Website Magic

By Lindsay Anderson ‘04

Foster College of Business students have numerous opportunities to expand their knowledge and skills outside the classroom. For four management information systems (MIS) students, that opportunity arose in their senior capstone course.

“The MIS capstone course is an excellent opportunity for students to apply skills they have developed through their undergraduate careers,” Entrepreneurship, Technology, and Law Department Chair and Professor, Dr. Matt McGowan, said. “They work with clients who have business problems that require a technological solution. That is what most of our students will do in their MIS careers. The projects provide genuine hands-on experience for the students, unlike a simulation or a textbook problem.”

Students typically work with area nonprofits or small businesses for capstone experiences. This team — MIS major Chance Dowds ’16 from Delavan, Illinois; MIS major Joshua Powers ’17 of Saint Paul, Minnesota; MIS and finance double major Nathan Stong ’17 of Andover, Minnesota; and MIS and management and leadership double major Haroon Zahid ’16 of Peoria;  — developed websites for the Chillicothe Optimist Club and the Chillicothe Town Theatre.

“Our team worked really hard to provide our client with two fully functioning and beautiful websites, and we were really happy to hear that we exceeded their expectations,” said Zahid. “It was good to work for a local client that gives back to the community.”

The project took shape quickly and yielded websites that eased online ticketing processes and user-friendly mobile experiences.

“Looking back on how much has changed since January is remarkable,” Stong said. “Web development was a foreign concept to me coming into the project, and now that we’ve successfully created two websites, I have a whole new appreciation for it. The experience was invaluable.”

“Having the websites updated has helped the Town Theatre immensely,” President of the Chillicothe Optimist Club and Operating Manager of the Chillicothe Town Theatre, Cyndi Kosinski, said.  “We can serve our customer base better with up-to-date information that refreshes daily. Working with the students was terrific; they were all very professional and responded to questions quickly. It was a great experience. I highly recommend that other small businesses in the area make use of the extensive knowledge these Bradley business students possess.”