2008 Woodie Awards
SectionsMedia students: Production classes not available
Ashley Bath
Issue date: 11/27/07 Section: News
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Graduation dates may be in jeopardy for some media production majors as registration for certain required production classes prove to be near impossible.
The problem lies in the fact that the fundamental courses for media production majors are not offering enough seats for students who really need to take the classes. These classes include: MED 365 - Media Design and Production, MED 383 - Television Production and MED 465 - Principles of Cinematography and Editing.
Allison Brown, a sophomore media production major, said she has been trying to get into MED 365 since her freshman year and is just now getting a spot. She said she understands the wait for this course since it is necessary course for many media majors, however, it offers multiple sections.
What Brown doesn't understand is why there is only one section offered for each of the other media production classes. MED 383 and MED 465 offer one section and MED 383's section only allows 11 seats.
According to Brown, both sections were closed at the end of the first day of class registration. After e-mailing a media professor to get on a waiting list for MED 383, she later received a mass e-mail stating no more sections would be opened due to the department's per-course budget limits.
In some media production majors' cases, they do not ever get into the needed classes and are advised to take alternative classes that replace the classes that are unavailable. That is not an option Brown wants to pursue.
Brown said in an e-mail of complaint: "At this rate, I will be lucky if I manage to take MED 383 next year so that I can graduate in four years, and I'll leave Missouri State with a media productions degree, having only ever taken two production classes."
Brown's fellow classmates in MED 454 - Media Analysis and Criticism - have discussed in class the situation and even considered writing a letter of protest to the department head.
In response to such criticism, Karen Buzzard, head of the Media, Journalism and Film Department, explained the department's reasoning for the course section assignments.
The problem lies in the fact that the fundamental courses for media production majors are not offering enough seats for students who really need to take the classes. These classes include: MED 365 - Media Design and Production, MED 383 - Television Production and MED 465 - Principles of Cinematography and Editing.
Allison Brown, a sophomore media production major, said she has been trying to get into MED 365 since her freshman year and is just now getting a spot. She said she understands the wait for this course since it is necessary course for many media majors, however, it offers multiple sections.
What Brown doesn't understand is why there is only one section offered for each of the other media production classes. MED 383 and MED 465 offer one section and MED 383's section only allows 11 seats.
According to Brown, both sections were closed at the end of the first day of class registration. After e-mailing a media professor to get on a waiting list for MED 383, she later received a mass e-mail stating no more sections would be opened due to the department's per-course budget limits.
In some media production majors' cases, they do not ever get into the needed classes and are advised to take alternative classes that replace the classes that are unavailable. That is not an option Brown wants to pursue.
Brown said in an e-mail of complaint: "At this rate, I will be lucky if I manage to take MED 383 next year so that I can graduate in four years, and I'll leave Missouri State with a media productions degree, having only ever taken two production classes."
Brown's fellow classmates in MED 454 - Media Analysis and Criticism - have discussed in class the situation and even considered writing a letter of protest to the department head.
In response to such criticism, Karen Buzzard, head of the Media, Journalism and Film Department, explained the department's reasoning for the course section assignments.
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