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Junior students in the film department of the College of Visual and Performing Arts wrote a letter to the faculty in September to voice their concerns and frustrations with the program.

The letter had 10 demands, which included 24-hour swipe access to Shaffer Art Building, consistent meetings within the film department and a curriculum that makes the classroom more interactive for students.  

The 18 juniors in the film program who signed the letter had previously communicated through group chats and talked in classes, but the meeting they arranged in Shaffer Art Building in late September was their first opportunity to speak freely and realize their concerns were shared. They took this opportunity to draft the letter — which voiced their concerns and frustrations with the program — and sent it to the VPA film faculty and staff. 

Many juniors in the program said that COVID-19 has significantly impacted their education in a negative way, making the program feel different to the one they entered as freshmen.  

Britt Hollaway, a junior in the film department and one of the students who signed the letter, said she felt the film program’s education quality is declining compared to how she remembers it before the pandemic.

“The organization has kind of started to fall apart a little bit,” Hollaway said. “I don’t think it solely has to do with the professors. I think it is more of a higher up issue and they might not have the power to influence.”

Many of the students’ concerns relate to a lack of funding and resources for the program. Bryan Crowe Jr., a junior film student, said these disparities are most visible when compared to other media programs around the country. 

Crowe also said that the difference can be seen on campus between VPA film and the television, radio and film program in the Newhouse School of Public Communications. 

Voicing Our Frustrations With VPA Film by The Daily Orange on Scribd

Although the programs may be similar, because they are in two different schools, they receive different amounts of funding. For example, in 2020, Newhouse received a $75 million donation — the largest gift in university history — and VPA received a $15 million donation.

Alexis Brown, another student studying film, has a roommate in Newhouse’s television, radio and film department and therefore often compares the two programs and the resources each has access to.

“The Newhouse cage has shiny new equipment compared to the VPA cage,” Brown said.

In addition to the lack of resources, students felt that the VPA film program lacked collaboration among students and was not developing them as complete film students. One shortcoming that students felt the program has is a lack of critiques on their work. 

“We stopped doing post-year critiques,” Hollaway said. “So, at the end of the semester we would all get together in the auditorium and the faculty would give us a critique. Because of COVID, I understand there were some constraints. But I feel like there could have been alternatives so we could get the feedback that we need.”

Another area many students wanted to improve was finding a balance between film theory and production and collaboration. Ania Johnston said that more classes that make a clear distinction between film theory and film production, as well as more editing classes, could improve the curriculum. Students want a physical space where they can interact and learn from each other, she said. 

“The Shaffer Art Building is not a space for creativity to flourish,” Johnston said. “We don’t have an area where students can come together in between classes.”

Film is a very collaborative discipline, Brown said, and completing the program online was difficult for many students. Now that students are back to in-person classes, collaboration should be encouraged, Brown said.  

“We want to have more of a collaborative space, and I know COVID (played) a big role, and we didn’t really get to form a community within film,” Brown said. “In class it’s mostly the teacher talking at us, and we wanted more of a collaborative space to work on projects together.”

On Oct. 1, faculty invited the students who signed the letter to meet with them and discuss their demands. Many students said that faculty were receptive to the letter and eager to make changes. 

“We went through all of our points and they addressed each,” Brown said. “Faculty are very much on our side and have the same frustrations and have had them for a couple of years. It’s more of the school who isn’t listening to us.” 

Ralph Lorenz, the senior associate dean in VPA and the interim chair for the department of transmedia, said in an email statement that he takes students’ concerns seriously and is working with them to address the issues raised in their letter. 

Lorenz did not directly respond to questions about any of the issues students raised.  

This is not the first time VPA film students have shared their concerns about the program with faculty. In 2016, seniors and juniors at the time wanted a more collaborative option for their senior project. They drafted a letter which they sent to faculty, and almost every senior and a handful of juniors signed it.

“I’m hopeful for changes, but we know this has happened before where other classes aired their grievances and things were said like we’ll change. And nothing has come of it,” Crowe said. “This time we’re hoping to keep up the pressure and the momentum to see if some things can get changed.”

Published on October 26, 2021 at 12:42 am

Contact Shantel: sguzma01@syr.edu | @shantelguzman2