On behalf of the Digital Media Production faculty and myself, we hope this message finds you well. Our department and professors have received a number of emails from students concerned about how to move forward, given that so many of their classes are online, while a few production courses remain, in part, on site.
First thing to bear in mind is our industry is changing. Radio, Television, and Film are still being produced and/or broadcast, but with the challenges of the pandemic, the landscape of media production careers have shifted. We are keeping a close eye on industry standards and expectations, and moving our curriculum in line with those standards and expectations.
For the fall 2020, production classes will have minimal contact hours. For face-to-face meetings with the students, we’re cutting the class in half (for Audio, TV Studio, Field, and Seminar, 8 students meeting at a time; Digital Storytelling no more than 12), minimizing the number of assignments, keeping the groups small, conducting outdoor lessons for camera operations, and doing as much remote training on post software as possible. It’s probable that on-site class meetings will not exceed a total of 8 per student for this semester for most production classes.
Given the technology-rich nature of this degree program, a chief concern is your access to the equipment. We are instituting new safety and sanitation guidelines for equipment sign in/sign out and storage, as well as a digital reservation system for equipment sign in/sign out. These details will be shared with all students in our majors in the weeks to come. We are following CDC, Media industry, NYS, and national college guidelines from UFVA.
If you are not comfortable returning in the fall for the production class, then please don’t. No student should ever feel at risk coming to campus. But bear in mind we might be in the same position in the spring 2021. We have been responding to a national pandemic, and keeping an eye on the rest of the country’s response to the pandemic. The CDC and the governor’s office has warned of a ‘second wave’ coming to New York this fall and winter, meaning that we’re bracing ourselves to be in a similar position this spring (online classes with minimal onsite production classes).
One possibility we’re looking at is production classes in summer 2021, so worst case scenario we hope to offer Seminar in Digital Filmmaking, Field Production, and TV Studio Production as limited summer classes in 2021 to help students finish up. This will grant students graduating in August access to the May commencement ceremonies, and get their degree shortly after the May commencement. For example, if you skip Field production this semester, and then take it in the spring, there’s a possibility you can take Seminar during the summer and finish by the end of June/early July. This is not guaranteed, and whether these classes run depend upon enrollment.
Safety is the goal for everyone. We want to continue on a productive track that brings you toward your goal of creating quality content, receive industry training, and graduate in a timely manner.
Thank you for your patience while we work through our plans addressing student concerns during this horrible pandemic. I hope understanding some of these variables help with your decision moving forward.
If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to follow up.
Warm regards,
Gregg Bray, PhD
Interim Chair, Department of Digital Media and Journalism.