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EDUCATION
ANIMATION PROGRAMS AT LOCAL COLLEGES HAVE NEW STAFF MEMBERS Congratulation to Kim Tempest who is joining the staff at Cogswell College in Sunnyvale (see article on the school). Marty McNamara has been hired for a full-time tenured-track position at DeAnza Community College. Pat Amlin has taken a sabbatical leave from San Francisco State and Lorie Loeb will teach her classes this fall. Prescott Wright is teaching 4 sections of an introduction to animation at the Academy of Art. He has been on their staff since early this year.
NEW COMPUTER ANIMATION TRAINING PROGRAM available from Continental Training Center for people who are on unemployment. The program is approved and funded by the State of California. For details call (510) 680-2875.
JONATHAN LUSKIN TEACHING THE CONCEPTS OF VISUAL EFFECTS & ANIMATION AT SF STATE'S DOWNTOWN CENTER The advanced 3D class meets 10 times, starts Oct. 3, and is from 6:30-9:30. Unlike many classes that focus on a software package, Luskin teaches the basic concepts of how things are done including drawing exercises, writing, storyboards, etc. He also has a series of guest lecturers visit the classroom.
The school also has Kevin George teaching an advanced 3D animation class on the Mac, David Vasquez teaching Beginning 3D on the Mac and two classes taught by Mark Williamson on Autodesk 3D Studio.
For information about the programs call (415) 904-7700 for a free catalog (more junk mail for life).
COGSWELL COLLEGE IS OFFERING A 4 YEAR COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM IN ELECTRONIC IMAGING This fully accredited small college has been around for over 100 years. Four years ago they began a BA program in computer imaging and their first class is about to graduate. They had 4 full-time teachers in the department headed by Tim Harrington. They are now expanding the department to 6 instructors. They expect 150 students to be enrolled in it this fall.
The school is proud that they offer small classes with 9 or 10 students in a class. There are no evening classes for adults so the equipment can remain free for students to use it at night. The school is dedicated to giving their students a quality education rather than trying to make as much money as possible by offering the public dozens of classes at night and on weekends.
The equipment includes Silicon Graphics for upper division students and PC systems for lower division classes. The program doesn't stress specific software or hardware, but principles and applications. The curriculum includes courses in drawing, design, traditional animation techniques, audio recording, script writing, math, storyboarding, etc.
The school administrator who was interviewed said the school has a sister college in Everett, Washington. Between the two campuses they plan to keep the program small in the future and still offer a quality education. They expect to expand by offering more classes in the digital arts for music, film and TV. They also plan to open an animation summer camp in 1997 for high school students.
Students comes from all over the country and from foreign countries. The school also has other accredited programs including degrees in various forms of engineering. There are no sports programs.
When asked about placement, Paul Schreivougel said a few students have left the program early for jobs and they will offerer placement services to each graduating class. The school is planning to develop a full production service for students to gain experience on projects rather than farm them out as interns where their talents may be waisted as runners and as copy/mail room help. They have also started to develop part-time jobs for their students with Bay Area companies to give students solid on-the-job training.
Cogswell was founded in the 19th Century as a high-tech school. It became a Junior College in 1930 and later became a fully accredited 4 year college. Accreditation is with Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
For further information about the school call (408) 541-0100. They are located at 1175 Bordeaux Drive, Sunnyvale, CA 94089.