The mission of the Technology, Arts and Media Certificate program is to provide students with the insights and abilities required to become leaders in a society shaped by the convergence of information technologies, the media and the arts. The certificate program will prepare students from all sectors of the CU-Boulder campus to succeed in the information age; it also will stimulate multidisciplinary collaboration within the entire campus community. While the certificate purposes primarily to teach its students how to learn in and adapt to a rapidly-changing world, it also will help prepare students for careers in numerous industries, such as media, publishing, entertainment, multimedia design, electronic commerce, and advertising. The goals of the certificate program are:

• To create opportunities for the university to explore and make optimal use of the relatively recent convergence of information technology, media and the arts.
  
  
• To generate in its students a passion for creativity, discovery and innovation by encouraging them to explore fields traditionally viewed as foreign to their own.
  
  
• To foster in its students the acquisition and application of critical-thinking abilities about information technologies, media and the arts.
  
  
• To provide students with the practical skills they will need to be leaders in the digital age.
  
  
• To cultivate self-aware citizens who will ensure that the development and application of technology in arts and media is responsive to human needs and values.

     The Technology, Arts and Media Certificate program is an initiative of the Alliance for Technology, Learning and Society (ATLAS). ATLAS is a prime example of CU's Total Learning Environment initiative, which seeks to:

• Support innovations in learning and creative scholarship
  
  
• Be more responsive to students and other constituents
  
  
• Use technology to improve learning, teaching, and research
  
  
• Enhance the university's infrastructure

     ATLAS is a campus-wide initiative aimed at developing and sustaining excellence in the integration and understanding of information and communication technology in teaching, curriculum, research and outreach. Its principal aspects include:

• Innovative uses of technology in education and assessment of their effectiveness
  
  
• New curriculum and research that combines technology, arts and media
  
  
• Research that assesses the societal impacts of technology
  
  
• Outreach to the K-12 system regarding the uses of technology in delivery and content of instruction
  
  
• Provision of an excellent technological infrastructure for all students and faculty