Salt Lake Community College is offering a new Community Based Job Training (CBJT) Grant that the school has received for students interested in majoring in the field of digital arts. This grant is funded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration.
“Students who want to qualify for the grant have to meet certain guidelines,” said Thomas Risk, Project Director of the CBJT Grant for the School of Arts, Communication and New Media. “Students must have either a high school diploma, or a GED (General Education Diploma).”
Risk says other types of qualifications may be needed before interested applicants can apply. Some of these qualifications include: students who are displaced homemakers, have low income status, receive financial assistance, receive or have received food stamps in the last six months, are homeless or in foster care, have been terminated or laid off from their last job, have exhausted their unemployment compensation, or are currently employed in the digital arts field and want a skills upgrade.
“I signed up because I think it would help further my education,” Nicholas Cooper, new student said. “It was easy to apply.”
There are two people at the South City Campus in the enrollment office who work on the grants.
The application process is relatively easy. Students just have to fill out a short application that Risk will turn in to the DWS who will verify the information on the application, and determine if a student qualifies for the grant. They also help with getting books and supplies, and then helping with job placement.
The reason for the grant program is due to the high demand for people in the field of digital arts. In the past few years, this job market has seen rapid growth in the opportunities and demand for qualified people to work in this field.
Students interested in these fields should apply for the grant. These fields include: web design, graphic design, multimedia art, animation, film, video, illustration, photography, motion graphics and special effects.
Students have a wide variety of degree or certificate choices to choose from. They can receive an Associate degree in video production, film production, or visual art and design. There are also certificates of proficiency in web graphic design and visual art and design. A certificate of completion can be earned in web graphic design.
The school will be offering other certifications in the future; for example, a certificate for game testing is in the planning stages. The school will be teaching the latest techniques so students will be able to compete in the job environment. The school will be notifying companies that deal with visual arts so interested employees will be able to update their skill sets.
Thomas Risk can be found at the South City Campus in the portable unit north of the building in room 105. Students interested in applying can also contact him by phone, at 801-957-3127, or by email at thomas.risk@slcc.edu.
For more information about the CBJT grant, the programs being offered, and eligibility requirements visit www.freetuitionslcc.org.
