Game Education Summit North America

Paper Abstract:

From admissions through graduation, this presentation focuses on the ingredients for a successful and competitive game art program.  What kind of student makes a great game-artist and how do we attract them to our schools? What should we and what shouldn't we be teaching them? What does the industry want and how do we balance that with the often dissimilar needs of our academic institutions?  Explore the origination, growth and maintenance of the Champlain College Game-Art program from the perspective of an industry professional who made the switch to academia to help build the program from the ground up.

Specific topics include:

• Game-Art at Champlain College: history and breakdown of the Champlain College curriculum.
• Admissions: how do we attract students to the program and keep them here?
• Schools: comparison of different types of academic institutions and programs.
• Curriculum: what we do (and don't) teach our game artists and why.
• Instruction: classroom layout, pedagogy and method.
• Students: who wants to be vs. who can be a successful game artist.
• Working with others:  the cohort model at Champlain College.
• Dealing with the Dean: growing and maintaining  a flexible and evolving curriculum