Certificate in General Arts & Science - University Profile

at Sheridan College - Trafalgar Road Campus, Oakville Canada

Gain an in-depth knowledge of industrial design, materials and processes in our state-of-the-art facilities.

Take the design process from beginning to end
Sheridan's Industrial Design program gives you the tools to create smart, innovative and meaningful design. You'll go through the entire design process — from research to finished product. You'll look at design problems and imagine, develop and test solutions for specific audiences. Working with our other studios, you'll connect design with creation, broadening your knowledge.

State-of-the-art facilities
In this program, you'll use the latest technology to prepare you for success in the industrial design industry. You'll learn both digital fabrication methods and hand processes. Access to our state-of-the-art FAB LAB (with 3D printers and laser cutters) and our amazing faculty and students in other studios gives you a broad skill set to get you ready for a rewarding career.

Get a foundation in all Craft and Design studios
Our program provides a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach to craft and design. You'll major in your studio of choice while building skills in the four other disciplines. You'll work with students and faculty from across all five studios on interdisciplinary projects that bring together a range of expertise and experiences to explore the potential of contemporary art, craft and design.

A General Arts and Science diploma is perfect for you if:

• You're not sure you're ready for university
• You want to build a strong foundation for a university degree
• You need a fresh start in small classroom settings
• You want holistic, personalized advising
• You’d like to enhance your social and cultural awareness

What will you learn?
Our General Arts and Science diploma program will allow you to:

• Experience a multidisciplinary program
• Adjust to post-secondary learning environments
• Develop confidence and build strong academic, communication and research skills
• Define your academic, career and personal goals
• Earn transfer credits that can be applied to university degrees

This program helps beginning students assess their talent, build a basic portfolio, and chart a course for further study
Learn the fundamentals of art
You'll get classical instruction in the fundamentals of art such as:

• Life drawing
• Painting
• Sculpture
• Two-dimensional design
• Technical drawing

Join the creative community

The Art Fundamentals program emphasizes studio work. You'll produce art from the first day of class, gaining practical skills while discovering your strengths and your preferences. You'll also have the opportunity to explore many options for further study and careers in the visual arts. By the end of the year you'll have a body of work and the beginnings of an artistic identity.

In Sheridan’s Craft and Design Glass Studio, you’ll be immersed in all aspects of working with glass in a supportive atmosphere.

Learn from industry leaders
Sheridan's Glass program is the oldest of its kind in Canada, founded in 1969. You'll work closely with professors whose credentials range from diplomas to PhDs and are also practicing artists who keep up with industry trends. Other studios often turn to our faculty for consultation and advice, including producers of the Netflix hit reality series Blown Away.

Glass-blowing courses are just the beginning
Our Glass program takes an innovative approach to design, craft and contemporary art. In addition to glass-blowing courses, you'll be introduced to all the other ways you can work with glass: flame-working, sand casting, kiln casting, cold working and electroplating. You'll then enjoy the freedom to specialize in your favourite techniques and express your unique personality in your assignments.

Work in a state-of-the-art Glass studio
Glory holes, furnaces, engraving wheels, cold working and flame working stations, kilns, electroplating equipment and 3D printers. No matter what type of glass work you want to do, you'll find the right tools in our fully stocked studio — which is accessible seven days a week and maintained by a full-time technologist. You can even learn how to build your own equipment!

Beginning in your first year of studies, you’ll take courses in each of the five streams of our Craft and Design degree: Glass, Ceramics, Textiles, Furniture and Industrial Design. You’ll understand how to combine multiple materials and processes into one project, helping you develop your own unique artistic voice.

A realistic work environment
Developed in response to industry need, this three-semester program simulates a realistic work environment in which designers, coders and artists integrate their skills. You'll learn to communicate game level design concepts and gain practical skills to implement and evaluate this knowledge in a simulated work situation. Note: This program is held consecutively – September to August.

A well-rounded skill set
The Sheridan game level design courses focus on offering applied, real-world skill development. Assignments and class work focus on case studies. You'll learn both 2D and 3D game design, while gaining industry-specific skills in game design and development, story and scripting, cinematography and sound, multi-player systems, game documentation and play testing.

The future of the game industry
Ontario's digital game industry is poised for growth, and so is the demand for game level designers. With the Game Level Design Graduate Certificate program from Sheridan, you'll be ready to step right into an exciting game design career.

No other performing arts school offers Sheridan’s degree of professionalism.
Become a "triple threat"
Sheridan's new Honours Bachelor of Music Theatre Performance gives students theoretical and practical training in three core disciplines of acting, singing and dance through a comprehensive and holistic approach that will prepare you to perform in an international landscape.

Personal attention
Sheridan is Canada's best-known musical theatre school, so our students get more attention—from audiences and performing arts industry recruiters. You'll be held to high standards in this rigorous musical theatre program, but you'll refine your talent while performing in professional surroundings before paying customers.

No business like show business
No other performing arts school offers Sheridan's degree of professionalism. You'll have classes in acting, singing and dancing five days a week, plus weekly one-on-one tutorials with faculty in acting and singing. In addition to studio work, you'll get instruction in scriptwriting, music theory and music theatre history.

