AVT Undergrad Night Classes Added

By Broadside News Editor Asma Chaudhary

Recently, Art and Visual Technology students at George Mason University have discussed the possibility of undergraduate courses not being offered at night. This is to allow more time slots for graduate courses, which will accommodate graduate students who are enrolled in studies but are working during the day.

The information, which has been discussed in a few classes this semester, is generating criticism from students who believe their opinions on the issue were never requested. However, the AVT department has not verified that the action has taken placed. According to the department, many undergraduate courses are still being offered during the upcoming summer and fall semesters.

Aesthetics professor Jessica Clements teaches undergraduate students who have raised concerns about the issue and would be the most affected if undergraduate night courses are not offered in the future.

“My concern is that there are currently enrolled students who selected [Mason] in part because they could complete their degrees while working. In the class that I'm currently teaching, almost all students work full-time,” Clements said.

Furthermore, Clements also discussed how undergraduate students must be accommodated because they represent a large section of the AVT department. In addition, the age range of students tends to affect their schedules because older students tend to have more responsibilities and thus require more flexible class schedules.

Clements said, “Several of these students are supporting their families, and a few are older adults seeking new degrees; only a handful is ‘traditional’ college students, being supported by their families of origin. Most of these students were planning to graduate within two years, several within the next year, but this new requirement is either delaying their plans, or in the worst cases, putting their plans on hold.”

During the upcoming summer semester, several upper-level undergraduate AVT courses will be offered for students to take. Once enrollment begins, the faculty observes the trends in order to keep the class open to students or to close the section completely due to a lack of enrollment. Furthermore, numerous courses in each AVT studio discipline are being offered for the fall semester.

In addition, Clements questioned the department to see whether the needs of undergraduate students are being met as well as with their personal best interests in mind. For some students, attending courses at night is the only way to complete a degree at an institution. Also, in doing so, students are able to create a balance between work and school in order to raise money for tuition while attending classes at night.

“I am shocked that such a fundamental change in policy can be instituted without input from students, and that it can affect them so completely. I don't have a problem with this as a general direction for [Mason]: but I believe we should offer currently enrolled students the means by which to complete their degrees, without asking them to seek new employment or transfer out of the university,” Clements said.

In a recent e-mail regarding the situation, Associate Chair Lynne Constantine said, “Actually, it's not accurate that AVT classes are not being offered at night. We have taught and will teach again Aesthetics in a late timeslot [such as 5:55 p.m.], and Writing for Artists has been taught late too [this summer, like last summer, it will be an evening class].”

Constantine continued the discussion of how courses, particularly studio courses require more sections in order to accommodate the large number of students in the department. Typically, AVT students work with different forms of media and technology in order to produce artworks for their portfolios. Studio courses are often four credit courses, which usually last up to three hours and occur two to three times a week.

Also, studio courses incorporate photography, sculpture, drawing, painting, printmaking, graphic design and digital animation, which require more sections for students to sign-up each semester.

“A wide selection of other AVT classes is offered in late slots, often because we have to fill the studios to get as many sections offered as needed,” Constantine said.

However, Constantine noticed a pattern that even though courses are being offered, many students do not enroll enough in the course or quickly enough during the summer.

Constantine said, “The issue, I think, is the rotation of upper-level concentration classes into the later timeslots. In part we are directed by student preferences: recently when we tried to teach AVT 414 [Corporate Design and Branding] at 7:20 p.m., for example, we had to cancel the class for lack of enrollment.”

Although the issue has not been confirmed or denied, it is still a topic of discussion in numerous AVT courses where students speak about the opportunities available to them as students and artists.

“We will continue to try to offer a schedule with some variety and balance in offering times, and we will certainly run them if we can get the appropriate enrollment figures,” Constantine said.