

Students who graduate from a program with this recognition have an advantage because of the high demand for knowledge of the Toon Boom 2D software-with over 500 industry studios using the software to create games, TV shows, advertisements, and movies. Toon Boom sets the industry standard for animation and storyboarding software, and it’s used by students, artists, and studios in more than 100 countries. By the third year, we got approval for curriculum changes, and when we sent our student samples, they were incredibly impressed with the changes. “ At the end of the first two years, I worked with a representative from Toon Boom to review our student work and see what we were missing to receive accreditation. “We started incorporating Toon Boom more and more into our lesson plan-since it’s the industry standard, it seemed logical,” McCann said.

Assistant Professor and Section Lead for Animation, Melissa McCann helped the Entertainment Arts department and the College receive this recognition after three years of determination. The COE designation is a public recognition that certifies that a school’s animation program meets a high standard of depth, breadth, and quality. Toon Boom’s COE program encourages post-secondary institutions to offer a superior learning experience to students aspiring to have a career in animation or storyboarding through the exposure of Toon Boom’s software. CCS receives accreditation from Toon Boom’s Center of Excellence (COE) program, placing the College on the map as one of the first in the Midwest to do so.
