Graduate Certificate in Professional Writing and Communications

at Humber College - Lakeshore Campus Canada

Humber’s Advertising Media Management graduate certificate program gives you the knowledge and skills to effectively research and analyze both the marketplace and a target audience, and subsequently develop the best and most creative media solutions that meet the client or the company’s advertising goals.

Throughout the program, you will learn how to translate marketing objectives into focused media campaigns, assess the strength and weaknesses of different media types, analyze media data, and determine how best to sell advertising time/space for both traditional (TV, radio, outdoor media, print) and emerging (all things digital) platforms.

Upon graduation, you will have learned how to speak knowledgeably and persuasively in a media environment, and how to negotiate as buyers and sellers of media time and space. Through the enhancement of your client and customer communications skills, you will gain the ability to focus on the needs of an organization, build lasting relationships across the industry and add tremendous value to the companies you work with.  Finally, you will build your technology skillset through the use of industry specific research databases and softwares throughout your studies.

With this comprehensive understanding of both the traditional and digital media landscape, you will hit the ground running in your new career at a boutique or world leading advertising agency or any number of small to large companies across the media management landscape. 

Work Placement
Gain hands-on industry experience with a 160-hour (minimum) work placement. Here you will have the opportunity to apply what you’ve learned in the classroom to a real-world business environment. With our support, you’ll find your placement at any number of local, national or international advertising/media-related companies or brands. Placements can be completed on a part-time basis throughout the academic year or full-time once your classes are complete. 

By combining the latest recording technologies and entrepreneurial business strategies with performance, production, songwriting and composition in jazz, pop, R&B, Latin and world music, you will be well equipped with the knowledge and skills needed for success in today’s music world.

Founded in 1972, the program has consistently produced many of the most successful commercial and jazz musicians in Canada and the world. With more than 350 students and a faculty of 18 full-time and 80 part-time teachers, our program is one of the largest, most diverse and highly regarded programs of its kind in the country. Long known for the strength of its professors, Humber offers you the opportunity to study privately, in classroom situations, and in several of the more than 50 ensembles directed by a who’s who of Canadian music. As Toronto is the centre of Canada’s entertainment industry, Humber attracts the top professionals in jazz, musical theatre, television, film, commercials and pop.

After two years of core music courses, you will continue with lessons on your major instrument, as well as take classes in music production and music business while also choosing from electives in arranging, composition, advanced improvisation, film scoring, music production techniques, songwriting, ethnomusicology or pedagogy.

You’ll develop musicianship and artistry by presenting your own recital, arranging and composing original material, and recording and marketing your own music.
In addition, you will take courses in music history, theory, aural training and improvisation, and have the opportunity to participate in a variety of ensembles.

All students complete a major recording project/portfolio in their fourth year. The assembled portfolio, which includes a complete press kit and professional-quality recording, as well as other promotional materials, functions as your calling card for entrance into the music industry upon graduation.

Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the program, a graduate will:

• Perform, compose, produce music at a professional level for entry to the competitive, global music industry.
• Demonstrate a knowledge of diverse musical styles and contextualize themselves within contemporary music history: specifically defined as the idioms of African American musical genres, mainstream pop music, country/folk music, Latin music, music for musicals and film, art music and jazz.
• Demonstrate, through performance and composition, a technical and musical mastery of harmonic, melodic and rhythmic structures.
• Demonstrate, through performance, an extensive knowledge of contemporary musical repertoire and apply appropriate performance skills in diverse music contexts.
• Compose and arrange in a broad range of contemporary music styles.
• Prepare and present a portfolio of recorded material reflecting a broad range of styles.
• Record, edit and produce a broad range of contemporary music.
• Apply computer applications/music technology skills in composition, arranging and production.
• Critically analyze and evaluate sound recordings and describe their production characteristics.
• Demonstrate, through production and performance, organizational, project management, and implementation skills.
• Demonstrate leadership, teamwork, communication, critical thinking, research and problem-solving skills.
• Demonstrate a working knowledge of contract law, copyright law, intellectual property rights, royalties, and rules of public domain.
• Make use of entrepreneurial music business skills to engage in the competitive contemporary music industry.
• Demonstrate professional “freelance” etiquette relating to job seeking and keeping skills.
• Demonstrate an ability to research and present findings from primary and secondary sources.
• Formulate, articulate and present their own ideas about music, art and society through discussion and writings.
• Demonstrate an artistic awareness and understanding of musical aesthetics.
• Assess personal strengths, musical and business skills, knowledge, artistic vision, interests, and abilities.

