Entrepreneurs Saqib Rasool and Phuc Vu began work on inCampus, a social-commerce networking site in May of 2007. Nearly a year later, the University of Washington has been chosen as the flagship university to launch the project.

InCampus officially launched May 5 at the UW.

“We launched at the UW because it’s close to our heart, and the impact of UW on the local community is huge,” Rasool said.

Co-founders Rasool and Vu both left jobs at Microsoft before starting work on inCampus.

“I’ve had offers to go back [to Microsoft], but this project keeps me excited,” Rasool said.

The idea behind inCampus is to give college students a place where they can buy and sell textbooks, look for rooms and roommates and also find a job after graduation. While other sites such as Facebook and Craigslist offer similar services, the site’s creators believe that the actual needs of college students still aren’t being met.

“It would have been nice if I’d had one site for all of my needs in college,” Rasool said. “When I graduated, I only had a few places to go and find jobs. There are a lot of employers that just want college students, and the site gives the employers a way to find interested students.”

InCampus works with 896 employers looking for college students, 214 of which post directly to UW students on the site.

Although inCampus requires a valid college e-mail address to become a member, potential employers can still create accounts to post job listings and services. The site differentiates between students and employers with a feature called the “in crowd.”

Everyone who registers with a valid college e-mail account automatically becomes part of the “in crowd” at their university. Members are then able to post topics and participate in other networking features the site has to offer.

InCampus works with eight student executives at the UW. As marketing interns, their job is to spread word of the site across campus.

“Right now, everyone thinks inCampus is just another site,” said junior accounting major Alvin Lai, a student executive for inCampus. “Our goal is to let students know that this site will ultimately benefit them.”

But other students aren’t sure how quickly the site will catch on.

“I like the idea of creating a networking site that makes it easier for college grads to find jobs,” said junior Justin Hollister, a finance and marketing major.

Hollister created a profile on inCampus this week to see what the site was all about.

“It seems to me like the site is still in its infant stages,” Hollister said. “I’m also not so sure students will feel the need to sign up for yet another social networking site.”

In order to give students more incentive to create a profile, inCampus is offering special discounts to members on products such as electronics and clothing.

“InCampus is probably the only site where students can go to find free deals right now,” Vu said.

InCampus has had 1600 hits since it launched and about 13,000 page views.