Grants start SSU art, digital media business program

[caption id="attachment_86019" align="alignnone" width="500"] Sonoma State University School of Business and Economics Dean Bill Silver, second from left, with four Small Business and Entrepreneurship students Casey Sullivan, left, Nicole Griffith, Kyle Mossman and Maurice Mickel who won first place in the "Show Me the Money" competition for their VinData service for smaller wineries.[/caption]

ROHNERT PARK -- The Green Music Center board of advisers and University Affairs Committee has awarded $15,000 to establish a Sonoma State University certificate program in Creative Arts and Digital Media Business studies.

[caption id="attachment_85997" align="alignleft" width="272"] Armand Gilinsky, PhD[/caption]

The award to Business Professor Armand Gilinsky, PhD, is part of an ongoing academic integration grant program designed to encourage and showcase academic integration and creative use of the Green Music Center.

This program was approved in December 2012 and the first applications were reviewed in spring 2013. The center's board provided $100,000 for grants during the first year. 

Building on the success of year one, the GMC University Affairs Committee decided to extend the program and fund it for a second year with grants for 2013--2014 totaling $97,450.

"Developing the ability to think outside the box is critical," said Marne Olson, vice chairman of the center's board. "These projects encourage both students and faculty to look for novel and creative ways to integrate the arts with other disciplines within the university."

Dr. Gilinsky reserved a portion of this grant as prizes for student teams in his Small Business and Entrepreneurship class (BUS 451) who won this year’s "Show Me The Money" competition held Dec. 9.

He created this competition in fall 2013 as a unique final exam and as a pilot for the cross-disciplinary collaboration his new certificate program would foster.

"Show Me The Money" involves 10 student-faculty teams from outside the business department that vie for honors through the creation of innovative entrepreneurial business plans.

According to Dr. Gilinsky, having non-business students learn from other students is valuable.

"College is the time to do something really cool and not to be afraid to fail," he said. "This competition fosters creativity on the management side and management expertise on the creative side. Ultimately, I hope this competition will attract support for creative and performing arts management programs."

First place and a $2,500 prize went to Nicole Griffith, Kyle Mossman, Casey Sullivan and Maurice Mickel for their project, VinData, a service for small wineries for customer tracking and technical support.

Second place honors and $1,500 were awarded to James Waggoner, Alan Chao and Mike Koricki for CyclingRoutes.com, an app that would help road cyclists plan their rides.

Third place, with a $1,000 prize, went to Romy Bonifacio, Tina Harris, David Castino and Erin Nelson for their plan to create a solar panel--cleaning company called Solar Sweepers.

The faculty adviser for the winning team was Al Kooshesh of the Computer Science Department. Other advisers included Emily Acosta Lewis of the Communications Department, Patrick Bailey of the Environmental Studies and Planning Department, Paul Draper of the Theatre Arts Department and Lynne Morrow of the Music Department.

The music center academic integration grants also funded the Dec. 6 performance of the Soundscape Project, a cross-disciplinary dance showcase featuring the sounds of the Sonoma State University Preserves, recorded by world-renowned bio-acoustician Bernie Krause.

On Nov. 11, the GMC University Affairs Committee announced that the following proposals and SSU academic departments would receive funding for 2013--2014:Department of Chemistry, $10,000, for two unique lecture events at the center designed to expose the SSU community to chemistry.Writing Center, Associated Students Productions, $5,000, to expand a campus-wide common reading program for first time freshmen, and to invite the public to the center for a master class or workshop.Arts and Humanities Department, Modern Languages and Literature, $10,000, to use the center for weekly lectures in connection with a new course to be offered at Schroeder Hall, and to use Weill Hall, its lobby and lawn for an end-of-semester symposium.Arts and Humanities Department, Performance Art and Social Justice, $7,000, to bring cutting-edge performance arts to the center, integrated with the Latinos and Social Justice course (CALS 160AB).Theater Arts and Dance Department, SSU Preserves, $10,000, for SSU Works, a marketing and communications initiative to increase public awareness of sustainability issues through research, classroom and extracurricular projects and cross-disciplinary arts and humanities experiences.Physics, Engineering and Computer Sciences departments, $13,000, to use the center as laboratory space to facilitate the integration of physics, engineering and computer-science subjects to increase student retention and exposure. Music, audio and acoustic principles will be used to instruct using hands-on experience promoting active learning.Physics and Astronomy Department, $18,450, for the purchase of precision measurement equipment and monitoring of the center’s concert hall and classroom acoustics by the Physics of Music class.Music Department, $14,000, to complete the upgrade of the Walford Recording Studio with Red Net capability to fully integrate the center's concert spaces, Weill and Schroeder Halls, with the Walford Recording Studio in Ives Hall 32.Theater Arts and Dance Department, $10,000, for an outreach proposal with the Oakland School for the Arts (K--12) magnet school and SSU’s Theater Arts and Dance Department to increase the recruitment of a diverse group of students.

Show Comment