Starting in August, Wichita State students may see their faces on billboards around Wichita.

The university is starting an advertising campaign created with ads based on what students and recent alumni post on social media sites.

This campaign is a continuation of a new approach that started last year with traditional ads. Those ads focus on the experience-based learning opportunities at WSU. The new campaign still focuses on experience-based learning, but current and former students will play a larger role.

“What we’re hoping for is that our current WSU students and then alumni, recent graduates, would be involved online, tweeting about their experiences at Wichita State,” Barth Hague, associate vice president for University Relations and chief marketing officer, said.

WSU has the largest Cooperative Education program in Kansas. The intent is to persuade prospective students to consider that as a reason to attend WSU. According to research done by Stamats, the number one factor in a person’s college decision is whether they will get a good job after graduation. This was a motivating factor in the decision to the new approach.

“We thought, let’s key in to that desire to really be able to get somewhere with an investment of four years or whatever it might be to earn a degree. We think Wichita State is better than most colleges and universities in the state at helping our students get there faster; into a degree, into a job, into a good salary, into a good career, into life really,” Hague said.

The new ad campaign, which runs Aug. 1 through the end of October, will feature at least one new ad each day. However, it is up to students and alumni to produce the material.

“People post. They post a picture, some statement, tweet about it, whatever they might do. Those actually stream into advertising that will appear in a variety of places online and on digital billboards here in Wichita,” Hague said.

“From our perspective, the best people to talk about Wichita State University being the state’s center for experience-based learning are the people getting the experience. I think our students, our recent alumni, are the folks who are best equipped and most knowledgeable to be able to tell that story. We want to encourage, in this campaign, prospective students to consider Wichita State and to inquire about us.”

Students and recent alumni who want to participate in the campaign can post about their experience on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, or Twitter using #WSUexperience.