Work Placement

• You will participate in a work placement designed to mirror the professional music world, which is largely characterized by contract, freelance and part-time employment. You are responsible for accumulating the equivalent of 420 hours of experience which will allow you to establish contacts and relationships with key companies and industry professionals.

Humber’s Bachelor of Commerce – Digital Business Management degree program provides the essential components of a traditional business degree plus a broad selection of cutting-edge technology and advanced digital business management and marketing tools. It will help prepare you to succeed in a highly competitive business environment. By graduation, your digital business skills will include:

• developing digital business sales and marketing plans (product analysis, pricing strategies, distribution channels, promotional programs)
• employing project management and change management tools
• analyzing financial issues and how they affect pricing, cost and profit
• integrating effective and efficient supply chain management operations/tactics/strategies
• redesigning and streamlining business processes using information and communication technology (ICT).

Courses include accounting, micro/macroeconomics, business law, marketing, information systems, ethics, e-commerce, web development, database systems, supply chain management, mobile development, data science for business analytics and more.

You’ll be able to put classroom learning into practice and get real-world experience by attending industry events, participating in competitions and learning first-hand from guest speakers and other industry events.

Our program starts with a foundation of business studies in areas such as organizational behaviour, law, economics, finance and accounting, marketing, and operations management. Specialization courses will focus on digital business management.

Work Placement
The program requires that you complete 14 weeks/420 hours of paid work in the summer between your sixth and seventh semesters. This gives you the hands-on, real-world experience that employers value. Your placement will give you the opportunity to explore the field you’d like to work in when you graduate. We will work with employers and our industry partners to help you identify opportunities to pursue.
 

Humber’s Introduction to Commercial Jazz Music certificate is a performance-based program designed to help you assess and strengthen your skills. It solidifies your knowledge of the fundamentals of western music and develops your current performance skills through the jazz-specific areas of improvisation, repertoire development and small group ensemble performance. You will emerge from the program with a clearer understanding of the field and your own career potential within it, and as a stronger candidate for entry into postsecondary music degree and diploma programs. All courses have a particular focus on the commercial jazz field.

Learning Outcomes

• Upon successful completion of the program, a graduate will:
  • Recognize & identify common styles of music.
  • Describe the commercial/jazz field in terms of tradition, artists, & styles.
  • Explain the contribution of various artists to the development of particular styles & idioms.
  • Analyze the components & performance differences of recorded selections.
  • Play a repertoire of memorized materials that are considered standards in the commercial/jazz field & reflect the various styles inherent in this music.
  • Write diatonic melodies in various styles demonstrating knowledge of relevant harmonic & melodic concepts & structures of form.
  • Perform in an ensemble demonstrating basic ensemble skills such as intonation, tuning, time, feel, balance & dynamics.
  • Identify their own musical strengths & weaknesses in terms of a performance career in the commercial/jazz field.
  • Implement strategies & plans for on-going personal & professional growth & development.
  • Establish a practice of critical self-assessment & professional goal setting.

Humber’s Arts Administration and Cultural Management graduate certificate program is for those who wish to combine their passion for arts, culture and heritage with business acumen and management skills. This distinctive program promotes diverse, multidisciplinary performing and visual artistic expressions supported by organizational competence in revenue development (earned and contributed), management of human resources (artists, volunteers, companies), planning (financial, strategic, special events, career), and communications (multiplatform, digital, marketing).

