Diploma in Jewellery Art and Design

at Vancouver Community College - Downtown Campus Canada

This program provides students with a solid foundation in business management and prepares them for employment in Canada. Students will learn the knowledge, skills, and acquire experience necessary to manage the human, physical, and financial resources and complex strategic and practical management issues that are present in today’s business environment.

Learn professional techniques for artisanal bread and fine pastry production from Canada’s top bakers in a fully equipped industrial kitchen.

What you will learn

• Health, sanitation, and safety
• Use of bakery equipment including scales, mixers, proofers, and ovens
• Knife skills
• Theoretical baking principles and processes
• Ingredients and methodology
• Biscuits and muffins
• Pie dough and straight dough
• Aeration and emulsification
• Cookies, pies, tarts
• Croissant, Danish, and puff dough lamination
• Cakes, cookies, sponges
• Buttercreams, glazes, ganaches
• Dessert plating and presentation
• Composition, use of colours and textures
• Pastries, slices, and squares
• Quickbreads and loaf cakes
• Deep-fat frying
• Yeast doughnuts, cake doughnuts, French crullers
• Fermentation, leavening, gluten development
• Wild yeast, sourdough starters, biga, poolish
• Hearth baking
• Grains and flours
• Shaping and molding
• Mixing and portioning
• Gluten-free baking and ingredients
• Meat and vegetable pies
• Sausage rolls, Cornish pasties, calzones
• Asian buns and tarts
• Pita breads and flatbreads
• Sandwiches
• Consistency and accuracy
• Environmental conditions
• Daily production planning
• Standard math functions
• Retail bakeshop management
• Professional etiquette and personal hygiene
• Troubleshooting and problem solving
• Ingredient and equipment suppliers
• Merchandising, inventory, and cost control
• Waste management
• Catering
• Effective communication

What to expect

• Eleven months of full-time study over four terms:    
  • Introduction to Baking
  • Applied Baking
  • Artisan Baking
  • Capstone
• Classes Monday to Friday 7 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. (subject to change)
• Purchase of textbooks and baking tools (available at the VCC Bookstore)
• Purchase of closed-top, non-slip footwear
• A fully operational kitchen and bakeshop environment
• Direct instruction
• Interactive instruction
• Demonstrations
• Problem-solving
• Cooperative learning
• Active participation
• Self-directed learning
• Three weeks of industry work experience
• Capstone project
• Opportunity to take exams for ITA Level 1 certification

The Culinary Arts Diploma is designed to prepare international students for employment as line cooks of third cooks in hotel kitchens, restaurants, catering companies, airport flight kitchens, trains, cruise ships, camps, and institutional kitchens.

What you will learn

• Upon successful completion of this program, students will be able to:
  • Apply cookery skills and theoretical knowledge to the preparation, presentation and service of a range of dishes and beverages for a commercial hospitality environment.
  • Evaluate product for consistency and accuracy in yield, flavour, texture and overall appearance according to product specifications and standards.
  • Plan, design and write menus for a culinary establishment that reflects nutritional and specific dietary needs.
  • Adhere to industry health, safety and employment standards in preparation, handling and storage of food and equipment.
  • Adapt the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for success and sustainable professional practice in the culinary arts.
  • Reflect on performance and practice to identify and develop advanced professional skills needed to further advance in the culinary industry.

What to expect

• The Culinary Arts Diploma focuses on practical skill development and is delivered primarily in VCC kitchens and food service outlets. Students spend a minimum of one month in each of the teaching kitchens and service outlets where instructional activities include demonstration, hands-on practice, and group discussion. Culinary theory is taught in a classroom setting and uses a combination of lecture, class discussion, and independent study to promote the development of professional practice in the food industry.
• A major emphasis of the diploma program is active student participation. Students are encouraged to become self-directed and responsible for their own learning and to come to class well prepared for active participation in classroom and kitchen activities.

Start your career as a professional dancer by learning a full repertoire including ballet, modern, jazz, and flamenco in addition to arts entrepreneurship and administration.

What you will learn

• Professional, entry-level dance technique in ballet, modern, jazz, and flamenco
• Artistic dance movement language and repertoire
• Elite-level rehearsal skills and performance readiness
• Coordination and skeletal alignment
• Anatomical efficiency and movement quality
• Physical virtuosity, balance, and control
• Classical line
• Pointe work (women)
• Muscular and cardiovascular strength
• Spinal articulation
• Coordination and isolations
• Pas de deux and ensemble work
• Floor work and jump sequences
• Time-keeping and rhythmical sense
• Theatricality and musicality
• Structured and contact improvisation
• Use of props, set pieces, voice, and text
• Western European, African, Latin American, and Indian rhythm traditions
• Anatomy, injury prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation
• Emotional health and self-awareness
• Nutrition and body conditioning
• Thematic exploration
• Journaling and composition
• Information literacy and research skills
• Critical thinking and creative input
• Peer evaluation
• Dance industry knowledge
• Mentorship and professional dance goal-setting
• Arts administration and entrepreneurship
• Ballet and modern dance teaching
• History of twentieth century Western visual and performing arts

What to expect

• Studio classes
• Lectures and presentations
• Group work
• Performances
• Guest choreographers
• Arts management sessions
• Performance technology workshops
• Instructional media
• Skills demonstrations
• Practical and theoretical assignments
• Written examinations

Learn advanced design tools, theory, and processes used in graphic design for print and web while working directly with public clients in a mentored studio setting.

