Come June, the Kent State Student Credit Union will be no more. The credit union, a branch of the Kent Credit Union, will leave the Student Center after its contract expires.

Joe Crawfis, Kent State Credit Union CEO, told the Stater last week that the university simply wanted the space for something else and the two were not able to work out a different location.

Undergraduate Student Government and the Center of Excellence for Entrepreneurial and Business Innovation hope that something else might be a student-operated marketing/advertising agency.

As for those who used the credit union – there were about 1,300 a year and a half ago – they’ll still be able to use the Kent Credit Union, located on Rhodes Road. The two merged in September 2006, allowing members to use either location.

We are a little concerned that Huntington is now the only banking option physically located on campus, but we’re more interested in the proposed marketing agency.

The idea began several months ago with the former USS and continues on with the new USG and the Center of Excellence for Entrepreneurial and Business Innovation. We think it sounds like an interesting concept.

Katie Hale, former USS executive director, and one of the people responsible for getting the project started, said the location of the potential marketing agency is one of its key benefits. Being directly across from the Center for Student Involvement would allow student organizations to use the marketing agency’s services for advertising. Hale said typically, student organizations include advertising costs in their allocations requests but usually are stuck doing the advertising themselves, often not having the time or know-how to sufficiently publicize their events.

The marketing agency would have the potential to change that.

We think that sounds pretty good. Not only will students have a chance to better publicize their events, but other students will be able to use the skills they’re here learning to do so.

Perhaps better advertising will help get more people out to campus happenings. It’s a little frustrating when one of our reporters comes back from covering an interesting event and says about 30 people attended. Not everything is worth going to, no, but many are. Advertising can’t hurt.

The Center of Excellence for Entrepreneurial and Business Innovation would direct their part of the agency more toward student business development and local business marketing.

It also would fund the agency, Lee McMannis told the Stater last week. That’s more good news. We’ve often been critical of how student government spends its money. Not that we think this could be a waste of money, but rather that we think it’s good they aren’t going to be spending boatloads of money to open a business agency. They’ll be able to put their general funds toward getting other things done.

When we first heard about the marketing agency, we did wonder how much of a direct benefit it would have on students. Anything in the Student Center should have a pretty substantial one. But as long as it has a chance to develop business for students and help organizations get more people out to their events, it sounds like its deserving of a spot in the Student Center.

The above editorial is the consensus opinion of the Daily Kent Stater editorial board.