R10855City Council Meeting: January 13, 2015 Santa Monica, California
RESOLUTION NUMBER 10855 (CCS)
(City Council Series)
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA IN SUPPORT OF SANTA MONICA COLLEGE'S
PROPOSAL TO OFFER A BACHELOR'S DEGREE IN INTERACTION DESIGN
WHEREAS, Santa Monica College has submitted a proposal to offer a
Bachelor's Degree in Interaction Design to the office of Brice W. Harris, Chancellor of
the California Community Colleges, along with dozens of letters of support from local
community, political, industry, and students leaders; and
WHEREAS, in September 2014, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a bill
authored by Senator Marty Block (D -San Diego) to allow 15 community colleges to offer
baccalaureate degrees, in response to an overwhelming demand for skilled workers in
fields such as technology, health, and science; and
WHEREAS, Interaction Design (IxD) — also called "User Experience Design" — is
an emerging field which employs thousands in the Los Angeles and Westside areas;
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WHEREAS, interaction or user experience designers shape mostly digital things
for people's use — they can be described as a combination of designer, user experience
researcher, and creative technologist, with prominent examples of interaction design in
action including the Facebook "timeline', Pinterest, the Instagram photo- sharing app,
among others; and
WHEREAS, while the local and statewide demand is exceptionally great (Silicon
Beach and Silicon Valley), there are only about three or four programs in interaction
design available in California at private institutions, yet there are thousands of jobs in
the field available in the Los Angeles and Westside area; and
WHEREAS, Santa Monica College's Bachelor of Arts degree in Interaction
Design will provide students with a top quality yet highly affordable bachelor's degree —
the cost of the entire BA degree would be just over $10,000 compared to $40,000 or
more at the other institutions: and
WHEREAS, the proposed degree program will benefit both students and local
industry — preparing students for well - paying jobs in the IxD field such as User
Experience Designer, Information Architect, and Interaction Designer, and meeting the
unmet need in the technology industry; and
WHEREAS, Santa Monica College is very well - positioned to offer this degree.
Reasons include its reputation as the #1 community college in transfers, its ability to
assure a large pool of candidates; the large number of students already enrolled in the
lower division core and graphic design courses of the proposed degree; the certainty
that other students will be drawn to the program from other colleges in the area; and a
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cutting -edge curriculum, resources such as SMC's Academy of Entertainment and
Technology, and an outstanding faculty are already in place; and
WHEREAS, Santa Monica College is the only Southern California community
college district that has proposed a degree in this field, among the 36 college districts
who submitted certifications of interest; and
WHEREAS, the Santa Monica College department that will house this degree
already enjoys strong involvement from the local technology industry, and this degree
was developed in direct response to their needs; and
WHEREAS, no University of California or California State University campus
offers a degree in Interaction Design.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The City Council of the City of Santa Monica is in support of Santa
Monica College's proposal to the State Chancellor to offer a Bachelor's Degree in
Interaction Design.
SECTION 2. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this Resolution, and
thenceforth and thereafter the same shall be in full force and effect.
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MAR A JO, ES MOUTRIE
City Attorney
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Adopted and approved this 13th day of January, 2015.
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Kevin McKeown, Mayor
I, Sarah P. Gorman, City Clerk of the City of Santa Monica, do hereby certify that
the foregoing Resolution No. 10855 (CCS) was duly adopted at a meeting of the Santa
Monica City Council held on the 13th day of January, 2015, by the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers: Davis, Himmelrich, O'Connor, O'Day, Winterer
Mayor McKeown, Mayor Pro Tern Vazquez
NOES: Councilmember: None
ABSENT: Councilmember: None
ATTEST:
Sarah P. Gorman, City Clerk