Education Leaders Program / Nancy Dick
Nancy Dick
Kirkland, Washington
School affiliations
Nancy Dick is dean of Applied Design Programs at Lake Washington Technical College in Kirkland, Washington. From 1998 to 2008, she taught in the college's Multimedia Design & Production program, which leads to an Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree and currently has 300 students enrolled. The program has a distinctly technical focus with a strong emphasis on Adobe software; students come from all over the Puget Sound region because of the program's reputation for quality technical instruction. The college is now transitioning to a four-year institution with its first Bachelor of Technology in Applied Design (BTAD) degree. This is also the first bachelor's degree offered by a public technical college in the state of Washington. Dick was selected to spearhead this effort.
Her career started in typesetting before the dawn of desktop publishing, and typography remains a first love. After 20 years in technical, academic, and advertising print publishing she went to Lake Washington, where she taught design-related courses ranging from theoretical to technical. She also oversaw major curriculum changes from concept to state approval. Since 2002 she's been an Adobe Certified Instructor, with certifications in Adobe® InDesign, Illustrator®, and Acrobat® software. She served as a subject matter expert for Adobe Photoshop® CS3 during development of the Adobe Certified Associate program.
Her interest in the future of design technology and employment outcomes for her students led her to complete a Master of Communication in Digital Media (MCDM) degree at the University of Washington in 2008. She holds a B.S. in Mass Communications/Journalism from City University and an A.A.S. in Computer Graphics from Lake Washington Technical College.
Dick also has extensive experience in eLearning and teaches faculty development courses on the subject for her campus. She has also presented at conferences on the topic for Washington's State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC). Her graduate work focused on how to assist the faculty's transition to computer-mediation instruction while achieving their pedagogical outcomes.