San Jose State animation program: Hundreds of students shut out

[Starry Messenger]

This is incredibly frustrating to me as an art teacher. I feel like it is hard to advise students who might not be great at other subjects but have a gift for art to get into the creative fields. Over a 3.8 to get a spot? CA has so many potential resources for funding education and we have to turn students away. I hate this.

http://www.mercurynews.com/education/ci_23466180/san-jose-state-animation-program-hundreds-students-shut

<snip>

They took us into a room and they told us the bad news," said Hale, a graduate of Canada College in Redwood City. "It was very discouraging."

This year, the Silicon Valley university and four other California State University campuses had more applicants than spaces in every major, from philosophy to computer science. The same was true in more than 200 majors across the Cal State system -- twice as many as four years ago.

But for a generation raised on games and animated films, San Jose State's animation-illustration program has become one of the hardest to break into. It admitted only 38 percent of the animation applicants this year, including transfers and incoming freshmen. The program has about 550 students, with a target of 60 new enrollees next fall.

Hale and other transfer students needed a near-perfect 3.85 grade-point average to get in -- the toughest requirement of any major at the university. Based on the number of students it decided to admit, the university raised the standard this spring, months after students applied.

"It's strange, and it's just disappointing because we designed this program to do something great for our California students and the entertainment industry, and it's in chaos, and students can't get in," said Alice Carter, an SJSU art professor who started the animation program nearly 20 years ago.

<snip>

[mike_c]

1. California has massively disinvested in public higher education....

It's time to reinvest in public higher education and to restore the dream of accessible university education for all Californians.

[mike_c]

2. here's something hopeful from the California Faculty Assn....

Lawmakers today reached agreement on a state budget for the 2013/14 fiscal year. The agreement – which must still be signed by the governor – would provide the CSU with a funding increase of $125.1 million in the coming year.

Beyond the increase this year, the lawmakers also expressed commitment to the Governor’s proposal to step up funding for the CSU by five percent in 2014/ 15 and by 4 percent in each of the subsequent two years.

“We appreciate the legislature’s commitment to begin reinvesting in public higher education. This modest increase is a needed step towards making the CSU whole after years of budget cuts,” said CFA President Lillian Taiz, a professor of History at CSU Los Angeles.

She continued, “This is just the beginning of what is going to be a long process to turn around a decade of disinvestment in the CSU.”

more@ http://www.calfac.org/post/important-victories-faculty-included-californias-20132014-state-budget

[Starry Messenger]

3. Thanks mike_c.

That looks promising. I was stuck on rage after reading comments on the Merc facebook page about how broke CA was and how we all had to suck it up. We need to be able to tell our students there is hope, you know? Argh.

[exboyfil]

4. Also why should GPA

have such an overriding consideration into an art program. The student's portfolio should carry far more weight.

[Starry Messenger]

5. And the GPA requirement is higher than for the hard sciences.

It makes no sense.

"Carter, who says the program has room for many more students than the university is letting in, said she is heartbroken for the students who were turned away -- especially those who fell short of the newly raised GPA level, which she considers an irrelevant standard for evaluating artists. She said faculty considered a T-shirt protest: "Not smart enough to be an animator? Try physics! Try engineering! Try chemistry!"