The School of Information Technology and Communication Design - The School of Information Technology and Communication Design

Through the grapevine, Dr. John Ittelson heard that the California State University system was building a new university in the Monterey area. He wrote letters of recommendation for two of his peers, and only later, decided to apply himself. He was fascinated with the idea of starting a new campus and being able to draw on past knowledge to create a school literally from the ground up.

Dr. Ittelson interviewed for a multimedia position. When he inquired about the technology he would have at his disposal for a presentation, he found out that not only did they not have a television, a VCR, a projector, or a computer, they weren’t even sure they had a table to set the equipment upon… At that time all interviews were conducted in the building currently known as the Campus Health Center, as it was the only building that was not torn apart or completely gutted.

John packed up his car with his own equipment (including a rolling cart) and came to interview. It was late in the spring of 1995, and CSUMB was hiring its founding teaching faculty. Dr. Ittelson met with his first class of students just three months later!

During Ittelson’s interview, he wore a ”unique” CSUMB pin where he had drilled out the red dot on the CSUMB logo and replaced it with a blinking red light, which he “flashed at the end of the interview.” Humor has always been important to John and to CSUMB. Somehow by the end of the interview John no longer had the pin, and Dr. Peter Smith was seen sometime later wearing one just like it!

Dr. Ittelson was instrumental in creating The Interactive Design and Educational Applications (IDEA) Lab . It is in its seventh year and going strong. The original idea for CSUMB and ITCD was to create the 21 st campus for the 21 st century. Instead of calling each section a “school” CSUMB chose “centers,” and instead of departments there were “institutes.” Traditional computer science was transformed into applied computing and the school gained multiple affiliations with other institutes. The beginning goal was to be different from any other CSU and integrate theory, applications and creativity. In 1995, when the school opened to the public, the World Wide Web was in its infancy, before the Dot Com Craze, now known as the Dot Com Bust.

In the beginning, with Peter Smith’s blessing, the idea was to run until tackled and let a thousand flowers bloom. ITCD became a living, breathing entity successfully instructing students to prepare for the real world with experience in applied technology as well as theory. Many students at CSUMB are first generation college students and through core values, multiculturalism, foreign language requirements, service learning and realistic preparation; they are prepared to enter the workforce with an extra edge.

There was no centralized leadership, thus making it difficult to make structural changes to policies and procedures. The campus was to have a large number of distance learning students, but the plan was premature. There were not enough funds or faculty at the time to develop the program. Distance learning was phased out. Currently, online and distance education is making a comeback with the proposed new program, mIST, the Masters of Instructional Science and Technology.

Originally, IT and ITCD were to be one and the same. Students of ITCD were to have control of all the servers for campus. Students and staff were to be on similar levels with a blending of roles. As the campus has grown, things have become more segregated due to necessity. The CSUMB campus still uses student projects as experimental applications and programs. The majority of IT staff has graduated from the program or are currently student employees.

Currently, ITCD is creating the mIST program and moving forward with alternative learning. ITCD continues to grow and expand with Publication Design, Web Design, Instructional Design, Game Design, Web Development, Game Development, Computer Networking, Software Programming and System Administration. With the help of several generous grants, ITCD is growing.