Certifications & Authorizations

General Access Equipment

The media centers provide the School of the Art Institute of Chicago community with audiovisual equipment and services to accommodate documentation, creation, instructional, and exhibition needs. Each Media Center location offers a pool of basic resources that are available to students faculty and staff that do not require any training.

Certification Workshops

The Media Center offers online training materials and instructional guides for patrons to learn more about advanced equipment & resources available for checkout.

Some Media Center equipment and resources require certification, which can be accessed on Canvas. To gain access to certified equipment, review the training materials and instructional guides before completing and passing the related quiz. Once certified, a patron’s access to the equipment does not expire as long as they are a student, faculty or staff at SAIC. Explore the Media Center’s Canvas page to access all of the training materials and quizzes.

Certification Equipment

  • DSLR Video and Still Photography (Canon 5D Mark III & Sony A7S ii)
  • Advanced Video Camera (Sony PXW-Z100 4K Camcorder)
  • BlackMagic Ursa Mini 4.6K & Cinema Lenses
  • Strobe Lighting (Profoto Light kit & Pocket Wizards)
  • Stabilizers (Gimbal, Rhino Slider & Shoulder Rig/Mount)
  • Documentation Space (280 Building room 110)

Non-Certification Equipment training materials and guides also available for:

  • Advanced Lenses
  • Microphones
  • Sound Recorders
  • Lighting

Contact mcexperts@saic.edu for more information about certifications.

Have questions or need further guidance? Sign up for an online, one-on-one tutorial here: ACUITY (link coming soon)

Departmental Authorizations

The Media Center works with many departments to provide access to resources specific to that area of study. Usage of this equipment is limited to students currently enrolled in courses within that specific area of study. As soon as a student completes the course, their access to departmental resources will end.

What you need to know:

  • All standard Media Center circulation limits still apply to departmental resources
  • Patrons must be currently enrolled in a qualifying departmental class (FVNMA or PHOTO for example) to gain access to departmental resources
  • Patrons must be authorized by their instructor (or TA) in class.  Instructor will be expected to submit authorization rosters to the Media Center following the authorization of students.
  • Authorizations may take up to 24 hours to be entered into the system after the list has been submitted by the instructor
  • Authorizations to departmental resources will be valid for one semester, unless special access is granted by the department chair.
  • Access for Graduate students is valid for length of time enrolled in that specific program.