Preface: When I started this blog, it was meant as a place to share thoughts, vent frustrations, give updates and provide a look into my life. The life of me. In this post, I will do each of those things and more. I may come off as arrogant or angry but that is not my intention. I may come off as if I am on a rant and this may be very boring. This is not cute, funny or inspirational. I am simply sharing my thoughts, venting frustrations, giving updates and providing a look into my life. The Life of Me.
There have been multiple times - especially over the past two months- when I have asked myself, "why am I at Point Park University?"
No, I'm not thinking it in the context of, "Geeze, I'm in love with this place, I don't deserve to be here, why am I here?" But more like, "Wow this place was not what I imagined it would be. Why am I here?"
First off, I have to say that I
am happy here. I'm glad that I'm here and I'm not at all saying that I want to leave. That is not the case.
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| Click to enlarge (pt.1) |
It's those little voices in my head that occasionally say, "you could do so much better," or "these people have no motivation" that trigger these thoughts.
Some of the people that I have met here and the relationships that I have formed are incredible and I wouldn't trade those for the world. I really do like the people here. That hasn't changed. I love this city. That hasn't changed.
What has changed is my perspective on the university as a whole.
There is no transparency. And if there is, I haven't seen it. Tuition was expectedly raised again last week. I get that they have to raise tuition, what school doesn't? From what I can gather, students are extremely angry. Not because tuition is going up. Well, partially because tuition is going up. But because they don't know where their money is going. There is a new $75 million Playhouse that the University will begin construction with this summer. Hopefully. No tuition money is going towards the new playhouse.
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Excerpt pt. 2 from the
'Our school is awesome,
so we're raising tuition' email. |
Why is tuition going up? The University says basically, because we're getting better as a school. We have a new lounge that people can enjoy. More people than ever are looking into and applying to the school. My class is the largest in its history. (Well, as of August 2014 it was. Not sure what it is now after it seems like half of the class transferred or is transferring.) So because there's more of us, we have to pay more. Logic.
Also, apparently graduates have a 94% placement rate. They tell us that this is owed to faculty members. Our lovely faculty members that are always there for us and always have their doors open and... oh wait. 70% of the faculty at Point Park are adjuncts. They don't have an office. Or regular hours. They haven't seen a pay raise or change in working conditions in some time. But let's raise tuition to help them. Or not.
The University has essentially cut off student media. This makes me more mad than anything. Before I came to the school, TV's in public areas such as the Cafe or the Student Center Lobby played U-View. Our radio station WPPJ was played in the Cafe sitting area. This is because the University replaced it all with MTV University, a channel that plays music all the time and has some entertainment updates. Or something like that.
We were replaced. Replaced by MTV University. Are you serious? You mean to tell me that you are trying to give "traditional students the ability to expand their educational opportunities and experience what it will be like as they become lifelong learners after they graduate" by replacing our student media with MTV University?
I was told before I started this school year that U-View, WPPJ and The Globe were all to move into the former Nathan's Hot Dog building across the street from Academic Hall within the next two school years. I was told that again at the first U-View meeting. I was told that we would be getting a brand new studio. Which we desperately need.
Since then, nothing has been said about it. I have been told that it has been put on hold.
Until the Playhouse "situation" is taken care of.
Everything at this school revolves around the Conservatory of Performing Arts, or COPA. COPA drives the school. Point Park is the number one dance school in the country apparently and everything else has to take a back seat. Including the campus media outlets that have produced a number of quality professionals over the years.
I was just told about two months ago that U-View was next on the rotation for new computers. We'll see if that happens. It needs to.
I get it that we need to raise tuition. I also get that we as students are consumers and are paying for our education. The only thing we know is that we pay for 18 credits every semester and our money goes to good use.
Wait, no we didn't know that.
I, along with a significant number of my friends, are just finding out that no matter if we take the minimum 12 or maximum 18 credits, we are paying the same price. I don't know if we were ignorant to that fact, or if the university just did a really good job at not coming right out and saying that. Our first semester is automatically given to us as 15 credits. A normal amount for a college student. When I tried to schedule 19 credits, I was told that I would have to pay extra. It's in the fine print. I was told that 18 credits would be too much of a hassle.
No, it wouldn't be too much of a hassle. Have you met me? Well, no. It was the first time that I had even talked to this person. She's supposed to be an expert on scheduling and "student success."
Well, the real reason that I feel that she didn't want me taking 18 credits is, not because I would be too stressed, but that I would get ahead of my designated "path" that is laid out for me in order to graduate in four years. I am already ahead, and the more ahead I do, the more complicated scheduling is for me.
I get it, you want your job to be easier.
I also get that if I graduate a semester early, like I would like to do, the school misses out on thousands of dollars of Josh Croup tuition money.
