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Education Supplement job,” Beck describes. “By the time they fi nish the program, they are ready to step into a production job.” In addition to having industry professionals and veterans on staff , many schools invite guest speakers from the enter- tainment industry to share their knowledge and experience with students. Once a month, Gnomon brings in some of the visual eff ects industry’s most talented specialists to share their production process on recent fi lm, game, or broadcast TV projects. The school’s most recent event, The Making of Avatar, featured more than 20 artists, many of whom were lead designers and eff ects supervisors for the fi lm. “Aside from being immensely inspirational,” explains Bradford, “these events provide an exclusive peek into the techniques used by the very best in the industry.” According to Bandstra, Full Sail constantly welcomes guest speakers from the industry to share their expertise with stu- dents. In the past, the school has welcomed professionals today’s groundbreaking studios. For example, the VFS Game Design program hosts the annual Game Design Expo, where professionals from the game industry in North America are invited to share their experience, passion, and knowledge of game design trends over a day of engaging presentations to industry professionals, aspiring game designers, and game enthusiasts of all stripes. “These shared insights often help us make adjustments to the curriculum to refl ect how the role of the game designer changes with new technologies and techniques,” Warfi eld says. In fact, 2010 marks the fourth year that VFS has hosted the consistently sold-out event. SCAD’s Savannah Film Festival brings world-renowned fi lmmakers, producers, actors, and journalists, as well as other fi lm enthusiasts, to SCAD and Savannah for eight days of fea- ture fi lms, lectures, workshops, panels, and competition fi lms from a range of genres. Now in its 13th year, the festival was started by SCAD president Paula Wallace to provide students from Industrial Light & Magic, Blizzard, Digital Domain, Blue Sky, and Electronic Arts. “Bringing industry professionals to Full Sail to speak is a great way for our students to not only learn, but make great industry connections before graduat- ing and becoming professionals themselves.” Full Sail University off ers a residency program, whereby an industry expert can do a sabbatical at the university as a men- tor in the fi nal project courses. “Full Sail strongly believes this residency program is an important tool in the educational ex- perience of our students,” Catto explains. The program, open to a variety of industry disciplines, provides students with the opportunity to come in contact with people working in fi elds that directly relate to their career interests. Gnomon also off ers customized training to studios seek- ing to enhance the artistic or technical chops of their produc- tion teams. “Having industry professionals not only teach- ing courses, but taking them, creates an environment very conducive to industry networking and increased exposure to what’s really happening in the studios,” adds Bradford. “It’s through this exposure to the industry that Gnomon students become educated in how to successfully market themselves to the studios and get hired right away.” A few schools have orchestrated extensive, annual industry events that attract guest speakers from the highest ranks of 10 • Education Supplement • July 2010 Students from the Savannah College of Art and Design (left) and Full Sail (right) learn the necessary tools and techniques that will enable them to compete for jobs after they graduate. with opportunities to network with, meet, and learn from en- tertainment industry leaders, and to showcase the university’s students and unique resources. Broad Fundamentals Educators continue to enhance and expand the learning ex- perience for today’s students and tomorrow’s industry super- stars. Yet, at the same time, schools are ensuring that gradu- ates possess strong fundamental skills and the fl exibility to keep up with this fast-paced industry. “Technology moves too fast. Training specifi cally for some- thing like virtual reality or mocap (hardly new technologies) is a good way to render all your graduates obsolete by the time they enter the job market,” SCAD’s Maloney says. “While we embrace these concepts, the only way to keep our students relevant is to make sure they have strong fundamentals.” Maloney and his colleagues found that they needed to teach students how to think and adapt so that they can self- train in virtually any software application in a matter of days. Further, the industry is consolidating and technology is merging. “We have been training our students to be creative Photo: Dane Sponberg.