President's Corner
Dear UFVA Members,
Your board of directors and officers met last weekend in Las Vegas to address a number of issues about the association. The full minutes will be posted soon in the “news” area but here are some highlights.
The board created a new UFVA/UFVF Scholarship/Grants Committee that is charged with developing grant and scholarship programs in support of the mission of the association and the foundation, developing new leadership for scholarship/grants administration, soliciting donations in support of scholarship/grant activities, coordinating entry of UFVA student work in the CILECT competition, and working with the web administrator to develop and maintain an on-line scholarship/grant process. I’m working with Melinda Levin, President of the Foundation to staff this committee but if you have ideas or suggestions, please send them to me and I’ll forward them to the committee members.
The board also voted to postpone the implementation of the juried conference paper process for 2012 and instead decided to form a program committee to suggest a process for juried papers for the 2013 conference.
We also heard from the Web Site committee who recommended that the board consider a strategic marketing planning process...
Dear UFVA Members,
Here’s wishing you a Happy 2012! Thanks to each and every one of you for making 2011 such a great year for the association. This year is also full of promise and if you haven’t already renewed your membership, take a moment and do it now. The 2012 conference at Columbia College Chicago will be four days of thought-provoking panels, inspiring screenings, and exciting workshops and sustainer displays. The conference will initiate a jury process for all papers this year as we move toward a fully juried conference in 2013. There are great issues of the Journal of Film and Video coming up this year including a special issue on the history of the community video movement. The board is exploring new and continuing links between the UFVA and NAB, SCMS, and other media organizations in an effort to extend the value of your UFVA membership. I welcome any thoughts or suggestions you might have for programs or initiatives that will make the association more of what you’d like it to be. Best wishes for a productive new year.
Sincerely,
Rob
Dear UFVA Members:
The UFVA board is preparing to meet in February 2012 and we’re putting together our agenda now. I invite any member of the association to send me your ideas or matters of concern, and we’ll place your item on the agenda for the mid-year meeting. Here are some of the things that your board is working on: we’ve submitted a grant proposal to the MacArthur Foundation on “Badges for Lifelong Learning,” we’re in conversation with the officers of the National Accrediting Association about the role of UFVA in setting standards for media programs, we’re looking for ways to link with the Society for Cinema and Media Studies and the College Art Association, we’re continuing to deepen our interactions with the National Association of Broadcasters, and we’re working hard to make the web site more functional. Of course, planning for next year’s annual conference at Columbia College Chicago is in full swing. As the end of the year approaches, take a moment to renew your membership for 2012 and please make a generous contribution to the Carol Fielding Grant program.
All the best for the holidays ahead,
Rob
Dear UFVA Members,
As the season changes to autumn I hope that everyone has settled into his or her new academic year. Once again I’d like to thank each of you for contributing to the association through your membership, your participation at this year’s outstanding conference, or by volunteering to serve on a committee or jury.
The association connects you with colleagues from all over county who share new analysis and insights into current media scholarship, new approaches to teaching media theory and practice, and new tools and techniques for making media. Being part of this group of dedicated and supportive artists and scholars is reason enough to renew your membership.
But new developments keep coming. 2012 marks the first year for juried papers at the annual conference at Columbia College in Chicago. This change will improve the academic value of conference participation and support faculty who need validation of their work for the promotion and tenure process. A new and engaged board of directors is working to revive the web site, collect useful information about the field, and find new ways to connect members who have common interests or needs.
Your membership entitles you to the monthly Digest, providing news...
Dear UFVA Members,
A huge thanks to Jean Stawarz and her team at Emerson College and to Conference VP Simon Tarr and his team from the association for putting on a truly excellent conference. It was a stimulating 4 days of screenings, panels, workshops, exhibits, scripts, and reconnecting with colleagues.
To those of you who have asked about Holly Willis’s keynote address, Holly says she will make it available soon and I’ll be happy to send a notice to the list-serve and a “tweet” when I know more.
