Students work on Windows-based computers in a Graphics Design class taught by Professor Bradley Hesser.
Currently all graphic design students at MCCC are using the Windows 8 operating system for their classes.
But Bradley Hesser, associate professor of Graphic Design, believes bringing a Mac Lab to campus would give students an edge in the workforce.
“Many students are going to leave here and work in a design studio that is going to be run on Apple,” Hesser said.
“Past institutions I have worked at, we had a Mac lab mainly for the graphic design students.”
Most of the software used by grapic designers — Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro and other programs — runs on both Mac and Windows computers.
“Yes, I can teach the Creative Suite and we are teaching it well, but there is other software that I would like to have as part of the program that I currently can’t because it is strictly Apple operated,” Hesser said.
Currently, the issue is tabled because of budget concerns, but there remains strong interest in a Mac lab.
Graphic design student Christina Turner does all her designing on her Windows-run computer. She cannot afford a Mac computer, but if the campus had a Mac lab, she would use it.
“I definitely think if MCCC had a Mac lab, us graphic design students could go a lot farther in our learning in class,” Turner said.
“The quality of work you can produce on a Mac outshines Windows any day.”
MCCC Graphic Designer Doug Richter, who works in the college’s Marketing Department, has spent his whole career on a Mac computer.
“It would be beneficial for students to be able to work on Macs, especially since that is what they are going to walk into,” Richter said.
Hesser plans to continue bringing up the issue of a Mac lab.
“I think we have to make the move at some point, sooner the better,” he said.
“Sooner we get it, sooner we start training our students to utilize an Apple environment, for their education and also for their careers.”
For now, students will still be taught on the Windows operating systems.
“The longer we wait, the farther we get behind,” Hesser said.
