INDEX: Experiential Learning Opportunities
Ringling’s Commitment to Experiential Learning
INDEX (Industry Experience) is an experiential education program that provides students campus-wide the opportunity to gain professional experience prior to graduation by connecting them with leading brands and clients to develop creative solutions to business challenges. It’s designed to be a centralized point of entry connecting students with all the different industry experience opportunities on campus.
INDEX allows students to gain professional experience and build their portfolios, strengthen their resumes, and acquire confidence and familiarity with industry best practices. INDEX represents the College’s long-standing priority and purpose: to focus on students’ futures in the creative industries and to empower them to thrive as creative leaders.
INDEX mirrors the most successful studios and organizations by bringing together multiple creative disciplines to blend artistry with emerging techniques, seamlessly integrate design, storytelling, and technology, and produce work driven by strategy and supported by style.
Since INDEX was established in August 2021, Ringling students have worked with close to 200 unique professional bodies ranging from nationally and internationally acclaimed clients such as the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Moffitt Cancer Center to innovative start-ups and independent brands. It has become the third pillar of the overarching Ringling College experience: world-class academics, a robust and well-rounded student life, and INDEX.
Industry Experiences are abundant and available across campus through experiential learning in the classroom, Design Center, Studio Labs, the Makerspace, volunteerism, internships, and as client-sponsored competitions, customized project experiences, and elective courses.
*INDEX is an initiative developed by Ringling College in partnership with The Patterson Foundation that provides creative, experiential learning opportunities to all of its students.
Contact
INDEX
Roskamp Center I
2328 N Tamiami Trail
Sarasota, FL 34234
info@ringling.edu
Are you interested in partnering with Ringling College students through INDEX?
To submit a potential project for review, please fill out the Scope of Work document.
Project Examples
Smithsonian American Art Museum:
Drawn to Art: Ten Tales of Inspiring Women Artists Comic Series
Ten Illustration students were selected to create a series of biographical sketches for the Smithsonian American Art Museum based upon the lives of ten women artists whose work is featured in the Museum’s collection. Working closely with the client team, the students completed client deliverables as short comics composed of 12 to 16 frames to convey the story of the ten women artists. Each winning student received a $1,500 award and the honor of having their work featured in the renowned museum’s special project.
Feld Entertainment:
Monster Jam Campaign Strategy
Eleven Business of Art and Design students conducted a situational analysis of the Monster Jam business, environmental scan for industry assessment and consumer trends, and primary research to uncover insights, challenges, and areas of opportunity. Informed by data and research, the student team produced a leading campaign strategy along with three creative briefs focusing on strategic growth opportunities for the Monster Jam brand.
Flight School:
Wet Dog Corp. Virtual Reality Game
Thirty-eight students across four majors came together to produce a brand activation launch of Wet Dog Corp. at South by Southwest (SXSW)—the infamous conference and festival that celebrates the convergence of tech, film, music, education, and culture. The virtual reality game project required the collaboration of multiple creative disciplines to brainstorm and ideate, create an entire graphics package, build a physical arcade game, and manage the production details of the event.
Previous Client Partnerships
INDEX Opportunities
The award-winning ART Network—All Ringling Television Network—is the official, student-operated campus television network at Ringling College. Our ART Network students run the entire broadcasting process from start to finish, learning how to capture compelling content and produce final, professional work. And with so many events, speakers, exhibitions, artists, and presenters around campus, there is no shortage of topics to cover. Students not only gain real exposure to camerawork, programming, production, and post-production, but they acquire valuable communication and collaboration skills. They must work closely with each other and with clients, both internal and external, to produce stimulating content—commercials, promos, PSAs, and more—that meets real-world objectives. ART Network students can participate through the student club or the elective course that is open to all majors and class levels.
The Makerspace is a collection of cross-disciplinary, educational studios where you can work cooperatively with faculty, staff, and other artists to learn manufacturing processes, realize your projects, and develop responsible working practices. The Makerspace studios provide a safe and friendly learning environment, as well as an opportunity to work with manufacturing equipment and machinery in a variety of fields.
We take every opportunity to propel our students to the top, including finding and supporting opportunities for participation in regional, national, and international clients to sponsor courses, competitions, and customized projects.
These opportunities put Ringling students in front of actual clients, often granting them high-level exposure to the industry and its leaders. Through previous opportunities, our students have designed award-winning product packaging for L’Oreal, developed travel and transportation solutions for Disney, and produced commercials for a new flavor of Doritos, just to name a few.
For Ringling students, Career Services offers training and career preparation services, such as job search strategies, resume reviewing, interview training, and portfolio building. This office brings recruiters from the top creative companies around the world to deliver presentations and interview students. Attend career events, ask questions, and get the information you need to make thoughtful choices about your future.
The Student Life Office, and Student Volunteerism and Service-Learning staff, provide community service opportunities for the growth and development of the entire Ringling College community. A great deal of your learning beyond the classroom can take place through volunteerism. Becoming a student volunteer will help you gain professional skills and experience; you will become more socially responsible, gain a sense of belonging, meet other volunteers with similar values and interests, learn leadership skills, embrace diversity, and gain perspective by seeing others with different or more severe challenges than your own. Your worldview will be expanded as you gain insight into the Sarasota community and beyond. As a Ringling College volunteer, you can share your strengths—artistic or otherwise—and have meaningful community experiences.
Contact Information:
Ulla Searing Student Center
Robert Perkins Student Life Wing
volunteerism@ringling.edu
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Upcoming events
INDEX projects may be offered as full semester courses or as projects embedded within a course. These projects deliver customer-focused, design-based solutions for businesses. Students typically meet directly with clients to address a myriad of workplace challenges, including branding, positioning, user experience hurdles, service innovation, and product design issues.
