Are you a part-time student or looking to become one? Starting this Fall, we have added 36 new courses to our part-time line up that provide exciting opportunities to achieve your learning goals. Whether you want to make a career change, build professional skills, or both, part-time learning allows you to embark on your educational journey in a way that can better suit your lifestyle.
Dr. Chris Jackman, Academic Chair of Arts and Design, describes how part-time learning can provide many opportunities for learners. “Students of our part-time programs have a lot of different goals and we’re mindful that some of them are looking for courses that will satisfy special interests, while others are looking to really build their professional skills. What we want to do is provide a suite of options for a whole variety of learners, and considering the strengths of our programs, courses, and faculty, it creates a really fabulous opportunity for people to take advantage of those resources in a modality that works for them.”
Part-time courses provide many key outcomes, such as gaining a competitive edge while also exploring areas of personal interest. With COVID-19 protocols in place, how these programs and courses have transformed into learning at a distance can also provide outcomes that offer learners new opportunities. Chris says, “One of the opportunities it has reflected back to us and our community of learners is the chance to pick up educational opportunities how and when you need them, which is something that we as a College haven’t traditionally done quite a lot. With this, what we’re doing is pulling together not only a selection of our part-time learning courses, which we’re now offering at a distance, but also reminding our community of these courses that we offer… We’re using this opportunity to allow both students and non-students an opportunity to build their skills and enhance their own personal educational portfolios,” he says.
Barry Waite, Academic Chair of Communications and Media, also describes the opportunities for part-time learning. He says, “Education is about meeting the student where they are right now and looking for opportunities, and while we’ve excelled in full-time delivery, the goal of our part-time learning is to try and offer options to learners who may not be able to enrol full-time in school… There are a lot of different opportunities, so what we’re looking to do is connect learners with industry professionals and provide high-quality learning.”
Barry mentions this Fall semester provides a really great opportunity since many are still staying at home and have the ability to log-on and take a course. “We often get requests from people who are interested in taking programs part-time and with the fact that our delivery is online this semester, it gives us more flexibility in terms of doing that,” he says. Part-time learning also helps to fulfil goals that various individuals may have, such as allowing working professionals the ability to upgrade their skills. Barry mentions that owners of small businesses may want to learn more about video storytelling and how they could use video for their business, while others may want to take the social media course designed to give people a basic understanding of how to use social media tools that they may not already be familiar with.
We offer Media, Arts and Design Certificate Programs in: Digital Publishing, Recording Arts, Public Relations, Content Creation, Art and Design Fundamentals, and Communications and Media Fundamentals. These certificate programs are designed to be completed in one-year and allow you to take courses that provide the knowledge you need to know in your industry. Standalone courses are also being offered in a variety of different areas, all of which can be found on our Part-Time Program page.
Are you ready to explore your creative side and enrol in a part-time program or course starting this Fall semester? Register online.
If you would like more information about Part-time Learning at the Story Arts Centre please contact storyarts.pt@centennialcollege.ca or 416-289-5000, ext. 2246.
By: Alexandra Few