CO LLEG E O F BU S I N E S S & H E A LT H A D M I N I S T R AT ION
Service Through Business Research Professor Joseph Ferrallo’s BSAD 277 business research class recently
each year, noting that that the center worked on 648 cases in 2018.
assisted local radio personality and friend of USF, Scott Slocum, with a
special project. Slocum, a board member of the Will County Children’s
and Jackson, the agency’s three service dogs, which are used to keep
Advocacy Center (CAC), wanted student input on new ideas for marketing
children calm when CAC professionals need to speak with them about
and branding for the CAC. The non-profit children’s center is an agency
personal experiences that may be difficult to recount.
that operates under the direction of the Will County State’s Attorney’s
Office.
in which students have been providing assistance to two other non-profit
groups in the Joliet area—Cornerstone Services and USF’s own WCSF
The goal was to brainstorm ideas for a new brand identity—potential
A highlight of the brainstorming session was a visit from Melley, Kiwi
Ferrallo talked about a second project the group has been working on,
new names for the agency, and also some marketing taglines to help
radio station.
promote it. The group enjoyed the project, and while Slocum expected
just a few ideas to come from the inquiry session, the students came up
community,” he said. “One of my own goals for this course is not only to
with more than 15 names and numerous other ideas for the CAC.
help non-profits improve, but to instill within my students that when they
leave this institution, it’s their role to be good community stewards, to
When asked about some of the names they came up with and why
“We are helping both groups to improve their services to the
they chose them, junior Stephanie Cruz said, “One idea we came up with
serve the communities in which they live and work, and to participate in
was ‘The Will County Healing Center for Abused Children’—using the word
that process.”
healing instead of advocacy. We thought the acronym ‘HCAC’ was kind of
catchy, too.”
Ferrallo as a servant leader.
Sophomore Katie Szakacs added, “We also noticed that when you
A nice surprise came when the class talked about their perception of Said junior Haley Berens, “He doesn’t just drop these projects on us,
Google the Children’s Advocacy Center you arrive at the state’s attorney’s
expecting us to do all the work. He helps us along. We have to work with
website and the photo that pops up doesn’t relate to the center. We
clients, attend their events and research for them. It’s really helpful that
suggested including a different picture there.”
Professor Ferrallo joins us in that process.”
The project had a lasting impression on the students, mostly through
Sophomore Cameron Moore said, “ When we’re in here, we feel like
gaining knowledge about the services the CAC provides. Senior Natalia
equals. It’s not like he’s the professor and we’re just the students. I feel like
Nawrocki was stunned by the high number of children that need help
we can converse at a collegiate level—we feel important and listened to.”
A Year of Respect / 2018–2019
9
