Marketing Department Revises Dress Standards

The Illinois State University Marketing Department dress policy has gone in for alterations and has come back as a better fit for student and faculty leaders.

Following discussions with students, Student Government Association representatives and Marketing Department faculty, Department Chair Tim Longfellow has signed off on a revised dress standard.  The revised language reads as follows:

Department of Marketing Standards of Professional Behavior Policy

Applicable to all Marketing courses except MKT 230, Introduction to Marketing Management

Applicable to All Business Teacher Education Courses BTE 260 and above

Marketing classes and Business Teacher Education classes (identified above) will operate under standards of professional behavior that parallel those applied in the business world. Those standards of professional behavior include: 1) being dressed in appropriate business casual attire for class meetings, unless business professional attire is required (for example, when students will be interacting with partners from the business community or making formal presentations in class) and 2) other professional behaviors deemed appropriate for class by the professor. Some examples of these professional behaviors, but not an all inclusive list include: arriving to class on time, not leaving early without permission, not interrupting class with conversations, not reading the newspaper or non-related class materials, etc. Choosing not to follow one or more of these professional behaviors may lead to a reduction of up to 10% of the grade earned in the Marketing or BTE course.”

Student Body President David Horstein thanked Longfellow and other College of Business and university leaders for “listening to and acting on student concerns,” and said the revised standard does not conflict with student attitudes or rights.

 “I believe students will be very receptive to the change from a dress code to a suggested professional dress standard,” Horstein said.“The new set of standards preserves our Bill of Rights, while providing studentsthe opportunity to choose what to wear to class. We agreed to a cap of 10 percent of a student's overall grade to be attributed to professional standards. A professor may include behavior, academics and attire within this percentage. This allows students to opt out of the business casual suggestion, just as they could opt out of doing homework, while taking a small grade deduction.”

Longfellow, who characterized talks with students and faculty as “professional and collegial,” anticipates future discussion on dress standards as well as other policy matters.

 “It has been a privilege to work with Student Body President David Horstein and Student Trustee Ryan Cekander, and I appreciate the professionalism and level of discussion we have had in order to work through various issues as they related to the Department of Marketing business casual dress standard,” Longfellow said.  “I truly believe that shared governance, a strong and valued tradition on this campus, has prevailed. The Department of Marketing is pleased and believes that the compromised wording for the business casual dress standard allows the department to accomplish its initial purpose for establishing the dress standard, to provide an opportunity to enhance the overall professionalism of our students and to hopefully provide them with an additional advantage as they begin their career search.  I want to thank the business professionals and alumni who have contacted us regarding our dress standard. Their overwhelming support of the dress standard reaffirms our belief that the implementation of the dress standard will contribute to the professional development of our students, and will serve them well in the long run. In addition, I applaud our Marketing and Business teacher education students for their professional behavior and acceptance of the dress standard.”