According to Professor John Wolfer, Chair of the RWC Department of Art & Visual Communication, the program is “evolving to meet the needs of current (and future) students and the demands of the graphics industry.”As the population has come to include a greater percentage of traditional-aged students, the desire to transfer into a baccalaureate program has increased, Wolfer said. “Because our degrees were designed to be a free-standing, complete program, transferring to another university, or even to the Clifton Campus, has been cumbersome at best,” he said.
In discussions with UC’s College of Design, Art, Architecture and Planning (DAAP), an agreement was reached that, effective with semester conversion, the RWC Art & Visual Communication Department will offer the complete DAAP Graphic Communication Design first-year curriculum.
This will serve as the first year of the Communication Design Associate Degree program and will create a potential transfer pathway to DAAP or another baccalaureate art/design institution for students interested in transferring after the freshman year, Wolfer explained.
“In addition, it will lend more rigor to our associate degree program by providing a stronger foundational level of skills,” he added.
As interactive graphics (web-, motion-, and mobile device-based) have become a dominant mode of information delivery, it has become increasingly rare for designers to find themselves limited to creating graphics for print alone.
“Changes in our program reflect the necessity that young designers develop skills that address both web and print applications,” Wolfer said. “Currently, these areas constitute two separate program tracks. But with the semester conversion, the two will merge into a single program, titled Applied Graphic Communication.”
He also said that, because of the increased transferability built into the program itself, the Pre-Design and Art transfer program will no longer be offered.
Wolfer called the changes “a vital part” of the program necessary for the students in the Graphic Communication area.
“Upon graduation these Graphic Communication students will be on the cutting edge of technology and knowledge,” he said. “This new renovation will allow Graphic Communication majors to take their education to the next level so that they are prepared as they venture out into the career field.