The program is situated within the creative milieu of Humber’s renowned programs in theatre, writing, visual and digital arts, music, photography, animation, television, and film. Real-world experience is gained through varied field placements in commercial, government and not-for-profit arts and culture organizations, and collaborative capstone projects which demonstrate to employers the breadth of graduates’ abilities.

Learning Outcomes:

Upon successful completion of the program, a graduate will:

• Articulate the value of the arts through applied research into national and international arts, culture and heritage policies, current and historical.
• Plan, implement and manage revenue development activities to secure resources from charitable foundations, corporations, government and non-government sources, and donors, through special events, and via online platforms.
• Demonstrate understanding of the negotiation and administration of arts contracts and applicable human resources legislation, regulations and practices, including the recruitment and effective management of volunteers and boards of directors.
• Design and implement effective marketing, promotion, public relations, education and engagement strategies.
• Demonstrate, individually and in groups, a range of administrative skills pertaining to organizational structure, internal and external relations, facility management, and financial management.
• Demonstrate numeracy and planning skills related to fiscal management and control. 
• Communicate effectively in both written and spoken business communications.
• Demonstrate familiarity with computer applications used in arts, culture and heritage operations, including constituent relationship management, book-keeping, graphic design, spreadsheets, project management, and website creation and maintenance.
• Incorporate concepts of equity, pluralism, diversity and access into all facets of arts management practice.

Work Placement
Two field placements offer students relevant experience and the development of mentoring relationships. Students have participated in placements with more than 100 regional, national and international arts and culture organizations including The National Ballet of Canada; The Royal Conservatory of Music; The Stratford Festival; the Hockey Hall of Fame; The Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts; and numerous galleries, theatres, concert halls, museums and festivals. Students are responsible, with assistance, for arranging their own field placement locations and terms, and for the completion of the required 420 hours.

Humber’s Child and Youth Care – Accelerated advanced diploma program prepares you to promote the optimal development of children, youth and their families. You will develop skills in assessing needs, designing and implementing programs and planned environments, and using daily life events to support and facilitate positive change. The program provides foundational knowledge in infant, child and adolescent development; child and youth care relational practice principles; psychology of the family; evidence- based or evidence-informed intervention strategies; group dynamics; and therapeutic activities.

Our accelerated program makes it possible for students with previous postsecondary education to fast-track through our program in 16 consecutive months without compromising the required work placement. Studies begin in September, with graduation projected for December of the following academic year.

Work Placement
Field placements are a critical component of this program. There is an exciting variety of innovative and traditional field placements available in and around the Greater Toronto Area. Field placements can also be arranged in your own community and all are unpaid. Humber has established partnerships with agencies, schools, etc., that provide field placements. For the first placement, opportunities tend to be school-based and assigned. The second and third field placements are chosen by students from a list of opportunities then matched by the school. First and third field placements are three days a week and the second field placement is four days a week through the summer. This provides students with more than 1,000 hours of practical CYC experience.

Humber’s Advertising and Marketing Communications diploma program will equip you with promotional writing, presentation and organizational skills, as well as introductory design, basic production and supplier management skills. Courses in advertising, marketing communications, public relations and project co-ordination will give you a keen awareness of the breadth of your employment opportunities.

This program focuses on providing you with skills that enable you to work with advertising creatives including copywriters, graphic and interactive designers, art directors, and suppliers with an emphasis on media planning. Opportunities to work with Humber’s in-house agency, BuildingF, will allow you to start building a professional network while working with peers on real-world briefs.

Your first semester is shared with the Advertising and Graphic Design, Journalism, Public Relations, and Media Communications diploma programs, giving you the freedom to change the direction of your studies in the second semester.