Sheridan's Honours Bachelor of Applied Information Sciences (Information Systems Security) program provides outstanding preparation for a rewarding career in this rapidly growing field. Our one-of-a-kind degree program has a stellar reputation among employers. With a Sheridan Information Systems Security degree, you'll be prepared to join this exciting profession – and to get ahead in it.

Gain practical experience
This degree program includes an internship (up to 28 weeks long) in the form of a field placement in a real-world workplace.

Can corporate communications be considered an art form? That's how Sheridan approaches the subject. It's a unique approach among business communications programs, and it produces student work that stands out. The courses in this program feature hands-on, project-based assignments. You'll be working for real-world clients, not just doing classroom exercises.

Hands-on, project-based assignments

• Write persuasive and informative copy for internal and external publications, news releases, conference presentations, speeches and public service announcements.
• Express yourself in a variety of public forums such as media interviews and news conferences.
• Create websites, blogs, podcasts, video content, email blasts and other online communications.

Fast-track to employment
It takes less than a year to earn a Public Relations – Corporate Communications graduate certificate from Sheridan. You'll build a portfolio, get real-world experience and master both practical and theoretical aspects of business communications. You'll spend the last five weeks of the program in an onsite job placement, working with professionals.

Additional information
Sheridan not only emphasizes the critical, analytical and strategic skills prized by employers in corporate communications and public relations, it weaves social media and diversity communications into all aspects of tactical delivery. You'll do more than write catchy prose; you'll learn how to generate buzz, influence attitudes and motivate behaviour.

Sheridan students have taken top honours in the Canadian Public Relations Society's (Hamilton Chapter) Pinnacle Awards for excellence in Public Relations.

Additional skills provided by the program

• Producing internal corporate communications plans and activities — the fastest-growing segment of the industry.
• Preparing strategic plans, crisis responses, media campaigns, fundraising initiatives and other planning documents.
• Developing strategic communication campaigns that integrate all of the above elements.

Computer systems engineers are always in demand with the increasing role of technology in business.

Learn the latest computing technologies

• In this program, you’ll build your skills and knowledge in multiple computing platforms and environments. You’ll learn to apply the latest technologies to solve real-world problems with:
  • iOS and Android application development
  • Java, and Java Frameworks, C#, .NET and .net server development
  • Web technologies and web application development
  • Oracle and SQL server
  • Version control

Learning Outcomes

• The graduate has reliably demonstrated the ability to:
  • Identify, analyze, design, develop, implement, verify and document the requirements for a computing environment.
  • Diagnose, troubleshoot, document and monitor technical problems using appropriate methodologies and tools.
  • Analyze, design, implement and maintain secure computing environments.
  • Analyze, develop and maintain robust computing system solutions through validation testing and industry best practices.
  • Communicate and collaborate with team members and stakeholders to ensure effective working relationships.
  • Select and apply strategies for personal and professional development to enhance work performance.
  • Apply project management principles and tools when responding to requirements and monitoring projects within a computing environment.
  • Adhere to ethical, social media, legal, regulatory and economic requirements and/or principles in the development and management of the computing solutions and systems.
  • Investigate emerging trends to respond to technical challenges.
  • Analyze, plan, design, implement and administer computer systems and cloud solutions.
  • Research, design, deploy, configure, troubleshoot, maintain, upgrade, and decommission computing system infrastructures.
  • Select and apply scripting tools and programming languages to automate routine tasks.
  • Install, monitor, optimize and administer a database management system in response to specified requirements.
  • Design, implement, and administer technical support processes for computing system infrastructures that align with industry best practices.
  • Construct an end-to-end information system consistent with client requirements and industry best practice.

Get hands-on experience

• The third year of our systems engineering program features Capstone-Based Learning (CBL), a uniquely Sheridan approach to curriculum delivery. In the Capstone course, you

Turn your diploma into a degree

• After earning your Computer Systems Technology advanced diploma, you can apply to bridge into Year 3 of one of these Sheridan degree programs: Honours Bachelor of Applied Computer Science (Mobile Computing), or Honours Bachelor of Applied Information Sciences (Information Systems Security). 

Co-op Option

• Students in this program may apply to the co-op program during their second academic semester. Enrolment in the Co-op program is limited through an additional co-op application process that takes place at the end of the first year. Students in the co-op program are eligible to complete three co-op work terms prior to graduation. The program-specific academic standard required for participation in co-op can be found here: Academic Standards for Co-op and Internship.
• Co-operative Education is a form of work-integrated learning that links classroom learning with paid or unpaid work experience within a professional environment. Co-op work terms are related specifically to the academic studies of each student. The work terms provide an opportunity to learn by doing. You’ll apply theory to practice, develop a meaningful view of the working world, and cultivate an awareness of yourself as a professional.
• Students receive in-class and 1-on-1 career education support to help prepare for the work term. The co-op component is delivered by Sheridan’s Co-operative Education Office, which facilitates over 1,800 Co-op/Internship work terms per year Sheridan-wide. Learn more about Co-operative Education and Internships at Sheridan.