When Faith Academy Superintendent Larry Long wanted to figure out a way to use social media to promote the private school, he knew the best idea would be to turn to the University of Houston-Victoria.

The students of the university’s “E-marketing” elective course knew how to turn Long’s request into reality. The 30 students divided into groups and spent the fall semester creating social media strategy proposals for Faith Academy. The winning team was chosen in January by a panel of Faith Academy teachers and administrators and a local businessman. The school will use the winning group’s proposal.

“As a UHV alumnus myself, I knew the university was a great resource to tap into,” Long said. “I was impressed with what the students developed. We felt that after reading the winning group’s project that if they were already in the marketplace, we would hire them. They were able to solve a real need for us.”

The students in the winning group are Juan David Coy Gomez, Garrett Harrison, Derek Jameson and Alex Shu, all of Victoria.

Jameson said he and his classmates developed a social media strategy that targeted new parents. They created mock events out of real photos from Faith Academy’s social media as well as promoted the school’s sports program. The group also did a comparison study that consisted of other schools in the market with Faith Academy as well as larger private schools as a reference point.

Jameson, who graduated in fall 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in kinesiology with a concentration in sport management, said he enjoyed working on the class project.

“The project gave us real-life situations to solve,” Jameson said. “We had to keep up to date with the school’s events so that we could follow up with a post accurately. It was a fun project that I really enjoyed.”

Jun Yang

Jun Yang, an associate professor of marketing in the UHV School of Business, said all of the students in the class did well. The students were able to work with a client and successfully implement what they learned in the classroom into practice.

In the past, UHV students also have done similar consultation projects for Fort Bend County Libraries, the UHV Small Business Development Center and the National Association of Steel Pipe Distributors. Yang said another class of students this semester will work a marketing research project for the Victoria Ballet.

“This was a great experience of community engagement and hands-on learning,” Yang said. “I’ve found that students love to have real-life projects to work on to gain experience and use what they’ve learned in the classroom to help the local community.”

Jesse Pisors

Jesse Pisors, UHV vice president for advancement and external relations and a member of the Faith Academy advisory council, helped coordinate the partnership. Pisors said UHV is a great resource for local businesses to use, as students will be able to gain real-world experience while under the guidance of professors.

“If any community organization needs help with something, there’s a pretty good chance that we have the faculty or class that can help with those needs,” Pisors said. “This is a great example of partnering with the community.”

To learn more about partnership opportunities with UHV, contact UHV University Advancement at 361-570-4812 or email Pisors at pisorsj@uhv.edu.