On behalf of the Digital Media Production faculty and myself, I wanted to express my congratulations to all our students for your work this semester. I won’t mince words: this was a challenge for our students, our faculty and our staff. There were invisible challenges as well—many of our students had to take on extra caregiving responsibilities, or work responsibilities, or faced terrible pandemic-related impacts. Yet, you faced this challenging semester with determination and spirit and were able to find a path through it. For those students who have struggled, please do reach out to your professor. We are here to help you in this journey, and we want to make sure you know what options are available.
I can tell you firsthand that I experienced students who were ready and eager to learn, to do well in their coursework, and who are ready to meet the challenges of an evolving industry.
I do want to take a moment to acknowledge some students are considering a semester off or are weighing options for next semester. When making these decisions, please consult your advisor and your professors. We are here to help you make the best of this circumstance, but we all need to make sure we have open channels of communication. If you have not yet spoken to your advisor about next semester, please do so. We’re here to listen to your concerns and help you plan for the best possible future.
As I mentioned in my August letter, 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 has shifted. We are keeping a close eye on industry standards and expectations and moving our curriculum in line with those standards and expectations.
This fall, production classes met with minimal contact hours, and met at 50% capacity per session. We were able to sign in and sign out gear safely and in keeping with CDC guidelines, along with academic and industry expectations during this time. We are following CDC, Media industry, NYS, and national college guidelines from such organization as UFVA and BEA.
Pedagogically we have made decisions to help students navigate majors in our program. For example, production majors could co-register for certain classes in the sequence in the fall 2021, or to take some classes out of sequence so they will not fall behind. The faculty have had robust conversations about what changes needed to be implemented to ensure the rigor of the classes and majors would not be impacted.
If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to follow up.
All this said, I feel we have a great deal to be proud of. If you are struggling or uncertain reach out to your professors and advisor. We are here for you, and are eager for you to succeed.
I am also here if you have any concerns. I will be periodically checking my email over break. brayg@newpaltz.edu
Wishing you all a very Happy Holiday Season and a Bright New Year.
Warm regards,
Gregg Bray, PhD
Interim Chair, Department of Digital Media and Journalism
SUNY New Paltz DMJ students worked the Woodstock Film Festival