DSU Web Development/Multimedia major shows tremendous growth

The Web Development/Multimedia major at Dakota State University is showing tremendous growth in only its first year. Upon Approval by the board of Regents on May 4, 2000, two students immediately enrolled in the new program and currently 62 students have declared it their major, 40 of which are freshmen.

“I’ve been here since 1969 and this is definitely the fastest growing major the College of Liberal Arts has had, we are beginning to get 15 new students per month,” stated Eric Johnson, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts.

“The enrollment growth is because it leads to outstanding jobs,” said Johnson of the new major. “Industries helped guide us in the right direction in developing the major and after seeing it, they are impressed and are phoning and pleading for graduates. DSU continues to receive assurances that the major meets the present and future needs of area employers. Calls come into my office almost on a daily basis from prospective employers who want interns and even graduates of the new program.”

As an example of business interest, students in the College of Liberal Arts are designing web pages for Amulet Gemstone and Jewelry, located in San Francisco, CA. DSU students create pages and send them by email to the firm, which then are downloaded to the gemstone website.

Mike Waldner, on behalf of the South Dakota Department of Education, contacted the College of Liberal Arts to find an intern that would be able to create and update pages for the DECA website. South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson’s office has also contacted Dakota State asking for a web development intern to create the Tim Johnson 2001 website.

In an independent study of newspaper advertisements in South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota listing positions for careers, 20 different internet positions and 78 advertisements were listed that could be filled with graduates of DSU’s Web Development/Multimedia major.

In May 2000, Dakota State University conducted its own survey of 88 businesses with 96 percent replying that they would strongly consider a DSU Web Development/Multimedia graduate. Based this type of evidence, Dakota State expects 100 percent placement of its graduates. The Multimedia/Web Development major at Dakota State is the only bachelor’s degree of its kind available in the state of South Dakota.

Johnson says DSU is devoted to giving students three platforms to work in. He says that DSU students are able to work on Macintosh, PC’s and Unix. That gives students a better understanding of the software and hardware available in the professional world.

“We educate students in three ways,” said Johnson. “First we give them short range skills that allow them the capability to start work immediately. Second, our students gain skills and theory on how the software works allowing them to understand different versions of many programs. And third, our students have long range skills that allow them to imagine and grasp concepts that develop critical thinking skills.”

“It makes DSU that much more attractive,” said Johnson. “It’s the only four year degree of its kind.”