Colorado Mountain College (CMC) trustees met at the Dillon campus on March 14 for a regular meeting, during which they approved a new bachelor’s degree program. The Bachelor of Applied Science in Integrated Media will be its eighth bachelor degree offering and will focus on marketing, strategic communication in digital space, content creation, video creation and much more.
The program will be offered at CMC’s Spring Valley campus as a part of the Isaacson School for Communication, Arts & Media. According to a press release, it is consistent with the college’s role as a dual mission institution, which means that CMC offers a mix of liberal arts and applied science classes in a blend of undergraduate programs.
Classes for this new degree will start in the fall semester. The Sopris Sun spoke with Isaacson School Dean Jess Guarnero and photography professor and program director Derek Johnston about what both current and future students can anticipate.
“The Bachelor of Applied Science in Integrated Media was designed to serve our students who are currently in our associate’s degree programs developing technical skills in professional photography, digital media and graphic design,” Guarnero explained.
The program intends to help students work with different media outlets to develop professional skills like branding, messaging and advertising. Local businesses could benefit from those skills to improve their models and reach targeted audiences.
Johnston gave an example. “The ski and snowboard business program in Steamboat is becoming a part of this degree program because they have several students that are interested in using social media for marketing of athletes and other outdoor rec types of media.”
As a dual-mission institution, CMC is dedicated to offering what is best not only for students, but also the communities they serve.
“Since we can offer a bachelor’s degree program, we went to our community, our internal stakeholders and our students, to design something that would fulfill the needs of the community,” Guarnero said. “So we have an associate’s degree that leads to a bachelor’s degree, and we have some certificates in there as well.”
The curriculum features 14 new 3000 and 4000-level courses. This includes ,but is not limited to, concept development, integrated media, event and environment design, creation and analysis, advertising campaigns and a myriad of communication programming.
“I am looking forward to seeing students digging in and using the technology that we have in our maker-spaces,” Guarnero continued. “We just hired a new CTE [career technical education] instructional coordinator and the whole purpose of that is to get students in those spaces and creating in real time with their faculty.”
She also expressed excitement over the response from the community.
Johnston stated that this new program adds more time for students pursuing associate’s degrees to sharpen their skills. “I’ve been here for 24 years,” he explained, “and I’ve always taught in the associate’s degree programs. I think it’s exciting to finally have a four-year degree that allows students to enter the job marketplace at a higher level.”
Courses for the Bachelor of Applied Science in Integrated Media program will begin this fall. For more information, visit www.coloradomtn.edu