Lake Washington Technical College will offer its first four-year degree – a Bachelor of Technology in Applied Design (BTAD).
The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, the regional accrediting agency for higher education institutions, gave the OK to the Kirkland school.
“We are so excited and proud to provide our students with this additional new career pathway,” said Dr. Sharon McGavick, LWTC president. “This four-year degree directly meets the needs of students, employers and people already in the workforce who want to advance their career.”
The college is planning to start the new degree program in the 2009 fall quarter, with an initial group of 20 students. The program is designed to help entry-level workers in all types of design fields advance to project management positions, including lead designer.
“There are traditionally many design job opportunities available in the Puget Sound region, but there is also a lot of competition for those jobs,” said Nancy Dick, LWTC multimedia instructor. “Typically, the best jobs and promotions in this field go to people with four year degrees.”
The program will feature LWTC’s hybrid/evening format designed for working students. This format allows students to take classes at night and online so they can continue to work during the day.
“It will be great to be able to get a bachelor’s degree without changing schools,” said Taryn Woolworth, a current student in LWTC’s Architectural Graphics two-year program. “Getting a four-year degree definitely opens up more opportunities and will help me achieve my future career goals.”
Students will take mostly technical design skills classes for the first two years of the program. The second two years of the program focuses on general education and management skills, including classes in business and finance. For more information, interested students can visit www.lwtc.edu/btad or call 425-739-8300.
This degree program was created in response to state legislation approving development of pilot-degree programs in community and technical colleges that focus on high-demand fields. It is part of the state’s higher education strategic plan to increase the number of bachelor’s degrees in Washington state.
The approval from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities was the third and final approval step for LWTC to begin offering the BTAD degree. Earlier this year, LWTC received approval to offer this degree from the State Board of Community and Technical Colleges and the state Higher Education Coordinating Board.
