Graduate Certificate in Professional Writing - Communications

at Centennial College - Story Arts Centre Campus Canada

The Advertising - Creative and Digital Strategy program addresses the high demand for creators in the digital field of advertising and marketing, which is growing faster than all other areas in the advertising industry.

This Advertising Graduate Certificate program takes place at the Story Arts Centre in Toronto and blends Centennial College's experience in digital media with our strengths in business and marketing. The program focuses on helping you create engaging digital experiences built on solid creative strategy. You become immersed in the digital field and learn how to develop breakthrough creative advertising campaigns.

Through your courses, you acquire the necessary skills in creative strategy, writing, developing creative concepts, art direction, collaboration, presentation and entrepreneurialism. During a field placement, which is part of the second semester, Creative and Digital Strategy students take part in team assignments, working in a collaborative environment in the real world.

You’ll also learn new technologies and platforms that keep you informed about recent innovations in the digital creative field.

The program focuses on five key areas:

• Creative strategy, to ensure advertising meets clients' business objectives.
• Digital storytelling, to build on the power of storytelling in developing impactful creative advertising.
• Brand engagement, to create strong connections with consumers.
• Entrepreneurship, to foster key business skills that encourage innovation and risk-taking.
• Emerging platforms, to ensure you are up-to-date on the latest in digital technology impacting the advertising industry.

In this program, you:

• Gain an understanding of the digital creation process from a creative director's point of view.
• Learn how to craft a creative digital strategy that delivers results.
• Develop a strong portfolio and case studies for prospective employers.
• Enhance presentation skills to help sell ideas.
• Understand the impact of technology on creative development.
• Foster digital storytelling skills to bring brands to life online.
• Analyze and solve business and marketing challenges for clients by applying innovative creative and digital techniques.
• Complement in-class education with a field placement that will provide the opportunity to work in the industry and hone your skills.

Please note:- This program requires you to have and use a mobile computing device (i.e. laptop, tablet) that meets or exceeds the recommended hardware requirements. 

Program Highlights

• This Creative and Digital Strategy program gives you the opportunity to turn a degree or diploma into an exciting career in a growing field in the advertising industry.
• You learn how to create digitally-centric creative portfolio pieces using current industry design and writing standards.
• Faculty members have extensive industry experience and can help you connect to the industry by tapping into their personal networks.
• The program is offered at the Story Arts Centre, which is about 15 minutes from most advertising and digital marketing agencies in Toronto.
• At the Story Arts Centre, there are numerous opportunities to collaborate with students in a range of other marketing and communications-focused programs to enhance the learning experience.

Centennial College’s Museum and Cultural Management program offers an applied, learner-centred curriculum to help you develop the skill set needed to manage the programs and resources that preserve and publicly present the cultural and natural heritage of our civilization.

Courses in this Graduate Certificate program cover industry-based subjects, museum administration topics and in-depth explorations of contemporary issues and cases in Canada and abroad. Core theory is applied to current workplace realities. Assignments, lessons and student placements are linked to the vast network of museums in Ontario and Canada.

The Museum and Cultural Management program has fostered numerous partnerships with local, provincial and national institutions. Professionals from the field act as advisors, guest lecturers and field placement supervisors. Through our network, we will help you find the ideal field placement setting for your career development.

Not-for-profit museums, art galleries, science centres, aquaria, archives, sports halls-of-fame, artist-run centres, zoos and heritage sites attract more than 59 million visitors annually. A further 60 million people visit Canada’s historic sites and natural parks each year. Upon graduation, you will be prepared to work in this industry, at one of the 2,500 museums and related institutions in Canada or abroad.

Please note: This program requires you to have and use a mobile computing device that meets or exceeds the recommended hardware and software requirements. For more information, please visit Mobile Learning Programs.

Program Highlights

• You learn from professionals who have current knowledge of the industry.
• Training is complemented by a 7-week full-time field placement 
• The Story Arts Centre, located close to downtown Toronto, provides opportunities to collaborate with students in photography, broadcasting, music, art and theatre programs.
• The Museum and Cultural Management program's practical, hands-on and entrepreneurial approach prepares you for sustainable heritage sector-related careers directly upon graduation.

