Champlain College students help turn the key on social entrepreneurs new start-up

BURLINGTON, Vt.--Hal Colston, the founder and former director of the Good News Garage, is an adjunct professor at Champlain College, where he teaches community service courses. But now through a new, multifaceted project with the College, he has also become a client of several student and faculty teams who are helping him get his next big idea off the ground.
Champlain students are doing marketing research, surveys, feasibility studies, Web development, electronic game development and video work for Colstons NeighborKeepers project. Colstons goal is to create a nonprofit organization that provides a circle of support to impoverished single mothers and their families. One of the goals, said Colston, is to show these families how to live in the middle class, when all theyve known is poverty.
One aspect of Colstons program is to create a serious game about the hidden rules of class. Called Class Rules, the interactive electronic game would be targeted at elementary school children locally and across the country.
Hopefully, we can plan the seeds of change with this game, Colston said. It would also help fund his efforts with the impoverished families.
Being on the Champlain College campus is very, very important, Colston said. Theres an entrepreneurial spirit in this place and a determination to get something good done.
We cant think of a better way to give our students real-world experiences in a way that reflects the values of the Champlain faculty, said Dr. Lynne D. Ballard, chair of Champlains Business Administration Division. A variety of faculty and student teams are applying their professional skills to a nonprofit client and they are excited to be a part of this start-up. This project is an example of a new model here that provides our students with curriculum-based instruction and service learning experiences at the same time. Its a mutually beneficial, responsible partnership that we hope will grow.
Several Champlain programs and courses are now laying the groundwork for the electronic game called Class Rules:
MARKET RESEARCH: Students in Elaine Youngs Nonprofit & Social Marketing course are doing marketing research for the electronic game to see if there is anything like it and they are exploring target markets and examining how educational games are marketed. They meet with Colston once a week and will have final recommendations and a presentation in mid-April.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR & RESEARCH: Students in Jim Thorntons Consumer Behavior course are doing secondary research into the consumer behavior of people who live in poverty, class rules, and class structure in the United States. For example, one group is examining the preferred retail atmosphere and buying behavior of Americans in various classes. Team reports are due April 1. Then, in early April, students will develop a survey that Colston will administer which will gather details about their consumer behavior and life experiences. All of the information will help build the content found in Class Rules. The students and Colston meets with these students each Tuesday.
VIDEO: A Broadcasting student has been videotaping meetings about this project.
WEB DEVELOPMENT: Web Site Development students will soon turn surveys into Web-based surveys so they may be implemented.
INTERVIEWING & WRITING: In the fall, Joanne Farrells Professional Writing students will conduct hundreds of personal interviews that will be used for data that is revealed in Class Rules. The stories will help shape the scenarios that players will encounter in the game.
GAME DEVELOPMENT: Next spring, Ann DeMarles Electronic Game & Interactive Development students will work with professionals to do pre-game development and then they will develop a prototype of the game.
GAME ROLL-OUT: The goal is to have a game ready to play in late fall 2006 or early spring 2007.
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