UT School of Design and Creative Technologies Launches Extended and Executive Education Program Taught by Designers and Learning Scientists

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The College of Fine Arts at The University of Texas at Austin recently launched its first extended and executive education program through the School of Design and Creative Technologies. Its headlining course, "Think Before You Design Think," leads organizations through the process of discovery, problem solving and the adoption of human-centered design. Additionally, bespoke courses and services are available to companies, teams and individuals through the Extended and Executive Education unit.

Directed by science of learning expert and Assistant Professor of Practice Dr. Julie Schell and design leader and Assistant Dean Doreen Lorenzo, the Extended and Executive Education unit develops transformative learning experiences for teams and individuals. Unlike more traditional boot camps and workshops, the emphasis on learning and adoption is central to the curriculum. Teams and individuals gain the skills and knowledge to execute human-centered design methodologies and adopt design thinking to create change across large, complex organizations.

"What we do differently is use state-of-the art learning science and innovation theory to ensure that human-centered design is learned and adopted within organizations that want to become design-led and design-centered," said Schell, Executive Director of the new unit at the School of Design and Creative Technologies. "There are plenty of design thinking experiences that focus on exposure to what design thinking is, but that is not what we do. We cultivate a unique learning experience that allows teams to learn, adopt, lead and innovate by integrating the super power of human-centered design into their daily work lives."

AT&T, Charles Schwab, Southwest Airlines and UT's Office of the Vice President for Research have been among the initial group of diverse clients to participate in the Extended and Executive Education program. The "Think Before You Design Think" course is tailored for each cohort of learners.

• Creative leaders from Charles Schwab learned how to apply human-centered design to support their ongoing mission of being customer-focused.
• Southwest Airlines engaged in a custom-created Innovation Academy to support the development and execution of human-centered design practices throughout the organization on a daily basis.
• The Office of the Vice President for Research at the University of Texas pursued a program in which design thinking was used to help faculty develop highly innovative, collaborative and interdisciplinary research proposals.

"As a Fortune 100 company, innovation is key to our success. Participating in Dr. Schell's design thinking experience and learning how to make lasting, company-wide changes has been of the utmost importance to our organization," said Andrea Sutton, Vice President of Design Technology at AT&T. "We are scaling the modules that she and Assistant Dean Lorenzo have created for us to tens of thousands of employees at AT&T in an effort to drive successful and innovative company outcomes."

Additionally, other design courses, innovation design consultancy services, and customer programs are available to organizations, teams and individuals through the Extended and Executive Education unit.

For more information, contact Dr. Schell at [email protected].

About Executive and Extended Education
Led by Executive Director Dr. Julie Schell and Assistant Dean Doreen Lorenzo, the School of Design and Creative Technologies extends world-class design thinking courses, trainings and workshops for businesses, nonprofits, K-12 and higher education institutions, as well as individual learners.

During the Summer of 2019, summer camps and workshop programming for both youth and adult learners will be available and led by UT Austin faculty and staff. 

About AT&T Communications
We help family, friends and neighbors connect in meaningful ways every day. From the first phone call 140+ years ago to mobile video streaming, we innovate to improve lives. We have the best network according to America's biggest test.** We're building FirstNet just for first responders and creating next-generation mobile 5G. With DIRECTV and DIRECTV NOW, we deliver entertainment people love to talk about. Our smart, highly secure solutions serve over 3 million global businesses ? nearly all of the Fortune 1000. And worldwide, our spirit of service drives employees to give back to their communities.

AT&T Communications is part of AT&T Inc. Learn more at att.com/CommunicationsNews.

AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc. Additional information about AT&T products and services is available at about.att.com. Follow our news on Twitter at @ATT, on Facebook at facebook.com/att and on YouTube at youtube.com/att.

© 2018 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the Globe logo and other marks are trademarks and service marks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

**Based on GWS OneScore Sept. 2018. Excludes crowd sourced studies.

About Southwest Airlines
In its 48th year of service, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines Co. continues to differentiate itself from other air carriers with exemplary Customer Service delivered by more than 58,000 Employees to a Customer base topping 120 million passengers annually. Southwest became the nation's largest domestic air carrier in 2003 and maintains that ranking based on the U.S. Department of Transportation's most recent reporting of domestic originating passengers boarded. In peak travel seasons, Southwest operates more than 4,000 weekday departures among a network of 99 destinations in the United States and 10 additional countries. Southwest has announced its intention to serve Hawaii, subject to requisite governmental approvals. 

Southwest coined Transfarency® to describe its purposed philosophy of treating Customers honestly and fairly, and low fares actually staying low. Southwest is the only major U.S. airline to offer bags fly free® to everyone (first and second checked pieces of luggage, size and weight limits apply, some carriers offer free checked bags on select routes or in qualified circumstances), and there are no change fees, though fare differences might apply.

Visit the Southwest Newsroom at swamedia.com for multi-media assets and other company news.

About Charles Schwab
The Charles Schwab Corporation is a leading provider of financial services, with more than 350 offices and 11.4 million active brokerage accounts, 1.6 million corporate retirement plan participants, 1.3 million banking accounts, and $3.56 trillion in client assets as of September 30, 2018. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company provides a full range of wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, money management, custody, and financial advisory services to individual investors and independent investment advisors. Its broker-dealer subsidiary, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (member SIPC, www.sipc.org ), and affiliates offer a complete range of investment services and products including an extensive selection of mutual funds; financial planning and investment advice; retirement plan and equity compensation plan services; referrals to independent fee-based investment advisors; and custodial, operational and trading support for independent, fee-based investment advisors through Schwab Advisor Services. Its banking subsidiary, Charles Schwab Bank (member FDIC and an Equal Housing Lender), provides banking and lending services and products. More information is available at www.schwab.com and www.aboutschwab.com.

For press inquiries:

Nada Antoun Dorman
Assistant Communications Director
School of Design and Creative Technologies
[email protected] 
512-560-6944

SOURCE The University of Texas at Austin