Skills Catalyst: Seneca’s First Micro-credentialled Program for Students | Academic Newsletter | Seneca Polytechnic

by Kurt Muller, Faculty of Communication, Arts & Design

in the December 2020 issue

In October 2020, 40 students at Seneca began classes in a new, innovative, and first-of-its-kind initiative. The Film and Television Career Launch is a six-month, micro-credential based program focused on preparing students for entry-level positions in the film and television industries. It is funded by a $200,000 grant from the Government of Ontario’s Skills Catalyst Fund.

The program is aimed at attracting communities that are underrepresented in the sector. There is no cost to the program. Of the students currently enrolled, 26 identify as female, while 16 are from racialized populations and six are new immigrants. The program has support from industry: Avid produces industry-standard software for content creation and Stratagem is a studio infrastructure firm.

“Stratagem is delighted to partner with Seneca in designing and delivering a unique program built to foster much more diverse representation in the workforce of the growing screen based-industries,” said Jeff Melanson, Stratagem partner and Chief Operating Officer. “This Skills Catalyst program will play an important role in growing the sector’s workforce through the design of training opportunities that are both inclusive and diverse.”

Like most industries, film and television production has been slowed by COVID-19. But prior to the pandemic, Ontario’s creative industries had a record-breaking year, and all indications are that a rebound is underway. The demand for workers is already evident.

Micro-credentials, which are career and profession-based programs that focus on skills and competencies, are an ideal vehicle to meet this demand. They are short, flexible, and allow employers to identify with confidence exactly what value a potential employee will bring to their company. The curriculum was designed by Seneca faculty, with assistance from the Teaching & Learning Centre to ensure it aligned with Seneca’s micro-credential framework and standards of practice for teaching.

The program is divided into two streams – on-set production and post-production. Each module is its own micro-credential, so employers and students can see exactly which skills and competencies have been mastered. In each stream, students can earn micro-credentials that stack to build a milestone micro-credential.

All students began the online introductory course in October. Beginning in January 2021, they will focus of either on-set production or post-production through a hybrid delivery using in-person and online learning. The program will end in March 2021.

To learn more about Micro-credentials for Faculty PD program at Seneca, including current and upcoming opportunities for you to earn a micro-credential, see the Faculty PD Micro-credentials at Seneca article in this issue of the Academic Newsletter.

View the December 2020 issue of the Academic Newsletter.