Creative Media Production changes leave students confused and concerned

Massey University's Creative Media Production (CMP) degree is set to be completely reworked. But, for students already enrolled in the degree these changes feel like another roadblock in their education.

It was announced earlier this year that Creative Media Production was being changed to Screen Arts. Also, a fourth year was being added to the degree for students that wish to graduate with honours, alongside new content being added to the course.

With these changes being introduced there’s a lot of confusion going around. "I wish they had just been transparent with us," says second-year CMP student Charlotte Keen. For Charlotte, these changes caused a lot of concern around whether this meant that their degree would be worth less compared to the people starting after the changes have been made, or whether it will create competition between them.

Third-year Tristan Crisps had a more outspoken reaction to the changes “for fucks sake”. This sentiment seemed to sum up most students' feelings.

Part of this frustration has been caused by the timing. Changes to the course have been in talks for over two years now, but students are only just being told now. On top of this, each year group was told separately, a whole week apart from each other, meaning that rumours and speculation had time to spread and cause more uncertainty.

Charlotte, and another CMP student Hamish Wilkinson, both said that if they knew that changes to the course were being considered, they would have held off on studying and taken a gap year to see how things played out.

“It’s really disruptive,” says Charlotte. “We felt as there was this certain expectation when going into this course. It’s important that students are given the chance to plan out their studies as it's such a big commitment.”

“I’m no longer prepared, and that’s scary,” Charlotte continues.

Though not all of these changes have been negative. The general consensus on the name change to ‘Screen Arts’ is positive.

“It’s more reflective of the programme,” says Charlotte. Hamish also likes the look of the new content being introduced, which is the reason he’s considering taking the fourth year, saying that the new degree “just sounds better”. The fourth year isn’t going to made compulsory except for the students wanting to graduate with honours. Third-years, even those that decide to take the honours class, will still graduate with a CMP degree rather than Screen Arts. Seemingly, the actual changes to the degree are being positively received but the lack of communication has caused a lot of unnecessary stress for those involved.