge.
“You have these game changers in the industry that influence people’s everyday lives, and we get to see what they’re doing to be so successful and to see what’s in store in the future of ecommerce and digital platforms,” said Monge, a merchandising and digital retailing double major. “When am I ever going to get the opportunity to visit these headquarters on my own?”
Mihalick said hands-on exposure to industry retail partner companies adds another dimension to the overall student experiences and compliment classes offered in the Department of Merchandising and Digital Retailing. UNT is unique in the U.S., with its bachelor’s degree in digital retailing.
“The next generation of digital and merchandising talent – that’s what we’re breeding here at UNT. They have to understand the digital component, and we’re the only university that gives them that edge,” she said.
The Bachelor of Science Degree in Digital Retailing was launched in 2002, when it was first named electronic merchandising. And, with the approval of a new bachelor’s degree in retailing in 2016, UNT became the first university to offer degrees in all three primary areas of retail: merchandising, digital and operations.
Learn more about the digital retailing degree program at https://gdrcenter.unt.edu/digitalretailingdegree.