Graphic Communications Technology Blazes New Trails
Several exciting developments are positively shaping the future of the Graphic Communications Technology program. First, adjunct instructor and Continental Airlines Webmistress, April Showers (pictured above), will chart a new direction for GCT courses when she offers the Visual Communications Technology course online for the first time in Spring 2002. Students will learn the basics of graphic communications, including typography, color, photography, and graphic design, from the comfort of their own computers as they complete their coursework over the Internet. Of course,students will still need to come to campus to work in labs. However, Saturday sessions have been schedule to accommodate them.
The secondary objective of the Graphic Communications Technology degree program is to prepare students for technological careers in the graphic communications industries. The program prepares students for a variety of careers, including Digital Imaging Technician, Electronic Prepress Technician, Multimedia Specialist, Webmaster, and Offset Lithographic Press Operator.
GCT Collaborates With Art Department
The secondary objective of the Graphic Communications In what can only be described as a major coup for all involved, the UH Art Departmentās new Graphic Communications/Studio Arts (graphic design) degree plan requires students who complete that prestigious program to take at least one (but more likely two) Graphic Communications Technology courses. Included on the new degree plan are Image Technology I (black-and-white prepress) and Press Technology I. Dr. Jerry Waite, Graphic Communications Technology program coordinator, stated "this new strategic alliance with the Art Department will reinforce one of the major goals of the Graphic Communications Technology program as outlined by its founder, the Texas Printing Education Foundation. In particular, this alliance will ensure that future graphic designers prepared by the UH Graphic Communications/Studio Arts program will be well grounded in the technological processes used to reproduce their creations."
Joint Degree Plan Proposed For Fort Bend Technical Center And UH
Negotiations are underway between the UH College of Technology and the Wharton Junior Collegeās Fort Bend Technical Center that should lead to a joint degree in Graphic Communications Technology. Students at the new Center in Richmond will complete an Associate of Arts degree that will include all the required university "core" (general education) classes as well as eight graphic-specific courses. The graduates will then be able to matriculate directly into UH ās Technology Leadership and Supervision/Occupational Technology degree plan, complete additional supervisory and graphic communications technology courses, and earn a Bachelor of Science in Technology degree. Lloyd Schuh,a graphic arts consultant who is developing the Fort Bend Technical Centerās new graphic-related certificate and degree plans, believes "the proposed joint degree plan will be especially attractive to students in far Southwest Houston (Sugar Land, Stafford, Missouri City, Richmond, and Rosenberg) because they will be able to complete their first two years of study close to home. Then, our articulated program will enable them to move seamlessly into the university environment at UH." Most of the courses required by the Technology Leadership and Supervision/Occupational Technology degree plan are offered online or through instructional television.Thus,graduates from the Fort Bend Technical Center will be able to complete most of their remaining UH courses from home or at the new UH Sugar Land facility.Students will only need to travel to the UH Main Campus for laboratories and occasional live demonstrations.
* UH offers two Graphic Communications programs. Graphic Communications/Studio Arts focuses on graphic design concepts and is offered by the Department of Art. Graphic Communications Technology, offered by the College of Technology,focuses on the technological and managerial processes needed to reproduce images using print and other media.