It’s hard to believe that a year ago I was in the initial stages of leading the development of the Digital Strategy and Communications Management Certificate for University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies. (That’s a mouthful.)
We’d just started, had a big picture outline of what the three courses would look like and were about to select the team that would bring the material to life and become the instructors.
Our deadline was tight and, while I didn’t say anything aloud, I had my doubts we’d be launching in January. After all academic institutions move slowly, right?
In this case I couldn’t have been more wrong. Cindy Bettcher, Ed Carson and Lee McTavish, the leaders at U of T SCS, were as committed as we were and open to suggestions and shaking things up. They pushed us and did whatever they could to ensure things stayed on track.
Fast forward to fall 2013 and we’re launching the third of our three courses, Advanced Practices in Digital Reputation Management. I have the pleasure and honour of teaching it and reuniting with some of the students who started with the program at the beginning of the year – the early adopters. Very exciting.
Perpetual beta
Our philosophy is that the ever-changing nature of our digital/social world means the Certificate will be in perpetual beta. We’ve already refined modules a number of times, including adapting our second course so it focuses on strategies for bringing social media to life across the enterprise. Our goal for the program is to keep the lectures, cases and discussions as current as possible.
We do this by staying on top of the trends, issues and changes and putting them in a marketing communications context. We also invite guest lecturers who are leaders in their field to share their expertise (three to four per course), host panels and are currently working on a series of industry partnerships. And we’re active on social channels. You can follow the discussion on Twitter #digitaledu.
For fall 2013, we’ve filled two sections of our Foundations Course and have a wait list. There are some places available for Social On the Inside – our second course.
It’s been great working with the instructors, Diane Begin, Marcus Daniels, Cyrus Mavalwala and Eden Spodek and I’m looking forward to the next term.
We’re also hosting a panel discussion called Social Media Goes to University at Social Media Week TO on September 25. So if you’re interested in hearing more about the Certificate and our approach to digital and social media education – and even if you’ve already enrolled – we hope to see you there.
Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s time to shop for school supplies…
