Rutgers finally caved and committed to creating a full film major after months of ignoring our need for actual career training. It should not have taken this much pressure to get the administration to do their jobs but we won. Stay sharp because we need to make sure they follow …
June 16, 2012
Final supporters
My name is Becky Fitzpatrick and I am an undergraduate student at Rutgers University, New Brunswick. When I graduate I want to make documentaries and promotional videos for non-profit organizations. Unfortunately there is no film major at Rutgers.
Here is what Rutgers has to offer film students:
Mason Gross offers a program for students that is neither a major nor a minor, but a certificate. The Rutgers Film Bureau has opportunities for more hands-on experience through their Film Certificate.
Mason Gross also offers a concentration in video for their Visual Arts major, but no specific major for Film.The School of Communication and Information offers a minor in Digital Communication, Information, and Media, but this is also not a film minor and offers no professional hands-on experience.
There are classes throughout other fields that offer film experience, such as the Documentary Expression class in American Studies or the Ethnographic Filmmaking class through Anthropology. But none of these classes or programs allows the students tomajorin filmmaking.
We are not getting enough of the hands-on experience that employers will need to see when we apply for jobs after graduation.
Some students have pursued individualized majors, even though many academic advisors warn against it. While these students were able to take film classes and gain experience, their diplomas read “Individualized Major”, not “Film”. Employers won’t see their film experience or understand the work they put in to make film their major, and there is a chance a potential employer will pass over their application to an application that clearly states film as a major.
There are many students who chose Rutgers for their financial aid package and outstanding reputation as a research university. But these students who want to pursue film are planning to transfer to a more expensive art school that actually offers a major in film. There are also students who chose not to come to Rutgers because they had no film major.
I have met with advisors to discuss making film my major. They told me to contact deans, who sent me back to the advisors. There seems to be no way to combine the multiple film classes Rutgers offers into one concrete major.
There are also a lot of seniors who would have majored in film had they been offered the chance or had known about the film classes.
A film major would offer knowledge in storytelling, cinematography, and directing, rather than news based film. The new classes that are being offered through the Film Certificate include classes like documentary film making, animation, digital storytelling, and directing.
If you think Rutgers should make film a major, pleasesign your name on this petition!! If you would personally major in film,leave a commentas to why you think film should be a major and explain your struggles in making it your major.
Updates
March 27, 2012
Rutgers continues to force us into these scattered certificates and minor programs that do not prepare us for a real career in film. I am sick of the administration treating our creative professional futures like an afterthought while they expect full tuition for a half-baked education.
March 27, 2012
The sheer momentum we have built makes it clear that the administration can no longer ignore our demands for a real film major. Rutgers is failing to provide the hands-on training we pay for and it is time for them to stop hiding behind these useless certificates.
Reached 100 supporters
March 27, 2012
6 Comments
PLEASE. I want to make movies but the current options are just boring theory classes. We need cameras and editing labs!
Need more hands on stuff. Tired of just writing papers about directors give us gear to go out and shoot.
Finally someone doing something about this. The film bureau is cool but its not the same as having a full major track.
My dream is to work in production and i feel like Rutgers is falling way behind other schools in the area. really hoping this goes somewhere.
Its wild that a school this big doesnt have a real film major. I ended up having to teach myself premiere pro because the classes here are all just reading about movies.
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Rutgers finally caved and committed to creating a full film major after months of ignoring our need for actual career training. It should not have taken this much pressure to get the administration to do their jobs but we won. Stay sharp because we need to make sure they follow …
June 16, 2012
Final supporters
My name is Becky Fitzpatrick and I am an undergraduate student at Rutgers University, New Brunswick. When I graduate I want to make documentaries and promotional videos for non-profit organizations. Unfortunately there is no film major at Rutgers.
Here is what Rutgers has to offer film students:
Mason Gross offers a program for students that is neither a major nor a minor, but a certificate. The Rutgers Film Bureau has opportunities for more hands-on experience through their Film Certificate.
Mason Gross also offers a concentration in video for their Visual Arts major, but no specific major for Film.The School of Communication and Information offers a minor in Digital Communication, Information, and Media, but this is also not a film minor and offers no professional hands-on experience.
There are classes throughout other fields that offer film experience, such as the Documentary Expression class in American Studies or the Ethnographic Filmmaking class through Anthropology. But none of these classes or programs allows the students tomajorin filmmaking.
We are not getting enough of the hands-on experience that employers will need to see when we apply for jobs after graduation.
Some students have pursued individualized majors, even though many academic advisors warn against it. While these students were able to take film classes and gain experience, their diplomas read “Individualized Major”, not “Film”. Employers won’t see their film experience or understand the work they put in to make film their major, and there is a chance a potential employer will pass over their application to an application that clearly states film as a major.
There are many students who chose Rutgers for their financial aid package and outstanding reputation as a research university. But these students who want to pursue film are planning to transfer to a more expensive art school that actually offers a major in film. There are also students who chose not to come to Rutgers because they had no film major.
I have met with advisors to discuss making film my major. They told me to contact deans, who sent me back to the advisors. There seems to be no way to combine the multiple film classes Rutgers offers into one concrete major.
There are also a lot of seniors who would have majored in film had they been offered the chance or had known about the film classes.
A film major would offer knowledge in storytelling, cinematography, and directing, rather than news based film. The new classes that are being offered through the Film Certificate include classes like documentary film making, animation, digital storytelling, and directing.
If you think Rutgers should make film a major, pleasesign your name on this petition!! If you would personally major in film,leave a commentas to why you think film should be a major and explain your struggles in making it your major.
Updates
March 27, 2012
Rutgers continues to force us into these scattered certificates and minor programs that do not prepare us for a real career in film. I am sick of the administration treating our creative professional futures like an afterthought while they expect full tuition for a half-baked education.
March 27, 2012
The sheer momentum we have built makes it clear that the administration can no longer ignore our demands for a real film major. Rutgers is failing to provide the hands-on training we pay for and it is time for them to stop hiding behind these useless certificates.
Reached 100 supporters
March 27, 2012
6 Comments
I think Rutgers is in dire need of a Film major. But if Rutgers were to incorporate Film as a major it would have to go beyond the classroom and have hands on teaching. It would be fun, challenging, and educational to film maybe 4 short films in one semester within groups.
PLEASE. I want to make movies but the current options are just boring theory classes. We need cameras and editing labs!
Need more hands on stuff. Tired of just writing papers about directors give us gear to go out and shoot.
Finally someone doing something about this. The film bureau is cool but its not the same as having a full major track.
My dream is to work in production and i feel like Rutgers is falling way behind other schools in the area. really hoping this goes somewhere.
Its wild that a school this big doesnt have a real film major. I ended up having to teach myself premiere pro because the classes here are all just reading about movies.
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I think Rutgers is in dire need of a Film major. But if Rutgers were to incorporate Film as a major it would have to go beyond the classroom and have hands on teaching. It would be fun, challenging, and educational to film maybe 4 short films in one semester within groups.