If someone had told me that the University’s purpose was not to teach me skills which would help me get a job, but – as the dean of the School of Communications put it – to “develop for yourself the richest possible life …” (whatever that means), I would have considered receiving my degree somewhere else.
I am a motion pictures/art student graduating this semester. I’m mostly interested in film editing and illustration. While studying here I found the motion picture production program and the illustration/graphic design program somewhat lacking. For example, in graphic design, there are no courses on typography, an extremely important facet of design. In editing, only two computers are available to our whole class and the graduate class. The fact that only two computers are available to us came as quite a shock, since, according to the school website, it has four editing computers. I’m not the only one with complaints about the program. In fact, I first heard of these problems when students and even some faculty complained about them in class.
Because of these problems, I decided to write a letter to UM administrators. Close to a month passed by without me receiving a response. The only response I received was from the dean of the School of Communication, who gave me a numbered list of why nothing was wrong with the film program. After I’ve paid $20,000 a year towards my education, the lack of understanding I received from the administration astounds me. I feel like I’ve been ripped off. Don’t expect to see me at the graduation ceremony. I don’t consider my degree meaning much, and I honestly don’t want to want to meet the administrators who have ignored me.
Estrella Vega