Entrepreneurship in Visual Media Design Certificate of Achievement

This certificate program is designed to prepare Visual Media and Design students to engage in the world of entrepreneurship. The program’s interdisciplinary approach to entrepreneurship equips students with relevant tools in exploring various pathways to entrepreneurship such as full-time business ownership, sub-contracting (freelancing), consulting, corporate intrapreneurship or mission-driven social entrepreneurship.

This interdisciplinary certificate provides basic knowledge, processes, principles and skills for visual design and production for print and interactive communications.

The projected number of annual completers for the Certificate of Achievement – Entrepreneurship degree is 3–7 students. This estimate is solely based on course enrollment data for two semesters since the program started in fall 2018. Projections made was based on the macro and microeconomic environment surrounding the program.

The Certificate of Achievement – Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Visual Media Design prepares students in the world of entrepreneurship. The program equips students with the foundational tools necessary for every startup. The program helps develop students not only for for-profit but also for social enterprises that yield positive social impact. It also enriches student’s skillset for corporate intrapreneurship. 

Upon completion of this program, students will be able to: 

• Apply an entrepreneurial mindset that breeds creativity and innovation in the field of visual media design. 
• Use terms and concepts related to functional areas of entrepreneurship necessary for startups. 
• Analyze the marketing environment to identify entrepreneurial opportunities and areas for growth and development. 
• Develop an agile and lean business plan for startup project/enterprise that is ready for pitching. 
• Compare different entrepreneurship pathways in relation to a project or business idea.

The program starts with the introduction of basic entrepreneurial skills needed to develop an entrepreneurial mindset and help the student come up with an idea to bring to market. It also helps students decide what type of entrepreneurial venture they can pursue. The interdisciplinary nature of the curriculum leverages on other areas of excellence from VMD to complete the entrepreneurial tool kit required from idea to market. These foundational courses prepare students to acquire intrapreneurial skills that are highly sought by employers today. The newly created ENTR 101 Introduction to Entrepreneurship, DSGN 105, ENTR 102 Applied Design Thinking and MRKT 140 Introduction to Marketing provide the foundation needed by every startup across industries and field of discipline.  

Two VMD foundational courses, VMD 101 Design Fundamentals and VMD 105 Digital Skill for Visual Media are also required. This leaves students to choose six elective units from Visual Media Design offerings to complete the 21-unit certificate. For those who are pursuing other programs in Visual Media Design, the Certificate in Entrepreneurship can be stacked over the one they are currently taking.  

REQUIRED COURSES                                          Units   Semester

ENTR 101       

Introduction to Entrepreneurship                      3.00     Y1,Fall

DSGN 105       Design Thinking                           1.50     Y1, Spring

ENTR 102       Applied Design 

                        Thinking in Entrepreneurship     1.50     Y1,Spring

MRKT 140      Marketing Principles                     3.00     Y1, Fall

VMD 101        Design Fundamentals                  3.00     Y1, Fall           

VMD 105        Digital Skill for Visual Media         3.00     Y1, Fall

                                                                                                Total  15.00

Choose a minimum of 6 units from the following courses:

VMD 120 Graphic Design                                     3.00     Y1, Spring

VMD 140 Web Production I                                  3.00    Y1, Spring

VMD 150 Illustrator I                                             3.00    Y1, Spring

VMD 154 Photoshop I                                           3.00     Y1, Spring

VMD 192 Professional Practice                            3.00     Y1, Spring

 

Total    6.00

Certificate Total     21.00   

The Certificate of Achievement in Entrepreneurship is relatively new and is continuously evolving. This curriculum is designed to only provide the foundational knowledge for a startup and advises students to take further courses in finance, marketing, or general business to dive deeper to other functional areas of business.

There are 14 community colleges in the Bay Region issuing 52 awards on average annually (last 3 years) on TOP 0506.40 - Small Business and Entrepreneurship. There are three colleges in the Mid-Peninsula Sub-Region issuing 6 awards on average annually (last 3 years) on this TOP code. There are twelve 4-year universities or colleges offering undergraduate and/or graduate degrees in Entrepreneurship, or BS in Business with concentration in Entrepreneurship (Stanford, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, Dominican University, Menlo College, Saint Mary’s College, San Francisco State, San Jose State, Santa Clara University, Sonoma State, CSU East Bay, and the University of San Francisco).