technology group: why should i bother?
Information Technology (IT) has become a heavily integrated component in today’s design firms. Many processes from design development to construction drawings are composed and rendered using computing technologies. Finish-presentations for client reviews and public exhibitions involve any number of software and printing technologies in order to produce a high quality print. These scenarios are very real in the professional realm and the degree program seeks to make the same caliber of equipment available to our students.
These resources do not come without significant cost. Equipment, its constituent software, and maintenance agreements all factor in to the total operational costs involved with supplying these resources. A portion of this cost is offset by IAPD, with the understanding that the day-to-day users (i.e. students) will supply the remaining amount. This remaining amount constitutes the fee structure for Technology Group. Fees are kept as low as possible and no “profit” is made beyond what is needed to operate, maintain, and upgrade existing technologies.
If students choose not to take advantage of the opportunities these resources allow through enrollment and payment, then they forfeit these privileges for the remainder of the semester.