Stop.
I am paying for 18 credits, I am taking 18 credits. If I can graduate early, you can bet everything that you have that I will.
To start a career early? To actually have a better shot at getting hired in January instead of May? Not because it's when the rest of the people in my class graduate across the country, (okay that's a good reason), but because bosses want new employees to start in January. Not the middle of the year. Of course, there are exceptions to this, but c'mon.
Our core curriculum is slowly changing. And when I say slowly, I mean giant tortoise slow. My junior year of high school it was supposed to change. Now, it finally is. Kind of.
The course guide that is online says that it is the 2014-2015 Freshman Course Guide.
It is not.
It is the old course guide, and for some reason, the new one has yet to be posted. Half of the classes required on the old course guide are no longer required, making scheduling a nightmare.
I wanted to declare a minor in broadcast production for next year. To complete college with a minor in the school of comm, I only need four additional courses. Each course that I will take also count as electives for my major. It would be stupid not to minor in production.
But, again, that will stress me out too much and be too much work early on. I should take time to see if that's really what I want to do.
Again, you haven't met me. But I get that you want your job to be easier.
I declared a minor last week in "media production and management." So, yeah. That happened.
I could go back to U-View, but I'll stick with class complaints.
There are really some great teachers here. There are also terrible ones, as there are everywhere. There are also terrible classes.
I had a class last semester with a professor that was so dry, so arrogant and so condescending, that I left the room every day angry. There was one day that he showed up 25 minutes late. I got too frustrated over the fact that he hadn't shown up 20 minutes into class, so I left. It was the first and only class that I would skip until I didn't go to an 8:00 math class when it was minus 15 outside without wind chill.
This semester, I have a class that is required for all freshman. A part of the "new core curriculum." It's called "Oral Presentation" or Comm 101. It's a speech class. I get it. A college student needs to be prepared to give speeches and comfortable with giving presentations in front of a class.
So, why is the book that they picked meant for high school juniors, at best? Why is the universal syllabus something that makes us feel irrelevant and downright stupid? Why is a speech book $120?
I bought the book. I was told on the universal syllabus that my grade would be reduced if I didn't have it for the first day of class.
I didn't have a first day of class.
Actually, I didn't have four of my first six speech classes. My teacher canceled because of the weather conditions, which were not at all risky, and later took a leave of absence citing medical issues.
I returned the book after her second cancelation. I returned it after the second class when she spent all 90 minutes literately reading the book TO us. She is a business teacher that has a a fear of public speaking.
Her replacement was an adjunct English professor. He is a jagoff. I was called a jagoff the other day by a stranger. That was interesting.
He's one of those guys that means well, but can't. He can only pretend that he knows what he's talking about for so long before he becomes unbearable. He can only keep repeating himself for so long to make sure we go the whole 90 minutes before people start to just leave.
I lost points on a paper about Lou Gehrig because I said he was great because of his stats. I'd like to challenge you to find a good list of knowledgeable baseball historians who say that Gehrig isn't the greatest first baseman ever. His stats alone are enough to prove he was great. But I also went on with what a great person he was off the field. How humble he was. How caring he was. But that wasn't enough either. I also lost points because I said that he thought he was lucky. BECAUSE HE DID. IT WAS THE WHOLE BASIS OF HIS SPEECH - CONSIDERED ONE OF THE BEST SPEECHES IN HISTORY.
"Was Gehrig REALLY great? (--2)"
"Did he REALLY think he was "lucky"? (--2)"
I have a math class which is so painfully easy, but that's not my fault, that's the "core curriculum's" fault. I feel so incredibly smart in that class. Not because I know what I'm doing. But because nobody else does. It's insane. I know I'm not THAT smart. That's not saying something about the school, it's saying something about it's students. You can get into Point Park with a high school GPA of 2.1. I'm not even joking. THAT is a big reason why their numbers are rising.
Let's go back to U-View.
There hasn't been a show that I've crewed or been on air for in a very long time where something didn't work. Where something didn't go wrong. Of course, things go wrong in broadcasting all the time. But the things that go wrong at U-View are 100% preventable.
There are microphones that constantly go bad or don't work. This should not happen. There are people that get PAID to check mics. Faculty and students. There are days where we are 30-45 minutes late because of audio issues.
There are days where computers don't work, or things aren't ready.
I'm sorry, but this is not okay. Not all of it can be blamed on equipment. No, we are not HD yet. A few faculty are still stuck in the late 90's, early 00's and refuse to adapt to technology.
News flash: this doesn't help us. But okay.
The equipment should be tested before anyone even gets there. Things are never ready or set up in time to start a show that is supposed to act as a live program.
