Service Through Business Research at USF

Professor Joseph Ferrallo’s BSAD 277 business research class recently assisted local radio personality and friend of USF, Scott Slocum, with a special project. Slocum, a board member of the Will County Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC), wanted student input on new ideas for marketing and branding for the CAC. The non-profit children’s center is an agency that operates under the direction of the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office.

The goal was to brainstorm ideas for a new brand identity—potential new names for the agency, and also some marketing taglines to help 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 with more than 15 names and numerous other ideas for the CAC.

When asked about some of the names they came up with and why they chose them, junior Stephanie Cruz said, “One idea we came up with was ‘The Will County Healing Center for Abused Children’ —using the word healing instead of advocacy. We thought the acronym ‘HCAC’ was kind of catchy, too.”

Sophomore Katie Szakacs added, “We also noticed that when you Google the Children’s Advocacy Center you arrive at the state’s attorney’s website and the photo that pops up doesn’t relate to the center. We suggested including a different picture there.”

The project had a lasting impression on the students, mostly through gaining knowledge about the services the CAC provides. Senior Natalia Nawrocki was stunned by the high number of children that need help

each year, noting that that the center worked on 648 cases in 2018.

A highlight of the brainstorming session was a visit from Melley, Kiwi and Jackson, the agency’s three service dogs, which are used to keep children calm when CAC professionals need to speak with them about personal experiences that may be difficult to recount.

Ferrallo talked about a second project the group has been working on, in which students have been providing assistance to two other non-profit groups in the Joliet area—Cornerstone Services and USF’s own WCSF radio station.

“We are helping both groups to improve their services to the community,” he said. “One of my own goals for this course is not only to 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 serve the communities in which they live and work, and to participate in that process.”

A nice surprise came when the class talked about their perception of Ferrallo as a servant leader.

Said junior Haley Berens, “He doesn’t just drop these projects on us, expecting us to do all the work. He helps us along. We have to work with clients, attend their events and research for them. It’s really helpful that Professor Ferrallo joins us in that process.”

Sophomore Cameron Moore said, “ When we’re in here, we feel like equals. It’s not like he’s the professor and we’re just the students. I feel like we can converse at a collegiate level—we feel important and listened to.”