What you will learn

• Traditional design principles and processes
• Adobe Creative Cloud software, including Photoshop and Illustrator
• Colour theory and typographic principles
• Branding and visual identity design
• Packaging design
• Editorial design and print layout principles
• Web and UI/UX design
• Web development (HTML/CSS)
• Content management systems (CMS)
• Digital photography
• Writing, editing, and proofreading
• Client relationships and expectations
• Business and marketing principles

What to expect

• Mac-based computer labs with the latest software
• Access to drawing tablets, iPads, digital cameras, scanners, and colour printers
• Creative group exercises and discussions
• Field trips and guest lectures
• Critiques and discussions to develop an eye for design
• Enthusiastic and experienced faculty members
• 120-hour practicum with an industry partner
• Experience working on real client projects in our design studio, Studio Nuvo

Learn top strategies and processes for planning, executing, and monitoring projects in a Canadian business environment. Understand the difference between Agile and Waterfall project management, and know how to plan to get a PMI® Project Management Professional (PMP)®, Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)®, and other project management designations.

What you will learn
Upon successful completion of the program, graduates will be able to:

• Apply strategies and processes in initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing projects.
• Manage risks to reduce project uncertainties.
• Demonstrate project management skills to optimize project outcomes.
• Adapt project management approaches to meet the specific needs of organizations.
• Apply strategies for managing stakeholders’ needs and expectations throughout the project lifecycle.
• Construct comprehensive project plans that address the goals and objectives of organizations.
• Apply critical thinking and problem-solving techniques to make sound business management decisions and recommendations.
• Implement effective communication plans to ensure project success.
• Utilize change management strategies to support project implementation.
•  Demonstrate ethical and professional behaviours as a project team member.
• Communicate and contribute as a project team member to the overall success of projects.
• Apply reflective practices to identify professional development opportunities and enhance lifelong learning.

Students who graduate from the program will be able to: 

• Design, implement, maintain, and monitor a networked virtual environment using Windows and Linux operating systems
• Implement IT system security 
• Operate and maintain IT system performance and security
• Identify vulnerabilities of a computer network infrastructure
• Investigate cyber events and digital evidence and engage in computer forensic investigation
• Collect and evaluate cybersecurity information for operations planning
• Conduct tests and perform security and quality controls
• Assess physical and technical security risks/threats to data, software and hardware
• Develop policies, procedures and back up plans to minimize the effects of security breaches

Advance your Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) and Building Information Modelling (BIM) skills for work in engineering firms, architecture firms, development companies, government, or private industry.

What you will learn
To obtain the CAD and BIM Technician diploma, students must complete Terms 2 and 3 (8 months) of a drafting specialty other than their original certificate. For program information, see:

• Architectural Technician Certificate
• Civil/Structural Technician Certificate
• Mechanical Engineering
• Steel Detailing Technician Certificate

CAD and BIM Technician diploma students also learn:

• Advanced methods in technical drafting software: AutoCAD, Autodesk Revit Structure, Autodesk Civil 3D, Autodesk Navisworks, and Tekla Structures
• Integrated Design Process (IDP)
• Waste reduction and efficiency
• Design team workflow and operations
• Design team collaboration and communication
• Integration of CAD models
• Communication and collaboration
• Personal reflection and critical thinking
• Portfolio development

Get full theoretical knowledge and practical training in hair design including cutting, colouring, styling, and overall salon management while serving real clients at VCC's state-of-the-art salon and spa.

What you will learn
Graduates of this program will be able to:

• Perform all duties of a hairstylist in accordance with industry health and safety standards related to hygiene, sanitation and disinfection practices.
• Use and maintain tools and equipment according to industry standards.
• Demonstrate professional behavior and communication skills with clients and co-workers.
• Identify the structure and functions of the skin and the hair and recognize possible disease and disorders
• Perform shampooing, conditioning and scalp massaging services using the correct manipulations and professional haircare products.
• Demonstrate elevated and non-elevated haircuts using a variety of tools and techniques.
• Perform wet and dry hair styling using a variety of styling techniques, products and tools.
• Apply the fundamentals of preparing and applying professional colour and lightening products using specific applications and techniques.
• Demonstrate permanent wave procedures using a variety of tools and techniques.
• Describe the types and purposes of hair extensions, wigs and hairpieces.
• Apply fundamental business management knowledge and skills needed to operate a hair salon.

What to expect

• The Hairstylist Certificate program is designed to meet the training needs of the Industry and the required training objectives established by the Industry Training Authority (ITA). The Hairstylist program provides a wide range of student learning opportunities in the classroom, salon and workplace settings. Students will gain hands-on practical experience working with clients in the VCC Salon and Spa. Industry work experience provides students with additional opportunities to apply their knowledge and technical skills in a workplace setting. Classroom instruction is designed for students to develop theoretical knowledge and practical skills which will be applied for success in the VCC Salon and Spa.
• Active student learning and participation is emphasized throughout the program to promote the development of knowledge, technical skills and professional behaviour required for success in the industry. Lectures, demonstrations, group work, peer assessment, reflective journaling, and project based learning strategies are used throughout the program to promote student leaning.

The Accounting Diploma provides students with a solid foundation in business management in the first year of the program and an opportunity for more advanced, specialized study of accounting in the second year.