Digital Communications Student Support
With LVC’s low student-to-faculty ratio, majors in the Digital Communications Department benefit from smaller classrooms and more interaction with faculty than at larger schools.
The Digital Communications Department will prepare students for successful careers in the following four ways:
Theoretical and Applied Skills
The department focuses on giving students a base of theoretical knowledge and applied skills. Because of the rapid rate of change, students cannot rely on their technical expertise alone. By focusing on theoretical and applied areas of digital media, students are better prepared for the job market.
Communications and Collaborative Skills
According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), two of the most requested skills employers look for in potential employees are communication and collaboration skills. The survey also concludes that many employees don’t have these basic skills. To meet this need, the Digital Communications Department emphasizes oral, written, and graphic communication skills and requires students to collaborate in groups during their four years in the program.
Focus on the Job Market
The department fosters an awareness of the job market. Students are required to identify areas in which they would like to work, research the requirements of that field, and develop the required skills to be successful in that field.
To develop skills and prepare students for the job market, majors are required to create a portfolio and develop and showcase course assignments. In addition to showcasing your work for potential employers, this portfolio documents your development as a digital communications student.
Professional Experience and Client-Based Projects
The department encourages all students to gain professional experience. Class projects often involve working with and solving problems for local and regional clients, such as The Hershey Company and Armstrong World Industries. Also, faculty work closely with students to find internships in their concentration.
The Design, Media, & Technology department sees the evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning tools as an emergent technology integral to the fields of digital communications and interaction design. As such, the department expects that students use AI and machine learning tools (such as chatGPT, Midjourney, DALL-E, StableDiffusion, among others) as a central tool in their design, communications, and problem-solving processes for assignments and work.
This usage will be governed by the following two constraints:
- First, students using AI and machine learning tools must document this use. The use of AI and machine learning must be formally acknowledged when submitting assignments either as a formal part of the assignment (for instance written into a works cited, cited in a footnote, commented in markup or code, or described in methods) or as a comment to an assignment submitted through a course online content management system such as Canvas.
- Second, responsible use requires that you do not misrepresent your usage of AI and machine learning tools. Given some contexts, failing to document the use of AI or machine learning constitutes academic dishonesty. Such instances would include but are not limited to taking credit for the work of an AI tool when the assignment is a test of your knowledge or misrepresenting the work of an AI tool as your own.