Every Spring semester, Professor Alan Cutting teaches WEB 299, a repeatable course that pairs students from all different disciplines into teams competing to design the best website and branding for a client, selected based on need and area of specialty. In Spring of 2021, WEB 299’s first client was the CPC and FSL here on campus. Their goal was to rebrand themselves- they wanted a brand new website that would showcase the merging of the two organizations, creating a more cohesive online identity for the new Community Engagement at RWU.
Web 299 invites students from all disciplines but is most popular among Web Development, Graphic Design, Marketing, and Communications Majors. This course can be taken up to 3 times, with each time building upon knowledge gained in the first. In the course, students form multidisciplinary teams to design and develop a web presence for an actual client. Teams compete for the client's business just as real-world web design and development firms must do. Team members bring their own expertise to bear in seamlessly integrating the website within a Content Management System. This project requires the application of your existing skill set and the acquisition of new skills. Employers are increasingly looking for graduates with real-world experience working in multi-disciplinary teams. The Web Development Center provides that experience. The team project becomes part of each student's professional portfolio.
In Spring of 2021, the winning team consisted of a group of sophomores taking the class for the first time. Team Titans was led by Tris Comizio, a graphic design, and web development major. The team was comprised of Aidan Bowen, a communications major, Tim Doyle, a web development major, and Nate Holt, a web development major. Between January and March, the winning team competed with three other teams to design a website that best suited the needs of the client. Their website was chosen based on functionality, completion, and how receptive it was to the client’s criticisms from week to week. The team continued to develop the website throughout the rest of the semester. Tris Comizio has since joined the Community Engagement Marketing team and continues to update the site, helping to develop the organization’s new online presence.
Update: The website designed for Community Engagement at RWU has since been taken down and is no longer active.
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