It is largely student ran. That's awesome, except for the fact that, it's student ran. There is an advisor, but that seems like just a title.
The Globe is 100% student ran. Student writers, editors, everything. There is an advisor. It is not just a title for her. Every week she sends out a detailed critique of the paper giving multiple comments for each story. There is nothing even close to this at U-View. No feedback, no critiques, nothing. There is no accountability.
The only accountability that there is rests in those preparing for graduation who need things to put on their reels. And even that's not a lot. Our best students graduated in December and since then, it has been rough. Few seem to care or even put a lot of effort in to the shows.
Daybreak is a weekly program that is similar to The Today Show. It is the show that always has the most people attend and our most popular. There is a nice mix of news, sports and entertainment and it is a quality show. Our hosts are talented and our producer is hard working.
The lack of maturity at Daybreak though is remarkable. Yes, have fun. Yes, enjoy yourself. Yes, it's college. YES, you are trying to get a job and preparing for work in the real world. Some people need to wake up and realize this.
Just this past week at Daybreak, I was the sports correspondent. I felt that it was my best performance of the year. One that I could use on my reel. One that I could use to enter contests and scholarships.
But, for some mysterious reason, the episode didn't record and everything we did on Thursday night was lost. It's our technology failing us apparently.
The sad thing is that this isn't the first time this has happened this year. It's not at least at five times. This is inexcusable.
Oh, and we didn't start the show until 8:30 and didn't leave until 9:15. Call time was 7:45 and start time was supposed to be 8:00.
This, to me, is unacceptable.
We are going to school to work in an industry that is so driven on being on time and working with what we have. Well, at U-View, what we have is falling apart and is close to a decade old (February 2007).
Pioneer Sideline is our weekly sports show. Well, "sports" show.
There are few sports shows that are 80% scripted on television. Sideline is one of them. No highlights, little analysis and a debate segment. It is the same show every week. The top teases are the same every week. It is a boring show. Our host is a good guy. He knows his stuff. But he is not the right person to host that show. I would love to hear why he is even hosting the show. As a student ran show, I feel that we should have a say in what and who goes on the air. I still haven't found someone who thinks that the host shouldn't change. I like the guy. I just don't feel that he should host. The older episodes of Sideline were phenomenal. Those people cared about their show and put so much work into it. We have been on a steady decline.
I have a vision to make Sideline a watchable show. A show that is fun to watch and that we can actually be proud of. One with highlights and analysis that makes people want to come to the school just to be on the show.
I watched Kent State's sports show. I watched Robert Morris' sports show. Two schools that are close by that have the same caliber of students with different motivations and maturity levels.
If I was going to select a school based on nothing else but their sports show and what sports show I want to be involved with, my order is KSU, RMU, PPU. Point Park is third by default. I love the people at Sideline. Some do work hard and some do care. The show's product seems lazy and mediocre. Just like the athletic program.
My next complaint: Athletics.
Being a student athlete is no easy task. Point Park has produced some great athletes over the years and great people as well. The program as a whole seems lazy. The program as a whole seems mediocre.
The athletic director has been at Point Park since 2006. Point Park is in the NAIA. Not the NCAA.
The NAIA was basically formed for smaller private schools to have athletic programs as a cheaper alternative to the NCAA. Their rules are less strict and their organization is built more on character than competition.
I am doing more research on this subject - comparing the NAIA to the NCAA - but right now I can tell you this:
1. The NAIA is free falling towards a mass extinction.
2. For Point Park sports to ever have any legitimacy, they have to spend a few extra dollars and join the NCAA. The pros FAR outweigh the cons of joining the NCAA.
That being said, their athletic department is irrelevant. It gives a lot of students great opportunities to do things that a bigger school couldn't offer. I give them that. If they want respect, if they want to make money, they have to spend money. Join the NCAA.
Join the NCAA before you're forced out of the NAIA. When they go bankrupt or fall off the face of the earth, don't let your athletic program go with it. Get out of the NAIA while you still can. There are two schools in Pennsylvania in the NAIA: Point Park and Carlow.
When I was choosing schools, there were a few things that I considered: A strong communications program, proximity and athletics. Point Park had a strong comm program, they were close and they had all the major sports accept for football. It was a small school where I could dive right in and get involved.
I didn't realize how insignificant Point Park sports were on campus until I actually started living on campus.
It's a big performing arts school. That being said, the COPA students aren't always your biggest sports fans, but make up a good majority of Point Park students. There are a number of COPA students as well as other students that don't even know that we have some of the sports that we do.
We're lucky if we get between 100 and 200 people at a basketball game. Our women's basketball program is arguably one of the top in Pittsburgh. Our men's team has a coach that for some reason has been there for over 25 years. Our baseball team has won multiple conference championships in a row. Our sports teams are not bad.
