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j u ly • a u g u s t • s e p t e m b e r 2 0 2 1 c g w 4 7 A Learning Experience for All "We tell our students that every experience is an opportunity to learn and grow. As facul- ty and staff, we are also learning and growing constantly, but this year it was more appar- ent and the experience was more shared," says Jimmy Calhoun, Chair—Computer Art, Computer Animation, and Visual Effects at the School of Visual Arts (SVA). The students and faculty at the school, in fact, rose to the challenge of the pandemic. They tackled the obstacles of working from home by finding new ways to connect with one another to foster the community of the computer art, anima- tion, and VFX department. Each year, students produce over 50 short films with SVA's thesis students, in addition to many projects for all of the un- derclassmen. This year, the staff and faculty, as well as the students, worked to find new creative solutions for collaborating and producing work remotely. "In the end, we evolved the workflow through new tools and ways of working that have made us better," Calhoun says. In fact, generally the changes in curricu- lum were additions rather than eliminations. By introducing new tools that allowed students to access the school's systems remotely, such as Teradici, IDrive RemotePC, the NoMachine remote desktop program, and Signiant Media Shuttle, students were taught ways of working that the school had never taught before. "Experience with these tools will be valuable to them in the new landscape of remote work," Calhoun notes. Structural changes, meanwhile, mostly con- sisted of teaching over video, finding ways to take advantage of Zoom breakout rooms and Canvas (SVA's learning management system), and being creative in the types of asynchronous content the school provided to its students. According to Calhoun, SVA will return to in-person classes in the fall, "with plenty of our old selves intact, but also evolved for the better." He adds: "Many of our new remote tools will allow students new options for producing their work with us from within and outside our facilities." Inspired partly by being remote and also by the changing industry practices, SVA will continue to pro- mote real-time and GPU rendering solutions. "I know the thing we are all looking for- ward to the most is the ability to collaborate and communicate while being in the same room. Discord, Slack, and Zoom are here to stay, but face-to-face conversations are ex- tremely valuable on an emotional level, and we are all looking forward to being together again," says Calhoun. "As the Muppets said, 'Cause no feeling feels like that feeling! Together again!' The school will continue to invite guest lecturers and hold special online workshops from around the world, and although there was the occasional remote guest prior to the pandemic, this experience has made that practice more accessible and accept- able. Also, the thesis screening events have increased their audience sizes by being held online. "Our industry jury was four times larger and more diverse in location and professional level by having easier access for participation, Calhoun points out. A happy discovery that will be folded into the SVA's traditional in-person screenings and events. Taking Advantage of New Opportunities Like many universities across the globe, Full Sail University was faced with unique challenges, including keeping students, fac- ulty, and staff safe and engaged during the pandemic. Due to the university's techno- logical expertise, and more than a decade of experience with online degrees, it was able to quickly and seamlessly help over 5,000 students transition to its fully online learning model. The Computer Animation bachelor's degree program is offered both on-cam- pus (20 months) and online (29 months). As a result, Full Sail was able to maintain its enrollment during this time, as well as introduce a range of initiatives to benefit its students, including virtual guest lectures, workshops, and more. "For our students pursuing the cam- pus-based program, over the past few months it has been wonderful to welcome them back to the campus as we continue to see their return," says Pete Bandstra, pro- gram director, Computer Animation. As Bandstra explains, Full Sail's Computer Animation bachelor's program has had an online version for 10-plus years. The an- nouncement of the COVID lockdown and the A classroom at the School of Visual Arts. "Pawn" short film directed by Zishu Xiang, SVA.