Both RIT Alumni Christina Hui (05’ and 06’ Bachelor of Science in Applied Arts and Sciences, with Professional Concentration in Graphic Media Publishing) and Jennifer Bodine (2005 graduate of the School of Print Media) are currently working for the local company Tucker Printers, a Consolidated Graphics Company in Rochester, NY.

While attending RIT, Christina obtained a co-op with Mercury Print as an On Demand Production Assistant for digital workflow. “My co-op is where it all began for me,” says Christina. “It made me realize me career choice as a Digital Production Manager.” She is also self-published author of “College for Me: A College Guide for Students with Attention Deficit Disorder” and is currently working as an Associate at Tucker Printers. She enjoys working in a printing environment and looks forward to challenges that lie ahead.

Jennifer started in Chesapeake, Virginia where she worked as the Digital Prepress Advisor at Professional Printing Center. Jen spent her days creating and perfecting the digital print workflow. Along with digital printing, Jen had a multitude of other tasks that included implementing the OSHA standard operating procedures and managing the ever-growing bulk mailing department. As time passed, Jen made the choice to return home to Rochester, New York. She now is currently an Account Service Representative at Tucker Printers. Jen enjoys seeing the print workflow in action from a different point of view as the job is tracked from conception until delivery. It is the necessary next step in the progression of growth that started with the education she received from RIT’s School of Print Media.

RIT is an academically rigorous school and as one knows it stresses the importance of time management. For several students in the School of Print Media, they found time between all the schoolwork and classes to participate on a Varsity team.

Eileen Hennigan, a 2nd year Graphic Media student and a member of the Women’s Varsity Lacrosse team stated, “I decided to play lacrosse in college because I love the game and I love being apart of a team. I knew it would be a great way to get to know a lot of people and some of the girls on my team have become great friends.”

Being a team member allowed Eileen and others to gain friends and memories during the long haul. For others, RIT allowed athletes to purse the major of interest while also continuing their love for the sport. 3rd year New Media Design student and Varsity Baseball member Matt Austin commented, “When I looked at schools, I wanted to go somewhere that had the major I was passionate about, as well as the opportunity to play baseball. RIT fit both of those criteria to a ‘T.’”

Time management became a must for these students. They had to make it through their season all the while balancing the work of their classes: “Between practice and tournaments I am occupied over 40 hours a week during season and 10- 20 hours in the off season. Design assignments take time to develop and refine, needing at least 25 hours for each project,” Heidi Little said, a Varsity Volleyball member.

The athletes quickly learned the system and grew accustomed to their hectic schedule. “I’ve learned how to do all of my work to the best of my ability with the time I’m given. My professors preach doing work the best you can within the scope of time you have, and I’ve learned to do that with all of my work. Baseball only solidifies this stance,” Matt said.

“As for benefits, the lessons I’ve learned about life and time management are priceless,” said Matt about his career as an athlete. Being a team member allows you to learn life lessons, make great friends, and purse a passion. Eileen concluded, “I love playing lacrosse in college. It has given me a chance to make friends with all sorts of people, especially those on my team. The benefits are definitely the fun you get out of it, the people you befriend, and the extra connection you feel to RIT.”

Being a teacher at RIT takes you to interesting places, like the 2008 Columbia Scholastic Press Association Conference in New York City! Last week, Michael Riordan and I (Matt Bernius), headed down to Columbia University to talk with high school students and their advisors about the production of Yearbooks, Student Newspapers, and Literary Magazines.

Columbia University has an amazing campus. Above is a picture of their famed Graduate School of Journalism, which awards the annual Pulitzer Prize. What a perfect location to bring together students from across the country who are excited about publishing in all its forms! While we were there, we gave lectures on color management, solving common printing problems, and how to easily create an online component to your print publication.

Most importantly, we got the chance to meet with a lot of really creative and enthusiastic students and advisors, like this group from Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville Maryland (they produce a terrific literary magazine). Not only did we answer questions and help solve problems, but we also shared information about some possible careers in publishing (and hopefully got them interested in the programs here at RIT).

p.s. If anyone from the conference is reading this, be sure to visit our page about our Summer Publishing Program for High School Students (remember there are scholarships available). Also check out the page on our site where we’ll post our presentations and answers to common publication problems.

p.s.s.  You don’t need to have been to the conference to visit those links. ;-)

Get your resumes ready and start practicing those interview questions—the spring career fair is approaching.

The career fair is a great place to talk with recruiters about current and future co-op and full-time positions. You’ll be able to learn more about companies, what they do and where you might fit in. You may even be able to set up a future interview. Start your professional networking and gain some valuable contacts for future jobs.

Make sure you come prepared for the fair. Research the companies before attending and try to decide whom you would like to talk to. Even complete job applications posted on company websites. Always update your resume and make sure to bring multiple copies to the career fair. And don’t forget to wear professional attire. The Cooperative Education and Career Services Office offers workshops to help you prepare for this event. Visit the career fair site to view all the different opportunities.

Many companies hoping to employ print and new media students are attending, including:

• Canon USA
• Fisher-Price
• The IRS
• IBM
• RR Donnelly
• Walgreens 
• and many more. 

Don’t miss this opportunity to see what is out there for you!

The Open Publishing Lab (or OPL for short) is a new research group based out of the School of Print, where students and faculty from all over campus work together to create new publishing applications and tools.

And it finally has a physical home!

Over break OPL students and faculty worked to renovate the Kodak Approval space* located next to the SPM student lounge. In less than two days, they applied multiple coats of paint to the walls, and assembled and moved in all the furniture (with the help of a pickup truck and a Subaru Outback). The space was ready on the first day of classes, just in time to start working on projects for the RIT Innovation Festival coming up on May 3rd. More on that as we get closer to it — we promise that SPM will have a strong presence there!

* - the Approval’s still at the school, just in a new location

Usually you would find SPM staff member John Eldridge in the digital publishing center delegating various tasks, all the while helping students. But this weekend, he will be at the Blue Cross Arena cheering on the Men’s RIT hockey team in the AHA semifinals against Air Force.

A graduate of RIT, John’s been working at SPM for sixteen years and finds the hockey games a fun place to share his passion for the school—“if you really want to see school spirit, you need to go to the hockey game.”

John is a long-time hockey fan of over forty years, playing several years himself. His love of hockey allowed him to develop better relationships with his students and co-workers. He recalls, “some students joined me one game and it grew into a usual thing. Other faculty and staff members started to join and soon even outside acquaintances followed. It became a network of print people, but we were all there to have fun and forgot about the classroom and work.”

RIT Tigers’ hockey games are events that everyone looks forward to, whether being a student, faculty or an outside participant. The energizing atmosphere allows everyone to forget about the stresses of life and share jokes and memories between friends.

As for John’s predictions for the game, he says: “I think it will be a close game. All five teams are capable of winning the conference. For the Tigers to win to win they will need to focus and not turn the puck over.”