Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/225858
EDUCATION Informally, the school has a "faculty network. Because the " school hires faculty with industry experience, many of whom remain active, they use their connections to link up industry friends and colleagues with potential hires. There is also the alumni channel: alumni reaching out to hire more alumni. "I just watched a chain of students of mine go to work for Sony Pictures Imageworks, says O'Hailey. "One took a position " there and received a promotion. He called a former classmate to take his previous job. This continued until six students from one of my classes found themselves working at Imageworks. " To formalize that channel a bit, the school has alumni chapter industry outreach representatives and a new alumni mentor program, whereby star alumni return a few times in an academic year to work with students, critique work, hold workshops, and inform the students how they transition from being a student to an artist in the industry. O'Hailey provides the example of the Game Developers eXchange. Through a series of workshops hosted by SCAD interactive design and game development, alumni working in the game development industry come back to give students an insider's perspective on trends and techniques. This past year, SCAD alumni working at Bethesda returned to share case studies of how they created Skyrim, one of the hottest games in 2012. Finally, SCAD sponsors a number of signature events throughout the academic year that connect its students to industry experts through meaningful dialog and hands-on opportunities. The Savannah Film Festival, for one, brings world- ■ ANIMATION WORK by a student from Full Sail. renowned filmmakers, producers, actors, and journalists, as well as other film enthusiasts, to SCAD (and Savannah) for eight days of feature films, lectures, workshops, panels, and more. The festival was started by SCAD President Paula Wallace to provide students with opportunities to network with, meet, and learn from entertainment industry leaders and to showcase the university's talented students and unique resources. Every month Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, hosts an event called the Animation Industry Spotlight, where an employer (often local) that is not specifically video game- or film-related looks to hire students with the appropriate skills. 36 ■ CGW Novem ber / Dec em ber 2013 ■ PRATT STUDENTS can exhibit in the CCPS gallery. This helps students spread their view of employment opportunities with companies ranging from the engineering sectors to those in the defense industry looking for students with animation and simulation experience, for instance. "This event allows students to learn about how additional areas of the industry use their skills and hire for those roles, " a member of the school's internal team states. Students can network at the event, and sometimes employers will sign up students for interviews in the days or weeks that follow. Full Sail also hosts employers from the industry who will hold events such as alumni roundtables, demo reviews and critiques, staff roundtables, and job interviews. Sometimes this is done virtually, via special podcasts or exclusive online events. Then, during the last five months of the degree program, teams spend time helping the students develop their portfolios based on their artistic strengths. These portfolios include a Web presence to share with potential employers. For graduates who have recently entered the industry or who are now industry veterans, Full Sail hosts alumni events throughout the country. Grads also get lead opportunities from the Career Dev department and by connecting to other graduates working in the industry for advice, critiques, and help through a Facebook group called the CG Artist Group, which posts more than 100 jobs and announcements every month. Also located in the Orlando area is The DAVE (Digital Animation and Visual Effects) School, which offers an intensive oneyear program for computer artists at its facility, strategically located on the backlot at Universal Studios. According to Jeff Scheetz, school director, DAVE School boasts an aggressive placement office that has had 65 to 85 percent placement for the past three years. "Providing interview opportunities is important, but the real trick is coming to understand future hiring needs (of very specific employers) and bending the curriculum to meet that, he says. " As Scheetz explains, employers need to understand that schools, if they are functioning properly, are really here to serve them. "If they know they will need 10 new artists who can do particle effects, we can provide supplemental training of our top grads at no charge to either the employer or the student, he says, adding that presently the school is seeing " a rise in employers interested in using The Foundry's Modo, but they don't see a large enough talent pool to commit to its