The Princeton Review ranked Baker University’s game design program as one of the top 50 undergraduate programs in the United States and Canada.
“I’m very happy first of all, because it’s a recognition,” Val Kolesnikov, assistant professor of computer science, said. “They confirmed that what we do has value in it.”
The Princeton Review partnered with GamePro, one of the top brands in the video game industry, to develop the ranking through a survey conducted earlier this year.
The survey focused on the quality of faculty, curriculum, facilities and graduate success.
It narrowed the top 50 from a field of about 500 institutions that offer game design courses in the United States and Canada.
Kolesnikov said he hopes the recognition will act as a recruiting tool to help get students interested in Baker if they are interested in game design.
“Recognition of this caliber will certainly expand Baker’s capabilities and recruit many more students both locally and nationally,” junior Tyler Hayden, game design student, said.
Kolesnikov said about 90 percent of prospective computer science students ask about game design.
“That’s what the market is and that’s what people want,” Kolesnikov said.
Game design is a growing field and Baker wants to prepare students for jobs in it.
“We teach students how to design computer games and prepare them for jobs in industry,” Kolesnikov said.
Game design is a concentration within the computer science major consisting of a sequence of three classes. Kolesnikov is excited to see how the program will grow.
“I hope we will be growing and that’s why I consider this to be great news for us, because this will help,” Kolesnikov said.
Although Baker’s game design program is only two years old, it made an impression.
“I think a primary reason that we were selected is because Val has experience in his field,” Baker University public relations director Steve Rottinghaus said.
Kolesnikov worked for Trapeze Software in Cleveland, Ohio, developing software for school bus routing before he went into education.
“It was interactive,” he said. “It helped me to make the transition into teaching.”
The ranking placed Baker University on the same list as schools such as The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dartmouth College and Indiana University.
“I see more and more universities across the country offering game design,” Kolesnikov said. “It’s good to be among the first and among the best.”
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