Centennial College's Advertising and Marketing Communications Management program is all about tapping into your creative talent and strategic thinking and using business savvy to generate new and exciting ideas. If you prefer to watch the Super Bowl for the commercials, this program is for you.
Taking place over three years, the courses in this advertising program will begin by building a foundation in all aspects of the industry, which will prepare you for the final year of study when you'll choose to specialize in account management, digital creative, or media buying and planning. Additionally, this program is the only Greater Toronto Area college advertising program to include a full-semester 14-week field placement.

In the Advertising and Marketing Communications Management program, you'll:

• Learn the entire advertising process, including creative development, research, developing strategies, campaign planning, production, and media planning and buying;
• Learn to produce content within the range of advertising genres;
• Gain the ability to tell clients' stories with persuasive advertising;
• Plan and develop campaigns on multiple platforms;
• Develop your instincts and strategic abilities while meeting deadlines in a professional and creative environment;
• Be led by a team of seasoned advertising instructors who possess vast industry expertise;
• Complete your training with an industry field placement, during which you'll acquire experience in the day-to-day activities of the advertising world.

Program Highlights

• The Advertising and Marketing Communications Management program will mirror working world standards, including firm deadlines, multitasking, working under pressure and delivering professional presentations.
• Hands-on practice with onsite professional software and media planning systems will be an essential program element. 
• You'll gain insight and experience in the core areas of agency operations: digital creative, media planning/buying and account management.
• The Interactive Advertising Bureau recognizes the program as offering the largest breadth of digital/mobile curriculum.

Centennial College’s Theatre Arts and Performance program is your open door to a groundbreaking professional career in theatre. You will develop your technical skills, nurture your artistic voice, and make crucial industry connections.

Classes in acting, movement and voice will expand your artistic range across different styles of classic and contemporary performance, including live and on-camera. Build your audition skills, learn how to get an agent, and create your own dynamic demo reel.

You’ll also gain experience as an actor-entrepreneur through independent “storefront” productions, pushing your creative boundaries to the front-line of theatre innovation, with the tools to succeed in Canada’s vibrant theatre scene.

Upon graduating, you’ll be ready to run your own theatre company or develop your career as a professional actor, director, stage manager, producer or instructor, in Canada and on the world stage.

Please note: This program requires you to have and use a mobile computing device that meets or exceeds the recommended hardware and software requirements. 

Program Highlights

• Train in various styles of acting, for classical and contemporary scripts, written and improvised work, traditional and movement-based staging practices, live and on-screen, etc., under the instruction of industry-leading professionals
• Focus on entrepreneurship and networking prepares graduates for sustainable careers in theatre arts
• Opportunities to collaborate with the other students in photography, film and television, music, dance and art programs at the Story Arts Centre

The Advertising Account Management program will prepare you for a successful career in the client service area of the advertising, marketing and communications industry.
If you like creating, planning, managing and working in collaborative teams, this communications and media program is for you. Because the advertising industry needs specialized account managers who understand the full scope of the industry, courses will cover areas such as:

• Advertising
• Digital, mobile and social media platforms
• Event marketing
• Direct marketing
• Management of integrated communications plans from inception to final production

Not only will a team of seasoned advertising professionals teach and mentor you as you acquire new skills and confidence for the industry, but you'll also have the opportunity to apply your knowledge to the real world. The Advertising Account Management program at Centennial College is the only post-graduate offering of its kind in Canada that includes a full 14-week field placement in the advertising and marketing communications industry.

During your field placement, you'll obtain knowledge of the day-to-day operations of account management and gain hands-on experience to highlight in your portfolio and on your resume. Many students have been offered full-time or contract positions during their field placement.

The Publishing - Book, Magazine and Electronic program is one of the most prestigious programs of its kind in Canada. Through hands-on education, it will prepare you for employment in a wide variety of areas in the publishing industry.

Established in 1974, this unique and award-winning publishing graduate certificate program has earned several accolades for academic excellence and for the career success of its graduates.

In this School of Communications, Media, Arts and Design program, you'll learn to:

• Be an integral part of the team that helps to shape the evolution of Canada's cultural and literary landscape;
• Publish e-books;
• Help build the careers of the next generation of writers in the publishing industry;
• Take part in publishing the bi-yearly On the Danforth magazine.

Your experience in the Publishing program will be rounded out by an industry field placement at a book or magazine publisher in Toronto. During this time, you'll acquire critical working experience, industry knowledge and professional relationships as you initiate your new career.

A career in book, magazine or online publishing promises a world of innovation, stories and culture that integrates your creative, marketing and business skills.

