The
Fall 11 schedule is now available on line, so you should start planning you classes and be ready to register as soon as you day and time arrive.
But the Graphic Communication department will be going through some important changes in the Fall, so please read this message to be prepared.
COURSE NAME CHANGES
In an effort to better represent our department philosophy and align our course names with many of the 4-year institutions our students transfer to, beginning Fall 2011, our core GCOM classes will be undergoing a name change.
course # / old name new name
313 Beg. Page Layout using InDesign Digital Layout I
314 Adv. Page Layout using InDesign Digital Layout 2
330 Beg. Photoshop Digital Imaging I
331 Adv. Digital Imaging for Print Digital Imaging 2
332 Adv. Digital Imaging for Web/Multi. Digital Imaging 3
340 Beginning Illustrator Digital Illustration for Graphic Design I
341 Adv. Digital Illustration Digital Illustration for Graphic Design 2
380 Beg. Interactive Design Interactive Design 1
383 Intermediate Interactive Design Interactive Design 2
390 Beg. Motion Design Motion Design 1
(note: similar name changes are likely to take place for these courses in the following school year: 343, 345, 360, 361, 362)
NEW LECTURE / LAB CHANGES
For many years nearly all of GCOM’s graphic design and web design courses have been offered as a scheduled Lecture with the Lab portion listed as TBA — allowing students to complete their lab work on their own schedule at home or in our Design Lab.
Due to changing administration directives and state regulations, beginning in the Fall 2011 semester many of our core classes will be scheduled with a required scheduled Lab section with the instructor.
As an example, our current Beginning Photoshop class is scheduled as a weekly 2 hour Lecture class, for which the student is expected to complete approximately 3 hours of assigned Lab work per week on their own.
In the Fall, the 2 hour Lecture will be immediately followed by a 1.25 hour in-class Lab. The students will be expected to attend and use that time to produce class work, along with an additional 1.75 hours of TBA Lab time.
Some of these classes may be scheduled in a “hybrid” modality, which means the instructor may be choose to make some Lab time flexible or online.
However, not all GCOM courses will change to the scheduled Lab. Some of our advanced, principles, and distance ed courses will continue to only have unscheduled TBA lab.
The GCOM faculty believes that offering scheduled Lab classes with the instructor, especially for our core introductory courses, will provide a more engaging and enriching educational experience for our students.
NEW DEGREE / CERTIFICATE INFO
The Fall 2011 semester will also bring changes to the requirements of our GCOM A.S. Degree and our Career Certificates. If you began taking GCOM classes before Fall 11, these changes may not directly effect you.
More information about the degree and certificates will be coming soon, as soon as they are fully approved.
