‘CultureU’ website connects fine arts students to jobs, opportunites

One IU professor has spent nine years building a social media website to help his students find jobs.

Kelley School of Business Senior Lecturer Rick Schrimper is updating CultureU, which is currently running a beta version online.

The new and improved CultureU.com will feature a chat room, online contests and other, more dynamic additions, Schrimper said.

CultureU plans to create a video for its campaign at Kickstarter.com to help with funding.

Once posted, anyone with Internet access can view the video and donate any amount of money. Schrimper said 90 percent of the profits will fund internships.

CultureU is a career-oriented social media site available to anyone but designed for use by college students and recent college graduates.

“A much deeper and meaningful connection can be established,” said sophomore Ryan Petrill, a student working on the project.

“Musical artists can connect and flourish with fellow musicians by posting their latest compositions or performance. Dancers can provide routines they have created or provide feedback on others’ performances.”

Halle Hill, sophomore and coordinator for the multiracial community on the website, said the site will also have groups dedicated to particular subjects such as environmental conservation, fashion and photography and cultures such as Asian, Latino, African-American and others in order to target specific interests and build an international support community.

“We highly respect students’ multicultural background, and this website is a platform for students to show their culture while seeking for job opportunites,” junior Lucia Zhu said.

CultureU was originally intended as a non-profit organization and is currently funded by Schrimper. Because of past financial struggles, he said, the site must now rely on investors.

“Students submit content for contests provided by CultureU, and whichever student wins will be able to receive a previously unpaid internship at a company that is now funded via CultureU,” Petrill said.

The site would allow student-run organizations to post content and interact with one another for peer support and commentary.

“We would have media feeds from student newspapers, student radio stations and television stations, and have them feed us the content that they produce every day and have them start getting peer reviews and commentary back to them,” Schrimper said.

Schrimper has developed CultureU since 2004.

“The original idea came to me when satellite radio started evolving and realized that they would need fresh audio content,” Schrimper said. “So I decided to start an idea to collect audio content from college students around the world.”

Schrimper’s plans soon became about more than just the use of audio clips and now involve the combination of all social media sites to help students find jobs.

“They’re showing future employers what is special about them and their concrete talent that can benefit that employer’s business,” Petrill said.

Follow reporter Torie Schumacher on Twitter @shoe_torie.