Nine students enrolled in the Digital Technology and Culture Program at WSU Vancouver partnered with the Columbia River Economic Development Council (CREDC) to create a new website aimed at business owners interested in expansion and relocation.
“One of the responsibilities of a land grant university, such as WSU Vancouver, is to give back to our local community,” said WSUV Chancellor Hal Dengerink. “All our students work on projects that directly benefit the community.”
During the process of interviewing various interactive agencies last summer, the management team at CREDC became aware of the DTC program that requires senior seminar students to create a digital technology project for a community-based nonprofit organization. CREDC then partnered with the students enrolled in the fall 2008 senior seminar who designed, wrote, programmed and now have launched the new Web site. Past class projects for other organizations include video and animation projects.
“These projects benefit our students on several levels,” said Dene Grigar, PhD., the chair of the school’s DTC program. “They gain hands-on experience and learn to work as a team to meet an organization’s goals. They will have a project for their portfolios when they go out to look for a job. And, they walk away knowing that they have done something especially good for the community.”
The DTC program integrates critical thinking, creativity and computing skills with course work in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Students can direct their studies in Multimedia Authoring, Informatics, or Culture and Technology.
“Selecting WSUV students to develop our new Web site supports one of the basic missions of our organization – workforce development,” said CREDC President Bart Phillips. “The real-world projects the students work on will make them even more valuable to local employers.”
To see the website visit: www.credc.org
