My name is Lee Cusack. I’m an audio/radio production and studies major, and I love my major… at least, I did. Upon returning to Hofstra University for the Fall semester, one of my peers informed me that the audio/radio major had been replaced with a new “podcasting & audio storytelling” major.
Concerned about what this meant for me, I emailed my advisors, inquiring about the change. I was assured that since I started at Hofstra as an audio/radio major, I wouldn’t be affected by the change. But that’s not exactly the case. I’ve since learned that some of the classes required for my major, such as RTVF 121 – Audio Radio Programming and Distribution – will never run again, Instead, I can substitute with other, non-radio classes.
These changes make me feel like the school does not care about my education. I should be appreciative of the fact that Hofstra is giving us a chance to substitute the courses, and I know I’ll still walk across the stage with my degree in radio, but will I have learned radio?
As I sit, frustrated in my podcasting class, I wonder, how did I get here? What happened to the radio program I saw on tours? What makes Hofstra different from anywhere else I applied to now? Without my major, Hofstra really isn’t any different from the rest.
It’s not just me who’s annoyed with the change; every radio major I’ve spoken to is unhappy with it.
“I really hate the change because I came to Hofstra to become an audio/radio major. There’s not a lot of schools with majors like that, it’s what attracted me here, but now I can’t have it anymore,” said Samuel Einhorn, a junior audio/radio production and studies major. “Besides, I want to get a job in the audio industry. What would an employer like more on a resume: ‘audio/radio production and studies’ or ‘podcasting and audio storytelling’?”
What’s frustrating for my peers and I is that we weren’t given any notice about the change. There has still been no formal announcement to let us know about these changes.
“I think it’s stupid how they never told us about the change, and they still haven’t told us, we had to figure that out for ourselves,” said Star Arias, a sophomore audio/radio production and studies major. “I didn’t even find out from a professor; I found out from an upperclassman who just happened to see it on the Hofstra website.”
Even with the controversial argument that the radio is a dying industry, altering the major to reflect podcasting makes it even more difficult to apply to the job market.
“It’s a bad decision to remove the audio/radio major because it made the major more specific, not a broad-reaching range of abilities,” said Parker Driscoll, another sophomore audio/radio production and studies major. “It would be like taking away the sports media major and replacing it with baseball media. Why would you narrow the sights of your own students? It’s chasing trends. Universities aren’t supposed to chase trends like that.”
Administration of the Lawrence Herbert School of Communication, if you want to revamp and improve the radio program, the best thing to do is listen to us, the people who major in it. Yes, the major has room for improvement, but you’re moving in the wrong direction; we have some ideas for you, too.
Andy Gladding runs “Tech Thursdays” for people in Radio Hofstra University (WRHU). It’s incredibly helpful, but not everyone can make them. This could be expanded into a class that we can take. Not to mention, we boast radio professionals like John Mullen, but we don’t use them. I would love to take a class about what Mullen does to keep WRHU running, it seems a million times more relevant to me than any journalism class.
Even if you want to add more podcasting classes, you don’t need to remove pre-existing classes. You can simply make podcasting a concentration.
I want to have a career in radio, and I’m not the only one. But for us to have that future, we need a solid education, one that is being gutted as we speak. So please, work with us, not around us, to improve our major.
