In spring 2013, Pratt Institute's Center for Continuing and Professional Studies (CCPS) will offer four new certificate programs that can lead to exciting new career paths in design entrepreneurship, fashion new media, perfumery, and urban green infrastructure. The four new programs are: Design Entrepreneurship, a program to be conducted in collaboration with the Pratt Design Incubator for Sustainable Innovation (Pratt Design Incubator), which is part of Pratt's Center for Sustainable Design Studies; Fashion New Media, a program to meet the needs of the fashion industry; Perfumery, a collaboration with France-based Cinquième Sens, to teach fragrance development or sales; and Urban Green Infrastructure: Green Systems Clean Water, an area in which Pratt has been in the forefront in New York.
The new certificate programs–which are designed for adults who are professional designers, fashion entrepreneurs, architects, landscape architects, green designers, and fragrance sales and marketing professionals–offer a range of foundation, core, and elective courses that lead to certification within one to three semesters. Pratt CCPS is based on the Institute's Manhattan campus at 144 West 14th Street.
“Pratt's new certificate programs are preparing workers for a new working world–one where you take the initiative to shape your own career path,” said Karen D'Angelo, director of marketing, Pratt CCPS. “Our students are working professionals who have a goal, budget, and deadline in mind for their road to success. These new programs will give them the skills that they need to succeed,” she added.
The Design Entrepreneurship program will prepare designers to establish their own businesses. The new certificate program will build business acumen and set the stage for developing a viable design-driven enterprise, whether in fashion, product, or design consulting. Sustainable best practices will be integrated to ensure that participants understand how to integrate the environmental and social impacts of their creative ventures into their economic success.
The program will be offered in collaboration with the Pratt Design Incubator, which has been turning creative professionals into successful entrepreneurs since 2002. Design Incubator Founder Debera Johnson will head the program and teach courses including “Design Your Life Like an Entrepreneur,” which will provide participants with the tools to identify specific qualities of entrepreneurship and the basics of contracts, proposals, and financial planning; and “RampUP!,” which is a program that takes existing start-ups through the process of turning a great idea into a successful business. There will also be “Start-up Intensives” for designers turned entrepreneurs in fashion design, product development, and shoe and jewelry design. All courses will bring in guest mentors from the Design Incubator to provide insight in marketing, strategic planning, and finance.
The Fashion New Media program will train designers, photographers, and social medial marketing professionals to produce photographs, websites, and graphics with the same industry standard tools the pros use. Drawing upon CCPS's rich offerings, this new certificate program will help students develop a polished portfolio and learn to utilize their production skills to enter the fashion industry. Participants will also learn to grow their network and express their unique voice as they design new media for the highly competitive world of fashion. Internship opportunities are available to exceptional students.
The Perfumery program, which is intended for perfumery marketing professionals, distributors, and fragrance enthusiasts will offer two career tracks: one in the technique and language of perfumery needed to create new scents, and the other in selling fragrances. Participants in the first track will learn the language of scent and the culture of fragrances and their raw materials, while those who choose the second track will learn marketing and sales techniques in fragrance development and gain a deeper understanding of the emotional dimension of selling fragrances. This new certificate program will be conducted in partnership with Cinquième Sens, a perfume school founded in Paris in 1976, whose team of experts will share its passion for creating and transmitting a true perfume culture.
More topical than ever since Hurricane Sandy, the Urban Green Infrastructure: Green Systems Clean Water program addresses such vital concerns as storm water management and rainwater runoff from the impermeable surfaces that constitute about 70 percent of New York City's acreage. The city is a leader in addressing national water quality standards, so the training offered through this program's two-track curriculum will put participants in the vanguard of successful green infrastructure practices.
For further information about the new certificate programs, click here. Specific admission requirements are listed in the CCPS Spring 2013 catalog, which may be picked up at Pratt Manhattan's CCPS office on the second floor of 144 West 14th Street, between Sixth and Seventh avenues or visited online at www.pratt.edu/prostudies. For further information and course advisement, contact Chris Ferrara, Customer Services Specialist, at 212-647-7199, cferrara@pratt.edu, or prostudy@pratt.edu.
Registration is open through April 15, 2013. Classes begin January 14, and Pratt alumni receive 10% discount off tuition.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Kaitlyn Kurowsky at 718-687-5669 or kkurowsky@pratt.edu
Mara McGinnis at 718.636.3471 or mmcginni@pratt.edu