Dakota State looking to add computer gaming degree
Posted: Tuesday, March 25, 2008
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- Dakota State University is looking to help computer gamers make a living doing what they love by offering an undergraduate degree in computer game design.
DSU has asked the Board of Regents for authorization to develop a proposal for the major, which the Madison school hopes to begin offering as early as this fall. The regents' academic and student affairs committee is to consider the request at a meeting Thursday in Pierre.
Tom Halverson, dean of DSU's College of Business and Information Systems, says the bachelor of science degree would be a joint program offered through his department and the College of Arts and Sciences.
"This kind of pulls some of the programming side of computer science and some of the creative side of digital arts and design," Halverson said. "It kind of puts those two together."
Retail sales of video game hardware, software and accessories in the U.S. hit nearly $18 billion in 2007, according to the NPD Group.
Halverson said breaking into the gaming industry can be a challenge, so his goal is to design its curriculum to be broad. DSU's computer game design degree will prepare students for jobs not only in computer gaming, but also in simulations, educational software and training software, he said.
In its request, Dakota State provided the regents with curriculum from the University of California Santa Cruz, which offers a similar degree. Its program requires courses in programming, calculus and physics and electives in the art, film, theater and music departments.
Computer gaming draws from a wide variety of fields and talents, Halverson said.
"There's a storytelling, creative writing aspect," he said. "There's storyboarding -- kind of how do you lay out some of the major scenes -- all the way down through the programming and physics to get realistic looking action."
The new major, which has been in discussion for a year or two, would use existing faculty positions. Dakota State is conducting searches for one instructor on the technological side and another on the creative side, Halverson said.
DSU also would use existing computer hardware and software, so the regents would incur no additional costs, he added.
If the board gives its go-ahead, DSU will finalize its curriculum proposal and try to get the major into its fall catalog. Otherwise, students could take courses and switch to the major in the fall of 2009.
"As soon as we can get it on the books, we will," Halverson said.
DSU has asked the Board of Regents for authorization to develop a proposal for the major, which the Madison school hopes to begin offering as early as this fall. The regents' academic and student affairs committee is to consider the request at a meeting Thursday in Pierre.
Tom Halverson, dean of DSU's College of Business and Information Systems, says the bachelor of science degree would be a joint program offered through his department and the College of Arts and Sciences.
"This kind of pulls some of the programming side of computer science and some of the creative side of digital arts and design," Halverson said. "It kind of puts those two together."
Retail sales of video game hardware, software and accessories in the U.S. hit nearly $18 billion in 2007, according to the NPD Group.
Halverson said breaking into the gaming industry can be a challenge, so his goal is to design its curriculum to be broad. DSU's computer game design degree will prepare students for jobs not only in computer gaming, but also in simulations, educational software and training software, he said.
In its request, Dakota State provided the regents with curriculum from the University of California Santa Cruz, which offers a similar degree. Its program requires courses in programming, calculus and physics and electives in the art, film, theater and music departments.
Computer gaming draws from a wide variety of fields and talents, Halverson said.
"There's a storytelling, creative writing aspect," he said. "There's storyboarding -- kind of how do you lay out some of the major scenes -- all the way down through the programming and physics to get realistic looking action."
The new major, which has been in discussion for a year or two, would use existing faculty positions. Dakota State is conducting searches for one instructor on the technological side and another on the creative side, Halverson said.
DSU also would use existing computer hardware and software, so the regents would incur no additional costs, he added.
If the board gives its go-ahead, DSU will finalize its curriculum proposal and try to get the major into its fall catalog. Otherwise, students could take courses and switch to the major in the fall of 2009.
"As soon as we can get it on the books, we will," Halverson said.
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