SMU remains ahead of the game – literally. Beginning July 7, 2003, SMU will launch The Guildhall, a certificate program designed to teach and train students to develop digital games. SMU, with The Linda and Mitch Hart Center, is defining what will become a program not typically found in a research-based university.
“It’s great for SMU to have a leadership role in the definition of this new discipline,” Peter Raad, the Linda Wiertheimer Hart director and former associate dean for the School of Engineering said. SMU began planning for The Guildhall in August 2002 and has since developed an entire program structure and curriculum from scratch. The Guildhall was created as the “response to the need of industry,” Raad said.
The Guildhall is an 18-month certificate program totaling 62 credit hours and as much as 2,000 contact hours. It is structured in six 12-week terms, with each term focusing on different aspects of game creation. Term topics vary from “The Business of Games” to “Cultural Aspects of Games.” The curriculum is set to such a high standard that The Guildhall recently received accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
Why have SMU and the eCenter invested in such a field? The figures speak for themselves. According to Raad, the $10.3 billion gaming industry grosses more than Hollywood and is growing at a steady pace. Currently 30,000 jobs are reserved specifically for designing games and boasts of an annual growth between 15-25 percent.
Students will learn not only from highly-skilled professors, but will receive hands-on guidance by top names of the industry. These include game industry luminaries such as Graeme Devine, John Romero and Paul Jaquays – among others. These industry leaders, who have not only helped design the curriculum, will also teach the skills necessary for success.
This program is “a mix of theory and practice” whose motto is “practice today, innovate tomorrow,” Raad said.
Courses will be offered at the SMU-in-Legacy campus and will occupy about 30,000 square feet. Student capacity is 100 and the total cost for the program is $37,000 and, according to The Guildhall Web site, includes a laptop computer configured specifically for digital game development that students keep after the fourth term.