Thanks to the members who signed up to be mentors or outside reviewers. To those of you who wished for a mentor, we’ll be arranging matches in the near future. Thanks too to those of you who provided such excellent suggestions for how to improve the UFVA web site—the web committee is already hard at work on this. The data collection committee has started its work as well and you will be hearing from them soon.
If you’d like to volunteer your expertise to serve the membership of the association on either of these committees or in any other way, please contact me. You’ll find the experience richly rewarding.
Thanks one and all for the great conference and make your plans now for the 2012 conference at Columbia College...
Dear UFVA Members,
Please join me in congratulating the new UFVA officers and board members and in thanking those who ran, but who were not elected (this time), for their willingness to serve the association. Norman Hollyn is the new President-Elect. Adrianne Carageorge returns as Executive Vice-President. Jennifer Proctor, Francisco Menendez, and Sheila Schroeder are the new incoming board members. Over 200 members cast ballots in the election, about one-third of the active members. If you are interested in serving the association on any of the active committees, or have questions, concerns, or ideas, please get in touch with me or with any of the current or incoming board members. We welcome your participation and involvement.
See you in August!
Rob
Dear UFVA Members,
Don't forget to cast your ballot before the election closes at the end of the month!
Regards,
Rob
Longtime UFVA member, Don E. Coonley, 68, of New London, NH, died on Wednesday, June 8, after a brief illness. Don was an active member of UFVA, regularly attending the annual conferences where he shared his work and his insights with others. All of us who knew Don were inspired by his love of both creating and teaching. Don’s enthusiasm and generosity will be deeply missed. Our sincere condolences go out to his wife Nancy, daughter Whitney, and son David.
Over his five decades as an educator Don touched the lives of thousands of students. As Professor and founder of the Media Studies Program at Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, CT (1973-1989), he was honored with the Exxon Faculty Award for Excellence and the Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence and the College established an annual award for students who exemplify Don's "commitment to excellence in the art, theory, and practice of communication." An accomplished writer, sound designer, and photographer, his creative work while at SHU included the national award-winning video docudramas Searching for Wordin Avenue and Windcrossing. His creative projects were most often collaborative, engaging students and community members in exploring local history or issues. From 1989 to 2008, he was...
Greetings UFVA Members!
YOU DECIDE who will be the new leaders of the University Film and Video Association by casting your vote in the current election for a new President, Vice-President, and three new board members. Who will undertake to lead the organization in new directions? Who will seek to preserve the traditional activities of the association? Do you want to elect fresh new members with new perspectives? Or would you rather have experienced members who have served the organization in the past? The kind of organization that you want depends on whom you elect to serve. Please take a moment to read each candidate’s position statement—you’ll find it on the web site and also attached to the ballot that was sent electronically. Submit your electronic ballot by the end of June.
UFVA welcomes Avid Technologies in its new role as a major sponsor of the association. Avid will host the Wednesday night reception at the conference in August. If you haven’t already registered, sit yourself down and make plans to attend the annual conference in Boston, hosted by Emerson College. The keynote address by Holly Willis, panels, screenings, installations, the Avid Reception, a harbor cruise, the final banquet at the historic Parker House, and great...
Greeting UFVA Members!
With the end of the semester right around the corner I’d like to report on some of the exciting happenings of the spring and highlight events that are coming this summer.
Thanks to the efforts of member Norman Hollyn, the NAB hosted a delegation of seven UFVA members representing schools across the country at the NAB/BEA conference in Las Vegas last month. The UFVA delegation described the needs of educators to industry representatives while learning how new technologies are changing the world that our students are graduating into. Our delegation will share their insights in a report that we’ll post on the web site, look for it in the News section later this month.
Congratulations to the winners of the 2011 Carole Fielding Grants: Puja Maewal from the UCLA School of Film and Television; Debra Sea from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro; and John Rory Fraser, from Stanford University.
The 2011 UFVA conference at Emerson College continues to take shape—there were a record number of submissions this year and so the panels, papers, screenings, and scripts selected for presentation should be among the best ever. This is truly a historic conference, as long-time sponsor, Eastman Kodak, will...