Kean Introduces First Academic Course with the New Jersey Devils I Published November 11

By: Jordan Beaudoin

Kean University is going to the Devils – the New Jersey Devils. 

This semester, the communication department launched a new course that partners with the New Jersey Devils hockey team to give students a taste of working in sports public relations and marketing.

This class mirrors the structure introduced in the New York Jets course that has run every spring semester for the last few years. The course is the third in President Lamont Repollet’s initiative to forge educational partnerships with businesses. Kean has run courses with the New York Jets and the Red Bulls to give students hands-on experience in the communications job.

The new Devils course provides experiential learning to our students in an interdisciplinary environment and is taught by professors from three different colleges inside Kean University.

Dr. Shweta Singh who teaches marketing, Professor Denise Anderson who teaches graphic design, and Professor Schwab who teaches public relations teach this class. They all have a simple background in communications.

The class is exciting – and selective.  Admission is only open to communication, marketing, and graphic design majors who must apply for acceptance. 

The admission process is challenging.

The New Jersey Devils executive team asks potential students to provide input on upcoming projects and explain why they would be good candidates for the course. t The three professors review the applications and interview only those who they consider candidates before the final selection.

At the start of the course, the NJ Devils Executive team comes into the classroom to present the students with a marketing challenge. Throughout the semester, students work in interdisciplinary teams and develop solutions and ideas under the guidance of the three professors who each have different subject matter expertise.

At the end of the semester, each team will present their final pitches at the Prudential Center to the NJ Devils executives,  administrators, faculty, and deans from Kean University.

Two Kean Ocean students who commute to Kean’s main campus for this course shared their experiences so far with the course.

Joshua Langer, a senior studying Communications and Public Relations, is also a Devils fan who has followed the team for well over 13 years.

“It’s only been a few weeks of the 15, but it’s been a unique experience. A class like none other I’ve ever had,” Langer said.

“I enjoy the Devil’s class very much. Besides from the drive!” said Salvatore Fiorello, a senior majoring in Communications.

They both took the class to prepare for their futures and better understand what would come.

“It was a no-brainer for me. If I see a class with the word Devils, I take it.” Langer said.

Fiorello had a slightly different reason, “I chose this class because I wanted the experience. I did not want to miss this class and regret not taking it. I would love to work in the sports industry one day, and I thought this would be a great step.”

“The work students do each week creates building blocks to honing their final ideas. Rather than lecturing, each of the professors contributes to each class with their subject matter expertise in honing student ideas and developing their relevance,” Dr. Singh said.

The students are also placed into groups for this course. Currently, there are four to six groups in the class. Each group comprises one communications major, one graphic designer, a marketing major, and a management major. Everyone has their expertise.

“My group is Joe, Myself, Briditte, Hamza, and Raquel,” said Fiorello, “The professor’s goal was to get one of each major in one group, so we all have our expertise. Joe is the graphic designer, I am the Communications major, Briditte and Hamza are the Marketing majors, and Raquel is the Management major.”

The load is more extensive than most courses. All groups are expected to meet outside class more than once a week to talk and work on their projects. They have so far learned a lot from both the guidance of the professors and doing their research. They also had the executives come in at the beginning of the semester to give them some knowledge about the team and let them know more about what is currently happening with the company and the team.

“Absolutely. The executives came in the second week and gave a nearly 3-hour presentation. It was great, and I made sure to ask many questions,” Langer said.

Each one of the boys learned something new from this experience.

“So far, I have learned more about public speaking and gained more confidence in speaking. I learned that the sports industry has a lot of money, and ad revenue is crucial to profitability,” Fiorello said.

The Devil’s class is very similar to the Jet’s class. However, they are also very different from one another.

“Similar in the fact that both courses provide experiential learning to our students in an interdisciplinary environment where students get to work for a real-life client and produce something that can be applied and used by the client,” Singh said. “Dissimilar in that the problem statement is different for each class.

The client-ask and the client are different for both courses, and they represent different kinds of sports. So, the thinking/brainstorming has to be adapted according to the client and the client’s marketing challenge.”

It’s an excellent experience for the students to have. Despite being a more complex course with more work than other courses, it’s something students can get into and enjoy. This course will most likely return next year. However, the Jets class will be open for registration for the spring semester. If you are a communications major, marketing major, or graphic design major, this is a class that you want to get in on and take.

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