Degree/Certificate
Associate in Science
HEGIS Code
5012
SUNY Code
1599
Major Code
DIGM
The Career
Digital Media has become an integral part of life in the 21st century. Companies rely on the web, social networks, e-commerce and mobile communication systems to grow their markets and compete on a global scale. Practitioners in this field combine creativity and technology to produce interactive media for sales, marketing, training, education and entertainment. Websites, blogs, podcasts, wikis, video streaming, video gaming systems, smart phones, multitouch tablets and other portable devices — digital media developers need the knowledge, skills, and creativity to develop engaging content for all of these platforms.
The NCCC Digital Media Associate Degree program is the first step to prepare you for a career in this exciting field. With further education, you could find employment as a web designer, project manager, interactive media developer, video producer and editor, or digital audio specialist, to name just a few of the career options.
The NCCC Approach
The Associate in Science degree program prepares students for transfer to a four-year college or university. A liberal arts-based program, the AS in Digital Media provides students with the general education they need for transfer. A core of digital media foundation courses gives students the technical skills they need to pursue a career in web production or video and audio production. Students choose to follow one of two tracks: Web Production or Video and Audio Production, depending on their interests and career goals.
Students in the Web Production track gain practical experience in the planning, creation and maintenance of a website. This includes the design and layout of websites that incorporate graphic images, animation, forms and interactive multimedia components. Students will learn to code websites using Hypertext MarkUp Language (HTML), Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and Adobe Dreamweaver. They will also use Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Flash and ActionScript to create multimedia elements and interactivity.
Students in the Video and Audio Production track learn the practical skills and creative production techniques to produce video and audio content for distribution on traditional and new media platforms including TV, radio, web streaming, audio and video podcasting, DVDs, CDs, and portable multimedia devices. Students use Final Cut Studio and DigiDesign ProTools to create sophisticated video and audio projects.
Admission
Students admitted in September and January.
Program Mission Statement
The Digital Media Program strives to provide students with the skills and knowledge to be successful in an ever-changing technology-based industry by emphasizing adherence to industry standards, encouraging creativity, and developing students’ capacity for life-long learning.
Program Goals and Objectives
- To prepare students for successful transfer to four-year institutions in digital media related fields.
- To assist students in meeting a minimum of seven of the ten SUNY General Education requirements.
Student Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of the Associate in Science Degree or Certificate program in Digital Media, a graduate will be able to:
- Identify digital media technologies and their use in the creation of digital media content.
- Demonstrate the application of design principles in the development of digital media content.
- Digitize and electronically manipulate audio, video, and graphic images.
- Create a digital portfolio or demo reel of his/her work. Depending on a student’s career track, he/she will be able to:
Depending on a student’s career track, he/she will be able to:
- Design and develop a website which includes interactive multimedia elements using current standards for coding
OR
- Produce, edit and package a video project for digital distribution.
Transfer Information
Students should work closely with their academic advisor to ensure a smooth transition into a related four-year degree program such as New Media, Digital Media, Multimedia or Media Arts. Dual admission agreements are in place for Canisius College’s Digital Media Arts program and SUNY Fredonia’s Visual Arts and New Media program.
Facilities
Digital Media students have access to two state-of-the-art digital media computer classrooms (Macintosh and Windows PC). In addition, students have access to a fully digital, high-definition TV studio with green screen and virtual set capabilities and digital audio recording and video production/editing facilities.
Software
The following software applications are used in the Digital Media Program:
- Adobe Creative Suite including Photoshop, Illustrator, Fireworks, Flash, and Dreamweaver.
- Apple Final Cut Studio including Final Cut Pro, Motion, Soundtrack Pro, Color, Compressor, and DVD Studio Pro
- Apple iLife Suite including iMovie, iDVD, GarageBand, and iPhoto
- DigiDesign ProTools
- Microsoft Word, Access, and PowerPoint
- Web 2.0 tools such as Google Docs, Jing, Wetpaint
