MacEwan launches Arts and Cultural Management diploma program

This month, as eCampusAlberta celebrates its eighth anniversary, the program that it all started with – the consortium’s first offering – is also marking a milestone.

Starting this fall, Grant MacEwan University’s Arts and Cultural Management program will be offered as a two-year diploma in addition to the current one-year certificate offering.

“Arts management is an increasingly complex field that needs well-prepared individuals ready to step into demanding administrative and management roles,” says Program Chair Rose Ginther. “We are very excited about the increased opportunities we hope that this new credential will offer MacEwan graduates.”

The 60-credit diploma, which is also available to students through classroom study, builds on the courses already offered in the certificate program. Specifically focused on arts and culture, the program teaches students the fundamentals of arts management – from financial management, publicity, advocacy and media relations to human resources management, museum and gallery management and computer applications for the arts.

The certificate program, the only arts management program offered fully online in Canada, attracts between 30 and 40 online students each term.

“We went online to provide more accessibility for students,” Ginther says. “We now have students from across Canada taking the program and even some who are studying from overseas.”

While students with the required combination of 30-level courses can enrol right out of high school, Ginther says most of the students are mature and already have some experience with the arts, either through volunteering, working in the fine arts discipline or as artists themselves.

“Often, our students are looking to get a better understanding of how to manage their own careers,” she says. “Or, they realize they’re coming to the end of their careers and want to stay involved in the business.”

In addition to the courses, students are required to complete a two-month field placement.

“This practical experience is the capstone to the program. It prepares students well for future employment in the sector.”

Students have the option to complete the diploma program online over three or four years depending on their schedules and course availability. They also have the option to exit the program with a 36-credit certificate.

According to Ginther, graduates of the program, which has an employment rate of 85 to 95 per cent, end up working in all manner of jobs – at art galleries, in government departments, as curators and even as program instructors at MacEwan.

Frequently graduates work on a contract basis.

“Often arts and non-profit organizations can’t afford to hire a full-time employee,” Ginther says. “So they hire help as needed, on a project-by-project basis.”

Currently, the Athabasca University Bachelor of Professional Communications program recognizes 30 credits of the certificate program and starting in the fall of 2011, students will be able to transfer to the Bachelor of Arts Drama program at the University of Alberta with an Arts Management minor. MacEwan is also in the process of working on arrangements that would allow graduates to transfer to other university degree programs with full credit for their diploma courses.

Learn more about MacEwan's new Arts and Cultural Management diploma program.