Adler Agency, SJMC’s student-run marketing and communications organization, has wrapped up its third semester in business by publishing an official website and establishing a social media presence. 

Jeff Grisamore—who is a faculty advisor of the agency and professor of practice in SJMC—said that when he first began teaching at the university seven years ago, his primary goal was to help students gain real-world experience in agency work and strategic communication as a whole.  

“I wanted to bring clients in,” he said. “I wanted to have students exposed to clients in a real life as opposed to more of a theoretical type of practice.” 

Dr. Rachel Young—faculty advisor of Adler Agency and associate professor in SJMC—was also working to implement similar teachings in her classes. Whereas Grisamore worked more with for-profit clients, Young worked with non-profit clients. 

“I actually had a capstone student who researched student-run agencies at other universities and did some interviews to help us figure out what other student-run agencies do…” Young said. “Based on her research and some discussion with students at Iowa and Strategic Communication, we set it (the agency) up.” 

As a result of both professors joining forces, the agency does a mixture of for-profit and pro bono work. In practice, the students do a mixture of content marketing and marketing communications for their clients. This may consist of crafting communication portfolios, gathering video content for social media, writing newsletters, doing podcast series, and more. 

Each semester, Adler Agency works with two clients; that is, one paid, one pro bono. In the past, the agency’s for-profit clients have been the Vaughn Institute at the Tippie College of Business and the University of Iowa Classics Department (Bible and Archaeology). Its non-profit clients have included the Coralville Food Pantry and Houses into Homes. 

This semester, the agency has collaborated with Sidekick Coffee and Books (paid) as well as the Iowa City Bike Library (pro bono). According to Young, the agency strives to ensure the content it produces not only engages the target audience and communicates the clients’ services, but also remains evergreen. 

Under Grisamore and Young’s guidance, 14 undergraduate students run Adler Agency currently; that is, seven who work with for-profit clients and seven who work with non-profit clients. Grisamore said that these students have been trained to follow strategic communication best-practices in their work. 

“...the work that we produce needs to be artistic, it needs to be beautiful, and…most importantly, it has to be commercially viable,” he said. “It has to be of the quality that any other agency would produce, which is a high standard.” 

In order for the agency’s content to be commercially viable, it is often necessary for the students to immerse themselves in the environment they will be producing a story about. To achieve this, students on the non-profit side often volunteer to get a better understanding of their clients. The same can be said for the for-profit side, which strives for high client interaction. 

Altogether, Grisamore and Young both said one benefit of the agency—especially for students interested in pursuing a career in strategic communication—is the real-world experience it provides. This prepares students for jobs after college and helps them to build their resumes. 

“This is a way to do professional work in a team setting, so build your leadership skills, really initiate projects and see them through, but also it’s in a classroom environment,” Young said. 

Involvement in the Adler Agency also offers 3-credit hours to students, although it extends far outside of the classroom as well. Students may, however, remain involved with the agency for two semesters to continue building their skills. 

Numerous students have credited the agency with helping them to land internships and jobs outside of the university. One of them is Katrina Arsenijevic, an SJMC senior who currently holds a leadership role within the agency and recently landed a job at Fishman PR. 

In her current leadership role with Adler Agency, Arsenijevic primarily carries out administrative work, which entails communicating with clients, scheduling filming days, supporting the students creating content, and managing all other organizational aspects of the agency. 

Arsenijevic stated that she primarily credits her agency experience for helping her to land an internship in the summer of 2025 with All Points Public Relations, which later led to her gaining the future full-time position at Fishman PR. 

“When I was interviewing for my internship last summer…they asked me about the sort of experience I have, and I was able to lean on what I had from the agency a lot,” she said. “They basically hired me because I had that experience and I had a little bit of background.” 

In her role with Fishman PR, Arsenijevic will be in charge of working with earned media, writing press releases, building media lists, and much more. 

“I’m hoping to build relationships with the media in that way and [get] the clients’ stories out there through earned media,” she said. 

In order to expand its reach and to inform future clients about the services it has to offer, Adler Agency recently published an official website. It contains the agency’s mission, services, and a portfolio of its past work. The site was developed primarily by SJMC student Grace Hecox, who helped to further establish the brand’s identity. 

Moving forward into next semester, the agency is planning to showcase its work through its YouTube, Facebook and Instagram pages. As of right now, the agency has focused on sharing its mission and offerings. In the future, the advisors and students plan to expand more on the projects it has worked on in the past, its in-progress projects, and the people behind the brand. 

All in all, Arsenijevic believes involvement with the agency is a unique opportunity for students to network not only with real clients, but also with their peers. Those involved also have the ability to shape their own experience. 

“I think Jeff and Rachel are really good about making it catered to each individual student’s experience…and they will find you a role that best suits what you want on your portfolio or what you want to be,” she said. 

Likewise, Young emphasized the importance of hands-on experience in helping to stand out in a competitive job market. 

“We’re in a professional major, and experience is what will help you land a job after graduation,” she said. “We want to provide the best quality professional experience in the most accessible way to students and encourage them to lead, be creative, think big, and produce really excellent work that our clients can use.” 

Finally, Grisamore said he sees the Adler Agency as a way for students to build their credentials, gain practical experience, land internships, and get meaningful jobs. 

“If you’re interested in strat comm, if you’re interested in working for an agency or working in marketing communications or internal communication or anything like that…I think you should really, seriously look hard at the Adler Agency,” he said. 

For more information about Adler Agency’s services and how to get involved, feel free to visit its official website or speak with the two faculty advisors at jeffrey-grisamore@uiowa.edu and rachel-young@uiowa.edu.