ART MEETS SCIENCE IN BMCC’S INNOVATIVE MULTIMEDIA PROGRAM
New, nationally recognized two-year curriculum is one of only a few in the country.
In response to the growing multimedia/new media industry in New York City’s “Silicon Alley” and other locations, Borough of Manhattan Community College is launching an innovative, new curriculum that joins the technical discipline of computer programming with the aesthetics of graphic design and video production.
BMCC’s newly crafted program in multimedia programming and design is one of only a few in the country which leads to an associate degree in applied science, and likely the only one of its kind in the northeast.
The multi-disciplinary program, incorporating courses taught by BMCC’s Departments of Computer Information Systems; Music and Art; and Speech, Communications and Theater Arts, is one of only eight in the nation to be awarded funds from the American Association of Community Colleges under the “Working Connections” initiative supported by Microsoft Corporation. Funding has also been received from the National Science Foundation under its Advanced Technology Education Initiative.
The president of BMCC, Antonio PÉrez, says the new degree program is an example of how the college has been responsive to the Manhattan community.
“As the only community college in Manhattan, it’s essential that we be mindful of the workforce needs of our neighbors,” PÉrez says. “Surveys and our own studies have indicated the need for employees skilled in computer programming, graphic design and video production, not only among the new media companies of Silicon Alley, but also in many other businesses and industries. We have been extremely creative and innovative in crafting this program, and I anticipate it will be a huge success.”
Alice Cohen, chair of BMCC’s Department of Computer Information Systems, says the new degree program is crucial in training a workforce for the burgeoning field of multimedia. Multimedia is defined as any computer-based interactive communications process incorporating text, graphics, sound, animation and video.
According to Cohen, the new degree program approaches multimedia training in a way that is unique among community colleges.
“Very few colleges are doing what we’re doing,” Cohen says, citing her experience at a recent educational conference. “What I found in working with a group of multimedia designers was that I had the computer experience, but no artistic skills. Others who came from a design background had the artistic skills but very little programming experience. This degree program addresses those deficiencies. It’s a perfect mesh.”
The curriculum of the multimedia program combines core multimedia and computer courses with those offered by BMCC’s Music and Art Department, such as typography and advertising design, and the corporate and cable communications program, administered by the Department of Speech, Communications and Theater Arts. Cohen says graduates of the multimedia program will be prepared for a multitude of careers in the new media field and in industries that are involved in new media activities.
“We’re talking about job titles such as web master or designer, interactive digital media specialist, multimedia programmer or designer,” says Cohen. “There’s a tremendous need in the job market for employees with these skills, and our graduates will be especially well-balanced in terms of computer programming and design abilities.”
Employment opportunities in New York’s new media industries are high, according to an October 1997 survey by Coopers and Lybrand. Of 5,000 companies surveyed, roughly half indicated that their main focus was on new media activities.
In New York City, multimedia jobs increased 105% from 1995 to 1997, with between 40,000 and 120,000 new jobs projected by the end of this year. Many of these jobs are in Manhattan locations that have come to be known as “Silicon Alley.”
Approval for the multimedia programming and design degree is expected to come from the State of New York in early 1999.
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