Contributed/ETSU

Students have an opportunity to build their portfolio and get paid while doing it, with BucHouse Student Agency.

“BucHouse is the in-house student-powered brand agency, or marketing agency, for ETSU. BucHouse gives an opportunity for students to engage with real clients by putting together marketing strategies for them. They get to build their portfolio and get paid at the same time,” states Betsy Holleman, the director of BucHouse Student Agency.

BucHouse is within ETSU’s School of Marketing and Media, which includes Marketing, Digital Media, and Media and Communications.

BucHouse is focused on finding marketing solutions for local and regional organizations. Once a client reaches out, BucHouse staff discover their marketing needs. From there, a faculty mentor and a student are assigned to the project together.

“Once the client signs off, then we get to go look for a student. We have a database of students who are interested in BucHouse, and we peruse through that database to find which student has the skillset needed. Then we ask the student if they want to be a part of that project,” Holleman explains, “So they start working under that faculty safety net… the faculty mentor and the student work together to develop most of those creative strategies.”

From there, each student and faculty mentor agree upon where they work on their project. Each student is paid according to the time and work it takes to finish the project.

“Some students are on a 4-month long project, and then some students may be put on a project that’s a month long. It really just depends on the strategies and things we are providing for the client,” Holleman states.

BucHouse has been designated as a community-engaged learning experience, which aims to bridge the gap between classroom cirriculum and real-world experience. This teaches students the skills they need when they go into the workforce after graduation.

“It really offers students an opportunity to do something they wouldn’t necessarily get to do before they enter the workforce,” Holleman states, “In the industry, we are always asking for students to provide us with their portfolio. But if you’ve not had a chance to build that portfolio while you’re in college, you don’t have one. We are setting you up for failure if we aren’t giving you a chance to build some of those skills beforehand.”

BucHouse gives students a platform to cultivate their portfolio and develop themselves, as well as teaching students professional skills and how to interact with clients.

To be considered for a project in partnership with BucHouse, students are asked to fill out the online application located on their website. The student agency is interested in knowing your name, interests, skill level, and your resume or portfolio.

More information can be found at their website, by contacting buchouse@etsu.edu or calling (423) 631-8171.

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