Members of a college class are bringing fresh eyes to the Maridon Museum’s marketing plan.

The students, a five-person team from LaRoche College in Allegheny County, are studying the facility with the intent of proposing marketing changes.

The Maridon gets fresh ideas.

The students get hands-on experience in a real-world environment.

The exercise is part of the “Organizational Behavior” course taught by Henry Sinopoli of Butler, who also is a member of the Maridon’s 11-member board of directors.

“This is the first time this has been done,” said Sinopoli, who hopes to make the program an ongoing long-term partnership. There’s about a half-dozen teams in the class, focusing on different organizations in Allegheny County, as well as the Maridon and Seven Fields Veterinary Clinic in Butler County.

The Maridon’s team has been meeting at the facility on North McKean Street weekly to perform a “SWOT” analysis: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats.

“They take the theoretical information that they learn in class and apply it practically,” Sinopoli said.

At the end of the month, the team will make a formal presentation to the class and the museum’s board on how to turn one of the organization’s weaknesses into a strength.

The students said they were surprised at the art itself, which they described as one of the facility’s greatest strengths.

The Maridon houses the collection garnered by Butler native and philanthropist Mary Hulton Phillips, who died in 2009.

The art, which was assembled over decades, consists of about 800 objects, including Asian jade and ivory sculptures, tapestries, landscape paintings, scrolls and artifacts, plus a collection of Meissen porcelain.

“This is a hidden gem,” student team member Matt Bopp, 21, of Portage said of the museum.

The “hidden” part is the weakness the students are focusing on.

The Maridon, open since 2004, gets about 1,000 visitors each year, said Executive Director Roxanne Boozer. “It would be nice to see that increase by 10 percent, but our goal is always just to get more visitors.”

The team is focusing on ideas to attract middle school through college students into the museum. For example, they’re hoping to put links connecting to the museum on college Internet sites under “what to see.”

“We want to create a map of the next best moves for the Maridon,” said Jonathan Mancuso, 21, of Italy.

In addition to Bopp and Mancuso, the group is comprised of Shelby Shaffer, 19, of Elderton; Kevin Kowalsky, 19, of Ambridge; and Alexandrea Hanyo, 19, of Tarentum.

Boozer said she has been pleased with the group’s effort.

“They are a great group to work with because they are enthusiastic and bring fresh eyes to our challenges,” Boozer said.

And the students seem appreciative of the opportunity.

“Reading a book and doing something hands-on is totally different,” Bopp said.