A few months back I was interviewed on the occupational activities of former LaGuardia Media Studies student and Cannes filmfest participant, Girard Tecson of Dayside Productions. The interview appeared in a new documentary on Girard’s unusual decision to make a career shift from independent Filmmaking to professional Wrestling. I wish him luck in his new endeavors. At 5’5″ and 150 lbs, I think he is gonna need it.
The 2013 LaGuardia Publishing Reception
Yesterday I was happy to be counted among the scholars from the LaGuardia Humanities Department that were celebrated for academic and creative accomplishments. The 2013 President’s Publishing Reception is an event that is held every year to acknowledge academic excellence. It was also the first time that the definition of scholarship was expanded to include some of the digital presentations and research in which I have been engaged. However while my presentations were recognized, many of my scholarly pursuits in the areas of application design and development were still looked at as supplemental work. As I stated in my recent article, it appears that there is still necessary work that must occur in order to change long held academic beliefs.
Behind the Seams at JITP – Changing Tenure Standards
A few weeks back I was interviewed on the process of publishing in the Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy (JITP) and what the future holds for digitally engaged faculty within the academy. The video above is an edited version of the conversation that I had with some of the editors at JITP on my experience in submitting a controversial article to them for publication.
I say controversial because over the past two years a large Continue reading “Behind the Seams at JITP – Changing Tenure Standards”
Changing tenure and promotion standards – JITP Online Journal
Finally, the article that I submitted on “Establishing a New Paradigm: The call to reform the tenure and promotion standards for digital media faculty” premiered today in the Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy. The focus of the article is to illustrate the challenges facing digital media faculty as they march towards tenure and promotion, and present a case for reform of the current system. The article was a deeply personal research project for me as it chronicled my journey through the tenure system at LaGuardia.
The introduction for the journal prominently featured a brief editorial review of my article that was rather positive. “Establishing a New Paradigm” was described as showing “how the tenure and promotion processes for most faculty working and publishing with digital technologies are ill-suited to recognize, reward, and nurture the intellectual and scholarly activities that such academics must undertake to stay abreast of rapid changes in their fields”. I was elated that the editors thought that I argued “forcefully that the academy must adapt its employment structures to more explicitly support and reward precisely the type of work that lies at the heart of the other three pieces in this issue”. I have to admit that those words brought a smile to my face.
A digital copy of just my article on tenure and promotion reform can be found here in pdf format.
The Periodic Program Review, or I’m down with PPR!
Every five to seven years academic degree programs in the CUNY system have to undergo a process called a Periodic Program Review (PPR). The PPR is an in depth look at the academic major under review from a programmatic, institutional, and industry wide perspective. The ultimate goal of the PPR is to begin an honest review of the program effectiveness which will then be used to help to guide the evolution of the major for the next five to seven years. Because I am the sole full time New Media faculty member, the research and drafting of the report for the LaGuardia New Media Technology program became Continue reading “The Periodic Program Review, or I’m down with PPR!”
Opening Sessions
I always love the start of a new semester! I spent the morning at LaGuardia’s Opening Session for faculty and staff. The meeting is held every year and provides faculty and staff with an opportunity to hear about some of the key initiatives currently underway at LaGuardia.
However, despite my start of the semester anxiety, my article on digital scholarship was accepted by a respected journal. I have updated my class syllabi and revised my course materials. My powerpoint lecture slides are prepared for for the coming semester. And for the first time in too many months I am starting off a new semester with a smile.
THIS IS SPARTAAAAAAAAAA!
Visual Effects Course Development
On April 3, the New York City Investment Fund invited a group of educators and business people from the visual effects industry to a conference on changes within the entertainment sector. Over the past year the LaGuardia Media and Technology programs have been participating in discussions with the New York City Investment Fund (NYCIF) to develop a Visual Effects program. NYCIF has been working with local visual effects firms to help them to meet the current demand for VFX artists in New York City. All of the firms have cited the shortage of skilled labor as a key restriction to growth and are interested in working with CUNY on developing training and internships opportunities for the next generation of NYC visual effects artists. It is my intention to research this opportunity to see if a viable VFX program at LaGuardia is possible. In order to make that determination there are key questions that will need to be answered concerning funding, software/hardware, the structure of the program or option, and how to either attract or develop faculty to teach such highly specialized classes. We will see how this all plays out. But just in case I have been getting reacquainted with After Effects.
The audio recording from the meeting can be found below in mp3 format.
LaGuardia Online/Hybrid Teaching Seminar
The above video is from a brief overview that I gave to some of my colleagues at LaGuardia Community College. I was asked to talk about some of the work that I am doing in converting my lectures from a traditional classroom environment to an Online/hybrid setting. This Online/hybrid seminar is a year long group discussion sponsored by LaGuardia’s Center for Teaching and Learning to assist faculty into making the transition to online instruction.
Presentation: Motivating Students to Succeed
LaGuardia’s Center for Teaching and Learning is currently sponsoring a New Faculty Colloquium. The New Faculty Colloquium is a year-long seminar designed to acclimate new faculty to the institution and to acquaint them with various pedagogical approaches to teaching. I was asked to present some of my recently published findings on motivating Black and Hispanic students to a new cohort of LaGuardia faculty. While the research for my presentation Continue reading “Presentation: Motivating Students to Succeed”
LaGuardia Event: Ryan Charles speaks
Over the past few months I have been working with Janice Karlen, a colleague of mine from the LaGuardia Business and Technology Department, to arrange for a guest speaker to come in and speak to our students. Janice thought it would be a great idea to collaborate on a joint event since there is a natural synergy between the Business and Technology and the New Media Technology students. As a result of Janice’s connections we were lucky enough to secure Ryan Charles, the Co-Founder of Consmr.com and former head of mobile strategy at Zagat. Ryan was Continue reading “LaGuardia Event: Ryan Charles speaks”