By Amy Wheaton
The Surveyor

It's official: Holland College will offer a new course beginning in September offering the very latest in multimedia learning, the first of its kind in P.E.I.

Interactive Multimedia, a nine-month course that is a partnership with Sheridan College in Oakville, Ont., will give students with previous creative or computer training the chance to earn a post-secondary diploma and further advanced when they head into the workforce.

It won't come cheap.

The program will cost around $13,000 for the year, says Visual Communications learning manager Nigel Roe.

Roe explains the cost is much higher than that of many Holland College programs because of the new equipment it requires.

"Everything is going to be very high-end, the best stuff available," says Roe."It's very, very expensive."

Twenty-four students will be accepted the first year of operation, but this number is expected to grow as the program becomes established. It will have two instructors, including Anne Greybourne, who comes from Sheridan College in Ontario.

"Students have to have either creative experience or computer experience," Roe says, adding people who have graduated from Journalism, Vis Comm, Photography, BIT or BISD at Holland College can apply for the program. As well, graduates of any fine arts, graphic design, and computer science programs at other schools can apply.

Roe says the intensity of the course makes it necessary for students to have a diploma or degree before entering.

"It's not like other multimedia programs where they take students right out of high school and teach them everything," he notes.
"You have to have some background in it already."

The program focuses mainly on project management, which includes dealing with clients and business principles, and production methods, such as CD-rom, Web sites and E-business tools. It combines hands-on work with state-of-the-art equipment and classroom theory.

In addition to a post-graduate degree, students who complete the program should have increased job opportunities, says Roe.

"They should be able to walk into the field of work by themselves, or jump into an employment situation," he explains.
"It's a worldwide industry, so in theory they should be able to work anywhere in the world."

Sheridan College is internationally known for its programs, including a world-famous animation school where companies such as Disney hire grads. "I think that when Holland College saw what Sheridan has to offer, they were pretty much sold on it right away," says Roe, who feels the program is going to be a definite asset for the college and will attract people who might not choose the school otherwise.

By D'Arcy Ellis

The Surveyor

Journalism schools in Atlantic Canada were the recent beneficiary of $225,000 from the Atlantic Television Network (ATV).

Schools benefiting from this donation include Holland College in Charlottetown, St. Thomas University in Fredericton and Kings College in Halifax. Each school receives $75,000.

ATV vice-president and general manager Mike Elgie said the network decided to pick three schools, one in each province.

"Our focus is on somebody in the journalism program," he said.

The donation will go towards scholarships and awards.

Elgie said the network, in conjunction with officials at each of the colleges, is in the final stages of setting up scholarships."