After three semesters without ATCM 4340: Strategic Design being taught, Arts, Humanities, and Technology professor Mark McKinney brought back Strategic Design with one purpose in mind: equip his students with the knowledge and tools to build fulfilling careers.
As Program Head of Media Arts and Design and Professor of Instruction, Dr. McKinney has been teaching design at the Bass School since 2020. With over 20 years of experience in strategic leadership, he brings a career focus to all his courses.
Dr. McKinney sees Strategic Design as the perfect opportunity to meet students where they’re at and offer clarity as they start the next phase of their professional development.
“I was looking for how to put the curriculum together to teach a course on strategic planning, and these students need to plan what they’re going to do. It seemed like it was a great place to have a confluence of theoretical information and practical application for the students.”
Dr. McKinney notes the importance of students excelling not only in creative practice, but also in focusing on strategic planning and understanding how to find a job – a timely and important milestone for the many seniors who take his class.
For some students, the tactics learned in Strategic Design have already helped them land jobs and navigate an increasingly challenging job market.
Elise Hart BA’25, an Arts, Technology and Emerging Communication (ATEC) senior graduating in December, explains, “During this class, some of the methods I learned helped me land my current job.” A Designer and Corporate Relations Assistant for UTDesign, Hart observed that the course “really emboldened me because I’m kind of more reserved when it comes to reaching out to people.”
With the curriculum taking on a “planning beyond making” approach, students are equipped with specific tactics to carry with them on their career paths. ATEC senior Joie Lin BA’25 has been implementing these techniques into her own job search ahead of her graduation in December.
Lin described having a very broad approach beforehand. But this class helped her put a concrete plan together. “It was just a lot different from other courses because not only were we learning material like the SWOT analysis, but also the final project was something we made for ourselves.”
Throughout the semester, students complete 10 different assignments, each one building toward their final project. As the weeks progress, “a little more is revealed, and at some point –usually around midterms – the light bulbs go off,” Dr. McKinney observes.
Students begin to grasp the concept of designing for themselves and using strategy to put together a plan that reflects their own goals and career aspirations.
With graduation on the horizon for many of his current and former students, the course coincides nicely with their own search for what’s next. For Sally Nguyen BA’26, “This class helped me have a clearer picture of how I should approach my career for development in the future … I mean, we learned how to think strategically, but for us and not [just] for a project or a company,”
With each assignment, students are challenged to undertake a more holistic view of what it means to pursue a career in design. In doing so, they begin to answer important questions for themselves, such as “How do I want my life and my career to work together?” Nguyen explains.
Dr. McKinney acknowledges that perhaps some students sign up for his course because it has the word “design” in the title. They begin with expectations to develop products like a game or an app; instead, they learn to formulate strategies and large-scale plans.
Beyond that, Dr. McKinney also hopes the exposure of creating their own strategic plan will dispel the “imposter syndrome” he sees many of his students grappling with.
“Students have told me this experience of at least thinking about what they need to do to be successful in a career has given them greater confidence that they can now go out and pursue a career.”
At its core, ATCM 4340 is designed for each student to finish the course with confidence not only in their abilities to pursue the career they want, but also with a clear vision of what that path will look like.
Marketing Specialist
Lauren is a marketing specialist with the communications team who helps elevate the stories of the entire Bass community. If she’s not writing or creating something, you can find her going for a swim or searching for the next TV series to binge-watch.