Program Highlights

• The accelerated two-semester format will cover all facets of the publishing process, including e-books and online magazines.
• You'll complete a six-week field placement in the industry.
• The graduate certificate you'll earn reflects a high standard of learning.

Centennial College's Advertising Media Management program will prepare you for a career in media planning and buying within the advertising and communications industry. 

Intensive, hands-on, industry-approved advertising media management courses will provide you with the fundamentals of media management. At the same time, they'll highlight consumer-driven communication channel choices (such as mobile platforms) for advertising messages.

In this graduate certificate program, you'll:

• Develop expertise in reaching target audiences with creative messages;
• Build your business and negotiation skills on behalf of advertising clients to achieve strategic results;
• Expand your knowledge of emerging media;
• Master industry-specific syndicated research databases and software;
• Complement your in-class education with a 14-week industry field placement.

Centennial College's Arts Management program prepares you for a career in the evolving arts and cultural industry. The Arts Management courses in this two-semester Graduate Certificate program focus on developing the knowledge and skills needed to work in the performing arts sector (theatres, dance companies, music organizations and presenting facilities), the exhibiting arts sector (galleries, museum) and many other cultural and arts-related areas such as arts and film festivals.

The program explores the current issues and practices that allow cultural organizations to build audiences and flourish today — and in the years to come. Facilitated at the Story Arts Centre, Centennial College's School of Communications, Media, Arts and Design, the program combines business management, marketing and planning with the tools required to connect art, artists and audiences through fundraising, education and volunteerism.

The extensive experiential learning opportunities in the program connect principles with practice, actively engaging you with the arts management profession throughout your studies. You also have the opportunity to apply your learning in the industry as part of an eight-week field placement.

As an Arts Management program graduate, you will have a thorough understanding of the political, economic, social, ethical, technological and managerial issues facing this sector.

Please note: This program requires you to have and use a mobile computing device that meets or exceeds the recommended hardware and software requirements.

Program Highlights

• The Arts Management program emphasizes professional-quality work to ensure you graduate with the knowledge and skills needed to manage and lead in the industry.
• Through mentorships and partnerships with the arts sector, a number of career options can be explored.
• A well-designed and well-implemented fieldwork component that can be undertaken in any location in your final semester provides you with an opportunity to gain valuable hands-on experience in the industry.

The Digital Visual Effects program is the only two-year college diploma offering of its kind in Ontario. Facilitated at Centennial College's Story Arts Centre, it provides you with the opportunity to learn the industry-standard techniques required to produce the photo-realistic visual effects seen in films that would be impossible to capture with a live-action camera.

In this diploma program's courses, you learn to work with the various aspects of the film-making process and bring them together into a seamless final product, while also developing your skills in industry-standard software. The Digital Visual Effects program focuses on the core skills needed to make you employable in the VFX industry and gives you the ability to explain how visual effects contribute to the entire process of storytelling in motion pictures.

You channel your efforts into demonstrating these concepts and core skills through a unique final project, for which you produce a demo reel suitable for job application in the visual effects field.

Program Highlights

• You learn industry-standard techniques in image processing, editing, lighting, rendering, matte painting, set extension, compositing and post VFX that employers are looking for.
• During the program, you produce a marketable demo and self-promotional package suitable for the VFX industry.
• A field placement in the final semester provides a valuable opportunity to work in the visual effects industry.
• You attend Digital Visual Effects courses at Centennial College's Story Arts Centre, located close to Toronto's downtown core and the major VFX studios.
• During your time in the program, you study and work in labs that are equipped with the latest tools and industry-standard software.
• The program provides a practical, hands-on and entrepreneurial approach that prepares you for sustainable VFX-related careers.
• Opportunities exist to collaborate with students in the digital animation, game design, photography, broadcasting, music, art and theatre programs at the Story Arts Centre. This is a unique opportunity to network, learn and work with industry professionals.

Game Development & Design is a three-year advanced diploma program that aims to develop expert game designers who are able to create and develop their own titles. The program prepares students to become both technically literate and able to advance the conceptual and cultural potential of games.

The program concentrates on the practical applications of the game production process from the artistic, managerial, and technical sides. Students will be introduced to 2D and 3D design processes, foundations of computer programming, as well as how to communicate effectively with teams of artists and programmers to design, prototype and iterate their own fully playable 2D and 3D games. Students will also learn the professional and personal skills needed for success in the industry.