Overhaul the Digital Media Program

Yep, I have been thinking long an hard on this and really think the digital media program here at U of H is about 7 years behind the times. I have been researching other University's offerings and find while they offer a rich diversity of degrees, see the article Princeton Reviews Top 50 Under Graduate Video Game Design Programs to see and then click the links to see what is offered in this one area of digital media that this college does not even offer. You can see the ranking of Princeton's list here.

I think the whole program need a radical overhaul and break up into several degree majors. The days of one-size-fits-all digital media are long over, dead, cremated and ashes flushed. Digital media is more than printing using computers, the gaming side alone has some of the highest paid employees in our field! Look at this 2011 survey of Game Industry Salary Survey. I can tell you that you sure won't get that kind of pay working at a web design company starting out.

Ok, but lets say you do want to be in Web Design and Development then are you being taught what you need to know to fill a Web Designer 1 position defined as "Produces graphic sketches, designs, and copy layouts for online content. Determines size and arrangement of illustrative material and copy, selects style and size of type, and arranges layout based upon available space, knowledge of layout principles, and aesthetic design concepts" (as defined by Salary.com and I can tell you that the wages they are quoting for that level are certainly not in Houston)! 

From what I have seen so far, and as I look a head at out requirements the answer seems to be "no". I do not think this is because of a short coming of the instructors or professors. Rather it is on the college of technology and its department heads in failing to realize that there is not a one-size-fits-all degree and that to be competitive and viable that digital; media must be treated as the widely varied and diverse field it is and degree plans created to those specified areas that digital media encompasses.

For freaks sake they don't even offer a single course in 3D programs! Come on!