This fall semester, University of Wisconsin-Superior students will be working with the Lake Superior Zoo as part of an Academic Service-Learning (AS-L) project in the BUS 375 Public Relations class.

AS-L is community-engaged learning embedded within a credit-bearing course that enhances student’s understanding of the course’s learning objectives and the sense of civic responsibility. AS-L allows students to apply what they are learning in class through community service, benefiting both students and service recipients. All UW-Superior’s academic departments have utilized AS-L within their course offerings.

“I always feature AS-L in that class, and as many others as I can handle per semester, it’s just good hands-on learning,” said Jen Garland, UW-Superior teaching assistant professor for the School of Business and Economics. “I asked the executive director of the zoo, Haley Hedstrom, and the marketing manager if they would be interested in working with a big group of students, and they were happy to.”

To better understand the needs and goals of the Lake Superior Zoo, students were granted access to a behind-the-scenes experience with the head zookeeper.

The UW-Superior students will be working in five teams, each with its own focus for professional communications and with its own goals over the full course of the fall semester.

The five areas that are divided between the teams are driving memberships; one-time visits from the 18–25-year-old demographic; one-time donors; long-term donors; and sales to special events in the fall.

“The zoo is creating unique landing pages for each so we can really track the impact the students have,” said Garland. “The class is going to be using public relations to push out information about the zoo as a whole and motivate people to engage with them through effective communications, education, and persuasive messaging.”

Students will complete the project in December and then present their work to the Lake Superior Zoo.