New Degree Program in UA Art Department Awaits Approval
by October 26, 2015 12:00 am 198 views
Design agencies and other companies in Northwest Arkansas who are in need of strong graphic designers may soon have a deeper talent pool to choose from, right in their own backyard.
The art department at the University of Arkansas is ramping up to offer a bachelor of fine arts in graphic design to its undergraduate catalogue.
The degree program is still pending approval, but Tom Hapgood, a longtime department faculty member who will head the program, said it should be granted in the spring. The UA has hired two new faculty members for the program and the first group of 15 to 20 students will start in the fall of 2016. The program will be built up to approximately 60 students in the next three years. It will require at least 39 credit hours (13 courses) in graphic design, and a portfolio will be required.
Hapgood said he hopes the new degree program will provide students with more opportunities in a job market that needs a more diverse skill set.
“There is a large industry in Northwest Arkansas devoted to, and dependent upon, strong graphic design,” Hapgood said. “The fact that the UA is about to start preparing better-trained designers seems like it would be beneficial to suppliers and [design] agencies.”
In its present setup, UA students can obtain a bachelor of arts in studio art with a graphic design emphasis. This degree requires only 12 credit hours (four courses) and does not require a portfolio for acceptance.
Hapgood said the degree program is being developed around the method of design thinking, a trend that is seeing designers take a more involved approach to the process of designing.
“That is the phrase we have rallied around,” he said. “I see designers being more integrated into the structure of the business, as opposed to just the [design] area. The design thinking training is being a more active participant in the business.”
The additional faculty members who’ve been hired are David Chioffi and Marty Maxwell Lane. Chioffi is the former head of the Memphis College of Art Design, and before that the associate director of packaging design and visual identities at Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. in New York City.
Lane was previously an assistant professor at the Kansas City Art Institute.