This case, developed for the 2025 ABC Case Writing Competition and sponsored by the ABC Student Competition Committee, asks students to apply persuasive communication strategies to a real-world crisis in public service. Following a violent incident at the Worcester (Massachusetts) Public Library, students step into the role of Board President to advocate for staff safety and resources before the City Council. The case highlights the challenges of community advocacy, secondary traumatic stress, and organizational resilience while offering students practice in crafting persuasive, high-stakes messages.

We conducted 10 focus groups with 32 academic consultants to identify three intrinsic rewards categories for academic consulting: meaningful work, professional development, and enhanced teaching. Based on these findings, we propose a typology of academic consulting, teaching-driven consulting, and a multifaceted framework of academic consultant career identity. Our framework provides rhetorical resources for faculty, staff, and administrators to discuss academic consulting identities, tie aspects of identity to preferred rewards categories, and advocate for consulting resources and support.