In an era when it is common to hear that Graphic Communications programs have been curtailed or closed, it is refreshing and exciting to know that a new baccalaureate-level graphic communications curriculum has been established at the University of Houston. This development becomes even more inspiring when one considers that the motivation to begin the curriculum came not from the University, but from the local graphic arts community. This industry involvement, coupled with the University of Houston's location in a major city in a state in which printing is booming, makes the new curriculum unique in printing education.
For
many years, Houston-area printers have been concerned that Texas
colleges produce too few printing technicians and even fewer supervisors.
Printers in many areas of the country voice the same concern.
However, instead of simply complaining, Houston's printers "put
their money (and time) where their mouth is." In 1982, the
Texas Printing Education Foundation (TPEF) was formed under the
auspices of the Printing Industries of the Gulf Coast (PIGC).
TPEF's board of directors, chaired by Mr.
Jim White (see photo at left), is
comprised of representatives from prominent printers as well as
representatives of the Houston Litho Club. The TPEF was charged
with providing educational opportunities for both technicians
and management-level workers.
Soon after it was formed, the TPEF began offering a variety of short-term non-credit technical and administrative courses in subjects that included estimating, press operation and desk-top publishing. These courses are offered each semester and have been largely successful in providing skills upgrading for industry personnel. However, the need to prepare well educated and degreed supervisors was not as easily met. The TPEF initiated discussions with representatives from the University of Houston's College of Technology regarding the establishment of a sequence of courses designed to prepare supervisors for printing firms. Through these discussions, it became clear that, in an era of declining higher education revenues, major funding for the curriculum could not come from the University. Rather than surrendering, the TPEF set out to raise the money necessary to fund the curriculum they wanted. They succeeded in obtaining the support of local printing firms and the Houston Litho Club, sponsor of Houston's Southwest Graphics Show (www.southwesterngraphics.com). This support generated cash.
Fortified with financial backing, the TPEF again approached the University's College of Technology. In 1990, the Foundation pledged a $30,000 start-up grant as well as an additional $120,000 over four years to help pay a professor's salary and defer operational costs (this $150,000 pledge was paid off in October of 1996). A nationwide search for a graphic communications technology professor/coordinator was launched by the College in 1992. In early 1993, the faculty of the College and the TPEF agreed to ask Dr. Jerry Waite to join the University as a tenure-track faculty member. Dr. Waite, a graphic-arts instructor with 19-years of teaching experience at the Don Bosco Technical Institute in Rosemead, California, was asked to formulate an appropriate sequence of courses, recruit students, oversee the outfitting of laboratory facilities and build the program to a position of national prominence. He accepted the offer because the opportunity to start a brand new curriculum was both challenging and exhilarating. He arrived in Houston in August 1993 and began preparing the new curriculum.
The graphic communications technology curriculum (GCT) is an area of emphasis in the Technology Leadership and Supervision (TLS) Program. It is designed to prepare professional supervisors and managers for the highly unique and specialized printing and publishing industry, which is ranked among the largest industries in the United States. Individuals who wish to lead printing and publishing businesses need a broad understanding of graphic communications processes from ideation through image preparation, reproduction, and finishing. In addition, they need a background in supervisory theory and methodology. Because no other baccalaureate-level graphic communications technology program specializing in supervision exists in the state of Texas, the need for printing supervisors is acute. To satisfy this need, the Department aspires to become the premiere center for graphic communications technology in the Southwest. Eventually, the department's goal is to compete with the nationally known and respected programs offered by California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and by Rochester Institute of Technology.
The TLS degree focuses on providing individuals with a competitive advantage when moving into leadership and supervisory roles in technology-based organizations. The program investigates the rapidly changing and complex nature of leadership in organizations that use and rely on technology. The TLS degree provides a long term, empowering approach to the practice of leading people rather than the short term, command and control approach to utilizing human resources. Students learn about leadership, the importance of organizational vision and values, developing human resources, and managing technological resources in corporate, government, non-profit, or community organizations. Leadership skills in goal setting, time management, verbal and visual communication, and leadership values and abilities are developed through relevant real world applications.
The faculty of the Industrial Technology Department worked with the TPEF and the Printing Industries of the Gulf Coast to construct a nine-course (27 semester-hour) graphic communications technology area of emphasis that meets the needs of the printing and publishing industries as well as those of the TLS degree plan. GCT courses cover printing processes as well as electronic publication (multi-media and Internet), prepress, press, finishing, and costing activities. Approval for the specialization was acquired from the TPEF (acting as the advisory committee) and the faculty of the Department. The graphic-specific courses have been approved by the College, the University, and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Since the curriculum was originally established in 1993, GCT courses have been reviewed and updated on a regular basis by a committee composed of representatives of the Industrial Technology Department, the TPEF, Printing Industries of the Gulf Coast, and GCT alumni.
In addition to the TLS/GCT area of emphasis, graphic communications technology students complete additional courses in technology and supervision, including courses in production control, OSHA/EPA compliance, and the impact of technological change on the workplace. A complete description of the TLS/GCT program can be found on the Credit Courses page.
To serve students majoring in other fields, a fifteen semester-hour minor is offered by the College of Technology. This minor is recommended to students who major in journalism, fine arts, graphic design (studio arts), computer science, information systems, CADD, and architecture. A complete description of the GCT minor is found on the Credit Courses page.
The GCT program also serves all students enrolled in the Information Systems Technology (IST) degree program. IST students take courses in GCT courses in Visual Communications Systems and Multimedia.
Besides providing instruction for University of Houston students, GCT has a strategic partnership with the North Harris/Montgomery County Community College District so that students enrolled in desktop-publishing courses at Kingwood College can participate in GCT courses through two-way interactive television.
In fall 1998, a total of 54 students were being served by the graphic communications technology specialization and minor. According to Texas Printer magazine, this enrollment is the largest of any four-year college printing-related program in the state of Texas. Four graphic-specific courses are taught in the fall semester and four are taught in the spring. No undergraduate graphic-specific course offered since 1994 has ever been closed due to insufficient enrollment. The number of courses offered each semester exceeds the teaching load of one full-time faculty member. Therefore, at least one course or lab is being taught each semester by a part-time professional from the industry.
The first student graduated with a minor in graphic communications technology in 1995, while the first specialist graduated in 1996. By the end of the Spring 1999 semester, over 40 students had graduated with either a major or minor specializing in graphic communications technology.