The MFA Program in Design/Visual Commuications prepares graduate students to assume a leadership role in a complex and expanding profession. To this end, the program develops the philosophy and personal direction of each student and focuses their resources on functional and expressive visual communications. Students concentrate on the philosophical, communicative, and aesthetic relationships of visual probelm solving and the interacting skills leading to the effective articulation of concepts. The graduate program in Visual Communications is oriented toward individuals interested in conducting visual or theoretical research, and in investigating the intersection of function and expression in design problem solving. The faculty emphasizes a rigorous theoretical framework, an historical perspective, and an awareness of contemporary issues as the basis for addressing present and future communication problems. The program encourages and actively integrates ethical issues and a concern for the natural environment into its curriculum. Faculty continually stress the contextual significance and influence of visual communications design on society and culture and its capacity to affect both the perception and reality of the individual's quality of life.