Work Placement
Gain hands-on experience with a work placement in the industry. Here, you will have the opportunity to apply what you’ve learned in the classroom to a real-world business environment. With our support, you’ll find your placement at any number of local, national or international advertising, marketing and /or media-related agencies, companies or brands in the Greater Toronto Area

Humber’s Introduction to Commercial Jazz Music certificate is a performance-based program designed to help you assess and strengthen your skills. It solidifies your knowledge of the fundamentals of western music and develops your current performance skills through the jazz-specific areas of improvisation, repertoire development and small group ensemble performance. You will emerge from the program with a clearer understanding of the field and your own career potential within it, and as a stronger candidate for entry into postsecondary music degree and diploma programs. All courses have a particular focus on the commercial jazz field.

Learning Outcomes

• Upon successful completion of the program, a graduate will:
  • Recognize & identify common styles of music.
  • Describe the commercial/jazz field in terms of tradition, artists, & styles.
  • Explain the contribution of various artists to the development of particular styles & idioms.
  • Analyze the components & performance differences of recorded selections.
  • Play a repertoire of memorized materials that are considered standards in the commercial/jazz field & reflect the various styles inherent in this music.
  • Write diatonic melodies in various styles demonstrating knowledge of relevant harmonic & melodic concepts & structures of form.
  • Perform in an ensemble demonstrating basic ensemble skills such as intonation, tuning, time, feel, balance & dynamics.
  • Identify their own musical strengths & weaknesses in terms of a performance career in the commercial/jazz field.
  • Implement strategies & plans for on-going personal & professional growth & development.
  • Establish a practice of critical self-assessment & professional goal setting.

Humber’s Financial Planning graduate certificate program provides a clear pathway to careers in the lucrative financial services industry including banks, investment firms, insurance companies, financial planning firms among others. Our program provides you with a broad range of financial services, business and soft skills plus the opportunity to earn the licences and designations that financial services institutions are looking for in the professionals they hire. 
Faculty are chosen for their expertise and experience in the financial services sector, and many continue to work in the industry.

Learning Outcomes

• Upon successful completion of the program, a graduate will:
  • Adhere to the certified financial planner ethical code of conduct, standards of practice, regulatory, legal and taxation requirements.
  • Establish and manage the client-planner relationship.
  • Analyze and evaluate client financial data including investment goals, life and health insurance, retirement planning and estate planning, considering economic information.
  • Develop and present financial recommendations and/or alternatives regarding investments, retirement planning, estate planning, life and health insurance.
  • Implement financial recommendations and monitor clients’ accounts.
  • Market and promote financial products, services, solutions and strategies that meet client needs.
  • Provide investment advisory services, using current software and entrepreneurial skills.
  • Qualify to challenge the Certified Financial Planner (CFP™), the Life Insurance Licence (LLQP) examination and the Canadian Securities Course.

Work Placement

• Gain first-hand experience in the financial services industry with a four-week work placement taking place either part time during the program or full time at the end of the program. Placements provide the valuable work experience employers seek.

Humber’s Police Foundations diploma program, offered on a full-time and online part-time basis, enjoys an excellent reputation within the criminal justice community. Our program’s current and relevant curriculum, developed with the insights and expertise of members of the college’s Police Foundations Advisory Committee, ensures you’ll learn the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in a justice related career. Practical courses allow you to learn about psychology, sociology, criminology, the criminal code, contemporary social and community problems, policing protocols and strategies, investigating and evidence, and conflict management. As well, instruction in fitness and lifestyle management will teach you about the importance of health and wellness and about the Constable Selection Process. Your professors, who have real-life work experience in public and private policing, will help you graduate with a range of security, problem-solving and administrative skills, and with a commitment to justice and to your community.

Graduates of the program will be subject to all requirements of the Ontario Constable Selection Process and local police requirements when applying for a position as a police constable in Ontario.

Work Placement
While the program does not offer a work placement, self-initiated community service opportunities will be made available to help broaden your understanding of the role of justice services within the community at large.