RIT Merges Print and Graphic Media Degree Into Packaging Science Program

Many printing industry leaders — both past and present — attended the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) to earn a bachelor’s degree in printing. Dating back to 1922 and long considered the premier program for the graphic arts industry, it drew trade and high school graduates who often hailed from family-owned printing businesses. In 1981, RIT’s printing program peaked with 775 students, learning business management and hands-on (primarily sheetfed and web offset) production operations skills.

So, it’s no surprise that some of the roughly 4,000 active alumni are disheartened to learn that RIT’s print and graphic media technology curriculum, which has experienced several years of declining enrollment, is being integrated into the university’s packaging science program.

Currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students in the print program will complete their coursework to graduation, according to Kyle Dunno, packaging and graphic media science department chair in RIT’s College of Engineering Technology (CET). Armed with packaging science undergraduate and graduate degrees from Clemson University, followed by experience out in the field, Dunno joined RIT in 2018 to chair the school’s packaging science programs. In 2022, CET combined its printing and packaging science departments.

“For generations, the print and graphic media program has played a vital role in preparing students to lead in the printing, publishing, and media sectors,” Dunno acknowledged in a prepared statement. “As print technologies have advanced and the industry has evolved, we’ve reflected deeply on how best to honor that legacy while preparing our students for future opportunities,” he added. “This strategic integration maintains the core of print education at RIT while expanding its relevance in the rapidly growing packaging and converting industries.”

The new curriculum is focused on manufacturing, materials, color management, and package printing and converting technologies. Coursework includes premedia, production workflows, converting technologies, process control, and variable data printing — and their applications to folding cartons, flexible packaging, labels, corrugated fiberboard, metal decoration, and more.

Lack of Students Seeking Printing Degrees

In a recent phone call with Printing Impressions, Dunno and Bill Pope, professor of practice, packaging, and graphic media science, explained that the shift in focus was an inevitable progression. With tuition at the private university (RIT is not part of the SUNY public university network) costing approximately $50,000 per year, they acknowledged that recruitment for students seeking a college degree in printing technology has been quite challenging.

Dunno and Pope noted that public perception — shaped in part by the decline of printed newspapers — is that print is a shrinking industry with limited career opportunities to warrant the expense of a four-year college degree. In contrast, there will always be a strong demand for package printing and converting.

Pope said RIT’s packaging science program, which has been crafted with the assistance of industry advisory boards and curriculum committees, enables graduates to be hired as material and packaging engineers, brand owners that specify packaging, and as technical support personnel, among other positions. “An engineer that also has print knowledge is a valuable skillset,” according to Pope, who himself is a 1990 RIT graduate.

Starting salaries can range from the mid-$70,000 to low $80,000 range for those with undergrad packaging science degrees, Pope added, and from the mid $80,000 to low $90,000 range for master’s degree program graduates.

He described RIT’s new STEM-based packaging science program within the College of Engineering Technology as being unique. Its focus is on the technologies and materials science driving the package printing and converting industry forward, in comparison to the degrees geared more toward package design or graphic arts design being offered by some other universities.

This integration reinforces the college’s focus on industry-relevant applied science and engineering education, agreed S. Manian Ramkumar, dean of the CET.  “By connecting core competencies from both print and packaging, we are ensuring our students gain hands-on, future-oriented experiences that align with evolving workforce needs,” he said.

Research and Testing Services to Continue

Both packaging and printing faculty researchers (including the 2021 hiring of longtime Cal Poly professor Malcolm Kief) will still provide support to the printing industry through the department’s existing testing, research, and training services.

In addition, RIT will continue to serve as the certifying body for the PRINTING United Alliance’s G7 and G7+ color calibration programs, supporting the industry’s adoption of globally recognized color quality standards and processes.

Nevertheless, the end of a commercial printing industry-focused degree program at RIT, which dates to the early 1920s, may be a hard pill to swallow for many of its past graduates. “[We’re] not killing print,” Dunno concluded, acknowledging the printing program’s rich history and prominence. “When the wind changes direction, you’ve got to adjust your sails.”