Video Production, Advanced Certificate

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Program Description

The Advanced Certificate in Video Production is a four-course sequence (12 credits) that enables students holding a bachelor’s degree in a variety of fields to master valuable skills in non-fiction video production. The sequence of courses serves students with a range of interests and varying prior knowledge: the introductory course provides those with limited prior video experience with foundational training and skills; subsequent courses allow these students, as well as those entering with some knowledge of digital video-making, to advance/improve their skills.

Courses are offered on Saturdays, on a part-time basis, over four semesters beginning every fall.

The Advanced Certificate is suitable for working adults in a wide range of fields - including education, human services, small businesses, non-profits, and community organizations - who seek digital video expertise to enhance their credentials. As students progress through the certificate, they will become competent in the creation of nonfiction visual narratives suitable for digital journalism, outreach, community organizing, advocacy, and marketing.

Because its courses count towards Old Westbury’s existing MA in Liberal Studies (MALS) degree, the Advanced Certificate offers a stackable, graduate opportunity for new students and Old Westbury alumni that also affords them an entrée into an existing Masters-level program. Courses in the Advanced Certificate are also available to exceptional undergraduate seniors, by permission, on a limited, space-available basis.

Over the course of the Advanced Certificate in Video Production, students will gain mastery of technical skills required to capture high production value digital video and audio, identify effective selections, and construct a coherent narrative from edited work. They will learn to apply the ethical principles underpinning the integrity of non-fiction video narratives in objective, advocacy, and promotional modes. Finally, students will have the opportunity to create non-fiction video narratives that accurately capture evidence, subjects, and communities, consider the potential impact and societal outcomes, and reflect Old Westbury’s historic social justice mission.

Program Curriculum

Students in Old Westbury’s Advanced Certificate in Video Production program undertake a four-course sequence that combines hands-on experience in video production, cinematography, and editing, with exposure to rigorous ethical and professional standards in the field.

Building on emerging innovations in documentary and social practice, the Advanced Certificate celebrates diversity and the multiplicity of voices, particularly those typically left out of mainstream media production. The Advanced Certificate’s focus on “social practice” both reflects and serves Old Westbury’s diverse student body, and its social justice mission. Social practice, also referred to as “socially engaged art,” encompasses a variety of multi-disciplinary creative practices in which artists collaborate with communities to enact positive social change. Old Westbury’s Advanced Certificate furthers this work by offering an affordable alternative to a full Master of Fine Arts.

The Advanced Certificate in Video Production resides within the MA in Liberal Studies program. MALS students may choose the Advanced Certificate course sequence as their formal Area of Study, and students in good standing in the Advanced Certificate may pursue the full MALS degree. The program supports the College’s Mission, which states, “In an environment that cultivates critical thinking, empathy, creativity and intercultural understanding, we endeavor to stimulate a passion for learning and a commitment to building a more just and sustainable world.”

Admissions

Applicants for the Advanced Certificate in Video Production will have the identical admission requirements as applicants for the MALS program:

Bachelor’s Degree in relevant field
3.0 or higher cumulative GPA (on a 4.0 scale)
Admissions essay

International student applicants need to meet additional requirements.

Applicants who have been out of college for some years, or those who do not meet the GPA minimum, may be accepted to take a class on a non-matriculated basis, and roll over their application for one semester. If accepted to the program subsequently, a successful completion of a non-matriculated class with a grade of B or higher may be applied to the Advanced Certificate or MALS course requirements.

Program Policies and Procedures

Completion Requirements

Students must complete the four-course sequence while maintaining a B average for the program.