Stark State College launches five new degree programs

 (North Canton, OH – July 25, 2012) – Stark State College is enrolling students in five new associate degree programs for fall semester. The College recently approved degrees in mobile application development, fashion merchandising, geographic information systems (GIS) and culinary arts and a transferable associate degree in education.

The new offerings are in response to the jobs outlook of both today and tomorrow, including a super-charged demand for software development – the U.S. Department of Labor expects to see 30 percent growth in the industry over the next decade. In Stark State’s mobile app program, developers will become fluent in modern programming languages; code, test, debug, monitor and document changes for mobile apps; and implement application programming interfaces to upgrade applications.

Along with studying career paths in fashion merchandising, majors in this business curriculum will delve into product development, textiles and visual design. The course content includes fundamentals of the fashion industry, visual merchandising and a historical perspective of fashion and textiles.

Culinary arts students will prepare to take part in the bounty of jobs in today’s restaurant industry, one of the largest private-sector employers. The number of jobs for chefs, head cooks, and food preparation and serving supervisors isexpected to increase by nine percent through 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Stark State’s program will be held in Jackson High School’s culinary facilities.

GIS, a computer-based mapping system, takes information from a geographical database about streets, buildings, water, terrain and other features and turns it into visual layers. GIS is expected to be a growth occupation in Ohio and throughout the nation. Graduates work in diverse industries, including government agencies, construction, banking, health care, land use planning,transportation mapping and analysis, and emergency response.

The new associate of science in education degree allows students a cost-saving opportunity to seamlessly transfer their Stark State credits to a bachelor’s degree in education program.