The Lavin Entrepreneurship Center's WebCompass is an undergraduate internship program that involves three colleges within San Diego State University. The goal of this semester long internship is to create a dynamic team of students from business, graphic/web design, and computer science to complete a website-based project for San Diego small companies or non-profits. Included in this program are the College of Business Administration, the College of Professional Studies & Fine Arts and the College of Science. The program is a great learning experience for both the students and organizations involved.

WebCompass Overview

This internship is intended for undergraduate seniors and takes place over the course of an academic semester, around ten weeks. This is a paid internship and entails about 75 hours per student to complete. Interns are hired and paid by the Lavin Center. All meetings will take place in the Center's boardroom located on campus.

How the Program Works

Phase One: Initially, the Lavin Center will work with the three colleges to identify students for inclusion in the program. Once the students have been selected, the Center will invite small companies or non-profit organizations to submit WebCompass applications. Ideally, the students and the Center's Director will choose 3-5 organizations for potential project consideration. After a brief compatibility and project analysis, one organization will be selected for each project team. The Director will then coordinate a "kick-off" meeting with the clients and selected interns.

Phase Two: At this meeting, the client representative will present an overview of their organization as well as communicate their objectives. In addition, the student team, the Lavin Center Director and the client will also do a walkthrough of their current website, highlighting both strengths and weaknesses. The client indicates their core target market and any other strategic initiatives.

Phase Three: The student team will do a competitive marketplace analysis, looking at potential competitors in the marketplace as well as the organization's branding and core messaging. The team will then meet with the Lavin Center Director and create 1-3 strategic objectives for the website and then build a project plan. The business student would drive the project plan and write or edit any website copy. The graphic/web design student will be responsible for graphics, user-interface design and creative elements of the website. The computer science student will be responsible for all HTML coding of the website, any search engine optimization, as well as selecting a content management tool for the clients use.

Phase Four: There will be a final meeting with the client where the website is presented for client approval. Upon acceptance, the website is launched and the project would be complete.

Course Credit

San Diego State University may be able to provide the students course credit through an existing 400 level internship or independent study course. Each student should check with his/her advisor in their respective college.

Getting Involved:

If you are interested in becoming involved in the Web Compass program as a potential organization or intern, and would like additional information, please contact Bernhard Schroeder, bschroeder@emc.sdsu.edu or via phone at (619) 594-0560.