Another Cool CA-Approved School: Expression Center for New Media

Here's another CA-approved school that I like a lot. Like almost all of the others, it doesn't offer any DL. (What is it that makes the average state-approved DL school so lame?) Anyway, I include it because it demonstrates some of the exciting and innovative things that state-approved schools are doing.

Expression Center for New Media, located in the unusual and itself rather cool town of Emeryville Ca.

http://www.expression.edu/aboutus/totalimmersion.html

They have big-bucks backing, an eye-popping campus (their main building used to house Sybase) and a unique concept:

They offer bachelor degrees in three majors: Sound Arts; Digital Visual Media (including animation, 3D modeling and special effects); and Digital Graphic Design.

These degrees take two years to earn. There is no general ed., all your work is in your major.

Instead, the place is like a very intense job. Art-school boot-camp: their theory is "total immersion". You go there every day and put in an average of three hours lecture and five hours required labs a day. But since there are required project evaluations, people actually spend a lot more time there than that. Facilities are open 24 hours a day, around the clock.

That means that in the course of those two years, each student has put in considerably more hours than a traditional bachelors degree major requires. And those hours have been spent in a truly work-like environment.

There's no way that WASC is gonna accept this. But it is only a few years old (it opened its doors in 1998) and is already developing a reputation:

http://www.expression.edu/aboutus/press.html

They claim that they already have a placement rate for their graduates of over 80%, which is phenomenal in this competitive industry. (What really counts isn't accreditation, it's experience, a portfolio and contacts).

I hear that they are pursuing "national accreditation". I'm not sure what that means, but I'm guessing NASAD. That would be the top of the line for this kind of school.

Here's an example of a bunch of people saying, 'If I had the resources to create my own art school just the way I wanted it (not according to educational tradition or the accreditors), then what would I do?' And some avant-garde entrepeneurs suddenly drop a truckload of money in their lap and say 'Get to it'.

Digital Video Media:

http://www.expression.edu/dvm/index.html

Digital Graphic Design:

http://www.expression.edu/dgd/index.html

Sound Arts:

http://www.expression.edu/sa/index.html

I mean, you have just gotta love these guys. What could be cooler than this place?

 

Sounds good--this is why the CA-approved category can actually be really valuable under certain circumstances. The throttling of innovation in method and format really can be escaped!

 

Sounds like a great program. I have to admit an affinity for the UK-style single subject Bachelor's degree.

Bill, is the lack of general education classes the primary item you think WASC would hang up on?

 

It should be noted that general education courses are required, they're just not offered by the school. General education is required by the BPPVE for all Bachelor's degree programs.

 

I was just looking at Expression's digital visual media curriculum and found these words:

Students who have already satisfied general education requirements may not have to take any additional general education and would begin their program in term 06. The general education courses are slated to begin in May 2003.

These guys haven't offered general ed courses in the past, but do seem to be in the process of rolling some out. I looked at their admission requirements and they don't require students to transfer in any general ed, but the requirements may have been recently changed to accompany the rollout of in-house GE offerings.

My (rather speculative) impression is that Expression may have tried to dodge GE entirely, but somebody leaned on them. From what you write, it might have been Sacramento. I believe that NASAD also requires some GE, though a considerably less than the regional accreditors.

Requiring general education certainly seems out of character for Expression, since it kind of undercuts their "total immersion" ethic which involves living and breathing media arts 24/7.