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Event Planning (A.A. Degree)
Do you love planning events? Event planning involves more than just choosing a location, décor, food, and entertainment. It involves knowing who to invite, how to market it, what the goals are, and how to achieve them. Dordt’s event planning emphasis can teach you all about event planning—from start to finish.
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Program Overview
From company Christmas parties, to nonprofit fundraisers, to city celebrations, or corporate retreats, learn to create a smooth and successful event from start to finish. When you study event planning at Dordt, you’ll learn what you need to know about hosting an event. Learn about everything that goes on behind the scenes to pull off a successful event that achieves organizational goals.
What you’ll learn
As an event planner, you’ll need to be an excellent communicator, organizer, and strategist. Event planners have to understand strategy, like who the event is for and the outcome desired from the event, but also be able to carry out the small details like centerpieces or desserts. At Dordt, you will develop your communication skills, learn about digital marketing, sales, and human resource management—so when you plan that first event, you have the foundational knowledge needed to make it a success.
What you can do with an event planning degree
With an event planning degree, you can plan fundraisers for nonprofit organizations, corporate events, or run an event center. Events can range from seasonal parties to formal corporate gatherings—planned on limited budgets or sparing no expense. But no matter what type of event you plan, to be a successful event planner, you need to know how to achieve the goals intended for the event.
Chamber of Commerce Director
The Chamber of Commerce Director manages the social and business-relations elements within a city. This involves gathering groups of business leaders together for meetings and networking, planning holiday events or parades for the town, and ribbon-cutting celebrations for new businesses. Chamber directors partner with businesses, city government and local officials, and citizens to deepen and strengthen relationships within the city.
Wedding Planner
A wedding planner helps to ensure that every detail on a bride and groom’s wedding day goes according to plan. Wedding planners help establish initial details and plans, book vendors, and ensure that everything falls into place on the wedding day—taking the stress off the bride and groom.
Career Preparation
Dordt University's 2023 Career Outcome Rate was 99.4%! “This data point tells us that Dordt graduates are prepared for the careers of their choosing,” said Amy Westra, director of Career Development. “A Dordt education provides students with industry-relevant courses and connections that make a difference.”
In this two-year program, you will take six core business courses and an additional four classes in the event planning emphasis.
If you decide you want to continue your studies and pursue the four-year business degree, the courses you have taken will satisfy many of the requirements for the four-year program, so you can seamlessly transition from one to the other.
Computer Literacy for Business
This course teaches important computer skills used in today’s world of business. Areas of study include beginning and intermediate Excel and Word, advanced PowerPoint, an introduction to Access, and Windows and file management basics.
Introduction to Business
This course will prepare you to understand your calling in the business industry. This course will help develop your understanding of God’s plan for business and how you can become an effective Kingdom citizen in this area of work. This course will also help you gain a better understanding of the different roles people play within a business and the ways these roles work together for the effectiveness of the business. Finally, this course will provide students with advice on how to be successful within the business major.
Introduction to Accounting
This course provides exposure to basic accounting information concerning the recording of daily business transactions and the preparation, use, and interpretation of accounting records and reports. Business Administration 100 strongly recommended.
Principles of Accounting
Introduces the concepts and terminology of accounting and financial reporting for modern business enterprises. The course is centered around analyzing and interpreting accounting information for use in making decisions about organizations. There is a special emphasis on analyzing the balance sheet, the statement of income and expense, the statement of cash flows, and the statement of stockholders’ equity. Additional emphasis is placed on problem-solving, critical thinking, and communication skills that are necessary for forming conclusions about business activities and to communicate these conclusions to others.
Principles of Management
An introductory course in management theory and practice. Major topics covered include planning and strategic management, organizational design, leadership and motivation theory, and control mechanisms.
Principles of Marketing
A study of marketing institutions, product development, channels of distribution, price determination, promotion methods, government influences, and ethical problems facing marketing personnel. Includes a foundational study and discussion of business from a Christian perspective.
Professional Practices: Career Preparation and Etiquette
Students will learn the purpose and process of preparing for a career and will learn formal etiquette useful in many areas of life. We will use hands-on learning to ascertain knowledge about finding and applying for jobs, workplace professionalism, professional interviewing, applying for graduate school, and other topics related to career preparation.
Human Resource Management
Introduces students to the role that Human Resource Management (HRM) plays in organizational settings. Course content is geared towards developing the foundational body of knowledge required of entry-level HRM practitioners and is organized around the four foundation areas of HRM expertise: staffing and recruitment, employee and organizational development, compensation, and benefits administration, and labor relations. Prerequisite: Business Administration 205.
Serving Through Selling and Retailing
Using lectures, class discussion, and small group activities, you will learn about the exciting fields of Personal Selling and Retailing. The basic areas of retail management will be covered: buying, merchandising, retail promotion, store location, store layout, credit management, and inventory control. Emphasis is on the practical application of retail management principles. Also includes a study of the discipline of personal selling, including both sales strategies and sales management. Emphasis is given to both personal as well as business and industry sales applications. Topics include sales training, sales preparation, prospecting methods, types of presentations, handling buyer questions, closing methods, post-sales service, and sales management. Both areas will be approached from the perspective of serving others through these disciplines.
Digital Marketing
An exploration of the methods businesses uses to approach customers in the digital age. This course will equip students with a variety of technical skills and knowledge related to the application of Marketing principles in an online environment. Includes a thorough preparation and testing for three certifications from the American Marketing Association and Google, as well as an exploration of the Sharing Economy - a disruptive movement in the economy today.
Choose one from the following:
Organizational Communication
The analysis of formal and informal communication in such organizations as corporations and institutions. Included will be considerations of communication problems related to grapevine, rumor, channels, perception, power, status, roles, structures, etc.
Organizational Behavior
An advanced study of the theory and practice of organizational behavior. Topics include personality, motivation, group leadership, organization/work design, and group/team dynamics. Specific emphasis is placed on the diagnosis of organizational dysfunction and the design and implementation of appropriate Human Resource Management-driven interventions.
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Faculty
With experience in a variety of fields, our faculty members are equipped and ready to help you succeed.
Student Stories
Resources to Achieve
Erika PostWith Dordt's help in figuring out her strengths and weaknesses, Erika was able to narrow down the business career paths that were right for her and find the perfect opportunity for her after graduating.
Erika Post
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