Summer residency number three

During their summer residency, the third cohort of MATC students immersed themselves in video creation, multimedia storytelling, and design. While learning the fundamentals of Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Premier and video and lighting hardware was an important part of the summer residency, students found just as much value in strengthening relationships with MATC faculty and fellow students.  Each day the students have lunch with MATC faculty and a review of one of the Year II courses.

One student said, “It’s great to get face time with the cohort, professors, and staff. I also feel more connected to the school after spending time on the physical campus.” Another said, “enhancement of the student community was key” to the weeklong session.

The summer residency features two hours of hands-on JOMC 717: Information Visualization instruction each day followed by an hour of lab time, which provides students with one-on-one help tailored to their level of design and software experience. Because the data handled, manipulated and interpreted in JOMC 717 can be very robust, Excel training and assistance is available. In the afternoon, students break into small groups for the video workshop. During the week students can make individual advising appointments with the MATC academic director to discuss the final project as well as the JOMC career services manager to discuss professional advancement.

The summer residency culminates on Friday, with a group critique of the work each student has produced over the course of the week. Each student presents his or her information graphic and explains the type, color, layout and data interpretation decisions that lead to the final design. The whole cohort takes part in a critique of the graphic, and this sets up the dynamic for the rest of the semester because these critiques are a regular part of the online class. Friday features a screening of the videos students created over the course of the week, as well.

The summer residency is packed with information, skill-building work, and relationship-enhancing experiences. Check out photos on the new MATC Facebook page at http://facebook.com/unc_matc.