Wednesday, August 15, 2012

New Educational Benefits Now Available For Veterans At WCJC



Recent legislation now provides older, unemployed veterans with 12 months of educational assistance when they enroll in a community college program that trains for a high demand career. Because there is a limit to the number of participants, Wharton County Junior College is urging qualified veterans to apply now.

Richard Hyde, the college’s director of financial aid, said the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP) is available to qualified, unemployed veterans who are at least 35 but not yet 60 years old, and who are not eligible for other VA education benefit programs. Details are available at benefits.va.gov/vow.

Each semester WCJC serves hundreds of military veterans and their children, thanks to the availability of educational assistance benefits. Some of the most popular programs include the Post-9/11 GI Bill, also known as Chapter 33, and Texas Senate Bill 639, also called the Hazlewood Exemption. Information about these programs may be found at gibill.va.gov and collegeforalltexans.com.

In addition, WCJC may grant credit for military training or coursework, if the material covered in the military school is comparable to the material taught in the WCJC course. Individuals who wish to have their military transcript evaluated for possible credit must contact the Registrar’s Office to initiate the review process. WCJC department heads or division chairs will make the final determination on whether credit may be granted and for which course or courses. For additional information, please visit wcjc.edu and type “military credit” into the search box, or call the Admissions and Registration office at 800.561.9252, ext. 6303.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

WCJC Adds Degree Program in Computer Simulation and Game Development


In response to student and employer demand, Wharton County Junior College is now offering an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree in Computer Simulation and Game Development. The two-year program will prepare students for entry-level employment in the field of gaming and simulation in industries such as healthcare, law enforcement, military, advertising and others.


“This program will focus on the programming side of computer simulation and game development, rather than design, because our industry advisers say there are more job opportunities in this area,” said Donna Schilling, head of the WCJC Computer Science Department.

WCJC developed the new program in partnership with the University of Houston-Victoria and the University of Houston. Graduates of the WCJC program can easily transfer to UHV, taking coursework at the UH Sugar Land campus, to complete a bachelor’s degree in digital gaming and simulation. The University of Houston is developing a graduate level program in gaming and simulation.

Students are often surprised to find that advanced math skills are required to be successful in computer simulation and game design.

“Making moving objects look realistic requires a lot of trigonometry and physics,” said Schilling, noting that these two courses are among WCJC’s required core courses for the AAS degree.

This fall, along with general education courses, students will have the opportunity to enroll in the Introduction to Game Design and Development class (GAME 1303) at WCJC’s Sugar Land campus. This course covers topics such as storytelling, game story theory, building characters, the steps of a game concept and careers in the gaming industry.

The new computer simulation and gaming program will expose students to a broad range of simulated training environments. Software programs they will use include Adobe® Creative Suite® and Autodesk® Entertainment Creation Suite.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) does not yet collect career data specifically for software programmers in the video game industry. However, the BLS does report the 2010 median annual salary for computer programmers as $71,380 and for animators as $58,510. In addition, a conference of game developers found the average earnings in 1998 for game programmers with more than one year of experience was $59,127.

For more information about the WCJC Computer Simulation and Game Development degree program, visit wcjc.edu or call the computer science department at 800.561.9252, ext. 6394.