Through the Student Agency at Johnson County Community College (JCCC), college students have a unique opportunity to build career skills, gain real-world work experience, and directly apply their academic skills to a wide variety of industries.
What is the Student Agency?
The JCCC Student Agency is a student-run work experience, overseen by a staff advisor, that provides a range of services to local businesses and JCCC departments. Students apply their academic knowledge gained through JCCC classes to real-world challenges by working with area clients and delivering professional-quality solutions—at prices significantly below market value.
Companies of all sizes have contracted with JCCC Student Agency to bring their projects to life. Past projects have included website development, logo and branding design, logistics analysis, and more.
“We will meet with any business about any idea,” said Arika Ledom, CoLab Support Specialist and Student Agency Advisor.
Student Agency also has the potential to enlist faculty and staff advisors from every JCCC academic discipline. These advisors provide mentorship and act as sounding boards for Student Agency employees on their various projects, ensuring they meet industry standards.
Who works for Student Agency?
Currently, three innovative and dedicated JCCC students are employed by Student Agency—Ana, Light, and Ambreen. They complete projects as needed, supported by JCCC’s CoLab (Collaboration Center). Student Agency staff are encouraged to take advantage of the state-of-the-art resources already available on JCCC’s campus to create solutions for client business needs.
Students must apply to work in Student Agency, but applications are accepted from any JCCC student. JCCC graduates who graduated less than one year ago can also work for Student Agency. Occasionally, JCCC faculty or staff will recommend a specific student in a related discipline for an incoming client request.
SA Fingerstick project
Agency assignments vary based on incoming requests, but the Student Agency employees all work on a special long-term project—the SAFingerstick.
The SAFingerstick is a medical simulation tool which was created years ago by two former JCCC professors, Kathy Carver RN, MN, and Dr. David Zamierowski. The SAFingerstick device enables students in healthcare-related fields to practice testing and reading blood glucose levels without being exposed to actual blood samples.
Carver and Zamierowski recognized that there was a greater need for student glucose testing simulation and received a patent for the device in the early 2010s. Zamierowski donated the patent and his portion of the device’s patent royalties to JCCC. Today, all proceeds from SA Fingerstick sales go to student scholarships.
Real-world work experience for students
After starting with Student Agency in 2025, the team has significantly streamlined
operations management for the SAFingerstick. They created an operating manual, established quality control and testing protocols, reduced packaging and shipping costs by 30%, and generated more than $22,000 in sales.
In September, the team represented the SAFingerstick at the Annual Kansas City Healthcare Simulation Conference. They were the only student group invited to present.
Ana, one of the Student Agency employees, plans to start law school next year, and working for Student Agency helped to solidify her choice. During her employment, Lim noticed another company manufacturing and selling a very similar product to the SAFingerstick. One of her proudest accomplishments was collaborating with JCCC’s legal department to protect the SAFingerstick patent and trademark rights.
“Working for Student Agency on the SAFingerstick account helped me develop different sets of personal and professional skills,” said Ana. “I love learning new things, and it was exciting to have the chance to learn about a new industry that overlapped with law in many ways.”
Learn more
Interested in becoming a client or an employee of JCCC Student Agency?
Student Agency provides opportunities for participating businesses to directly contribute to the development of skilled and qualified future employees in the community.
Learn more on JCCC’s Student Agency blog page.
