Kennesaw, Ga. - The Graphic Arts and Technology Department at Harper College in Palatine, Ill. has just added a Heidelberg Speedmaster 52 4-color press to help attract, educate and train its students by introducing them to the newest print capabilities. According to Patricia Bruner, Graphic Arts Coordinator, this simple strategy already has yielded an "incredible" 40 percent increase in enrollment for the current semester.

"We're not teaching pressmen here," Bruner said. Rather, the Graphic Arts and Technology program at Harper is targeted to creative design, photography, prepress and production, and sales and marketing students who will need to understand the best practices associated with print manufacturing in order to be effective in their jobs after graduation.

"We could have bought a cheaper, 2-color press, but opted for the Speedmaster SM 52 because we wanted to be able to demonstrate the versatility and force of 4-color process work," Bruner said. "The Speedmaster 52 gives us the flexibility in a compact platform that suits our needs perfectly." As a bonus, the Graphic Arts and Technology Department recently began taking on some jobs for the college, which previously outsourced its 4-color work. These days, however, "We can print most 8.5x11" brochure work on the Speedmaster SM 52," Bruner said, saving time and money for the institution.

As for the Department's choice of a Heidelberg press, "We need only one press and we need it to last a long, long time," Bruner said. "Heidelberg is the king of press manufacturing, a great staple of the industry, and is well known for its unwavering support of industry education. Why would we choose anything else?"

Established in 2005, the Graphic Arts and Technology Department at Harper College serves a current enrollment of 531 students taught by two full-time and 10 adjunct instructors.