The Bateman Team is teaching students how to manage their finances once they’ve brought home the bacon.
The five-student team is part of a national intercollegiate public relations competition with upward of 100 teams participating.  Each team is partnered with a business and tasked with completing a public relations campaign.
The University’s team has been paired with Ally Financial Inc., and launched its campaign titled “Fatten Your Pig,” inspired by the concept of a piggy bank. The campaign is dedicated to teaching people in the Baton Rouge area how to better manage their finances.
“With students we are teaching how to build good credit and live off of a budget,” said team member Alicia Haefele, mass communication senior.
In addition to Ally Financial Inc., the Bateman team has garnered the support of a curly-tailed friend.
Dr. Pig E. Banks, a real-life pig, has been hitting the campaign trail with the team to draw attention to the cause. The pig was lent to the campaign by the roommate of a team member.
At an informational session held Wednesday night, the Bateman Team gave students pointers on how to act responsibly regarding finances.
“I learned how credit originates and how to maintain a good credit score,” said Hannah Hebert, psychology freshman.
Students who attended the meeting were provided with literature discussing basic guidelines to follow to “fatten their pig.”
“Only spend 30 percent of your credit limit,” Haefele said. “Check your credit score every three months to know where you stand.”
Finances are one area to which students should pay serious attention, Haefele said. More students drop out of college because of credit-card debt than poor academic
performance, according to the team presentation.
Students are also encouraged to build a budget to which they can adhere. One area students tend to trip up when budgeting is considering savings, according to team member Kelly Glymph, mass communication senior.
“Each month save 5 to 10 percent of your income to have money to fall back on in case of an emergency,” Glymph said.
“Fatten Your Pig” has one more session geared toward college students in the Holliday Forum of the Journalism Building at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 24.
 
 
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Contact Josh Naquin at [email protected]