The support they get is terrible. The amount of school spirit is pathetic. I thought it was bad at Butler. At least Butler students know that we have sports teams. At least Butler students attend games.
The only games that we have on campus are volleyball games. Baseball: Green Tree, Basketball: CCAC South Campus, Soccer: Highmark Stadium.
Yes, we are a city school. A small one at that. Highmark is just across the river and there are 'fan vans' that provide transportation to almost every basketball game and a number of other games.
But there is no school spirit. Nobody seems to care about sports at the school.
Solution: Leave the NAIA, join the NCAA.
It's not as easy as just transferring to a different association, but it's a big start.
Besides the terrible school spirit, the school's amount of motivation and involvement as a whole are equally as terrible.
I don't have the numbers, but boy do they seem low. They're low in every capacity. Nobody goes to the events on campus, nobody does anything with the clubs, heck the only way to get people to come to a meeting or an event is to offer an extreme amount of food and other free things. Even then, it's not enough a lot of the time.
It's FREE STUFF people.
Is this because people really are unmotivated and don't care? Not necessarily.
A majority of the school commutes. Whether it be from Oakland, Mt. Washington or surrounding towns, a lot of them commute. The school does not make it easy on commuters whatsoever. There is no student bus pass, no free or reduced parking, no benefits of commuting other than saving the money of paying for room and board. Why would someone want to be a part of a club or go to events when it is too much of a burden for them to get there? I get it.
Then again, if you really want to be involved, you'll make it work. And those who do, well, they make it work.
All of the above make me often think what it's like at other schools. How much are students involved or motivated at other schools? What's their school spirit like? How much do they care or not care?
Then, I think, "Why am I at Point Park?"
I've realized the real reasons that I'm at this school only in the past couple of months.
It's a small school where everyone knows just about everyone. I think I like this. I enjoy having the ability to say hi to people as I walk by them on the sidewalk.
It's Pittsburgh. I love this city. I absolutely love it. I'm within walking distance of everything (including my girlfriend at Duquesne) and there are so many opportunities in the city alone.
Of course with the lack of student involvement, there are more opportunities at Point Park for me. As great as this is, I don't want to be handed things, I want to earn them. I want to prove that I'm deserving of things and have competition to give me motivation to keep improving. This worries me. The few people that there are at the school that care, the few people that there are that are extremely talented at my job, the less motivation that there is to be better. I hope that this never turns out to be the case for me, and I don't intend on it happening.
I feel like a big fish in a small pond. Already, everyone wants me to do everything. Already, I'm doing more work than a lot of seniors are related to broadcasting. Okay, more chances for me then.
Pittsburgh is great, there are a lot of opportunities, but I think the biggest reason that I'm at Point Park is to make a difference. I don't mean in people's lives. If that happens, great. I mean in the program and in the content that we put out.
I want whatever I put my name on to be a good product. Even if I was only a small part of the product, I still want it to be good. If I'm going to associate myself with something, i want it to be quality. There are a lot of things at U-View that I want to change and that I have a vision to change. There are things with the Point Park Sports Network that I think I can do to make it a quality member of the Point Park media family.
I feel that my rundown and vision for Sideline can make our show one of the best in the region. I feel that things I can do with other shows can improve the already good product. I have so many ideas for other shows and things to do at Point Park. But it's a lot to do on my own, but then again, I feel that I can do it.
When I graduate, I want to be someone that they think back on and wish that I was still there. I want to be someone who people can look up to as the person who set a new tone for U-View and at the school.
There are a lot of things wrong with the politics and the overall school. Is it the best school in the world? No. Does it crack the top 50? Not close. 100? Still reaching.
But it's Pittsburgh. That's the biggest reason that I need to go to a small school in the middle of the city where I can get involved right away.
The people that have probably had the biggest impact on me this year are not professors, not students they don't even get a paycheck from the school. The professors that have had the biggest impact on my so far don't even have an office. The friends that I've made aren't people that care about what your high school life was like. They care about who you are now. Because simply, you don't care what their high school life was like.
Unless that's all they talk about. In that case, they don't get a lot of respect from people because, you know, you already graduated.
I complained and ranted about a lot and I didn't even get to the food. College food is college food.
This post is real. It's un uncensored and legit. there's no hiding. I won't say Point Park is the greatest school, because it's not. By time I graduate from Point Park, if that's where I graduate from, if I graduate, I promise you that it will be better than when i started. Everything from U-View to the Point Park Sports Network. By time I graduate, it is my goal that people will want to come to this school to be a part of something that I had a big part in changing and improving.
They say that college is what you make of it. Well, I'm going to make it alright. Hopefully better.
Because, why not?
Josh
