The TCU Schieffer School of Journalism has established a student agency for strategic communication, thanks to university funding for a full-time faculty position and community support.

The agency is critical to the Schieffer School’s future, according to John Lumpkin, the school’s director. “It is part of our strong commitment to experiential learning, capturing both the concepts and reality of work for an advertising or a public relations agency,” Lumpkin said.

Roxo, which is the term for purple in Portuguese, is the name picked for the new agency, whose 11 students work on teams to provide strategic communication services to clients such as the Boys & Girls Clubs of Fort Worth. Roxo’s mission is to help clients reach their objectives while providing work experience to the best and brightest students in the strategic communication program.

The agency’s comprehensive approach to client services reflects the curriculum, thanks to direct faculty involvement and a full-time faculty director. Students receive up to three one-hour elective credits for the experience.

“The hands-on experience and real client interaction and feedback is priceless,” said Dick Russack, a retired BNSF communications executive who oversaw the planning task force for the agency. “It complements and helps translate classroom reading and discussion into a tangible portfolio of real work.”

The agency received start-up support from Burlington Northern Santa Fe and the BNSF Foundation. Its operations budget relies upon corporate support and fees from client work done on a selective basis.

Interns serve in a variety of positions, including art director, graphic designer, public relations manager, social media specialist, and digital interactive designer. The agency also teaches students habits of professionalism so that they will stand out in an extremely competitive job market upon graduation.

College of Communications Dean David Whillock said the new faculty position brings expertise in agency work and creates an “avenue for our students to have first-hand knowledge of how to take an idea into the actual presentation of material.”

Roxo’s current clients include the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Fort Worth and MY RIDE: Keeping You Mobile, a project targeting adults with disabilities in Tarrant County. The agency is conducting research, creating new websites, handling media relations and executing social media campaigns.

“I couldn’t be more impressed with the agency and the folks who staff it,” said Dan Gadbury, the agency’s MY RIDE client and coordinator of the Transportation Systems Change Program of MHMR of Tarrant County. “The students have been extremely easy to work with, very well organized. I don’t think my experience could be any better this semester.”

Plans call for the renovation of the southwest corner of Moudy South’s second floor to serve as a dedicated space for the agency’s operations and client meetings. Currently it is housed in Media Lab 214.