Audio Transcript: SU graduate program listed as sunsetted causes student confusion
Anchor: 95 Syracuse University programs marked to end, hit the internet last week. Within hours it had spread across social media and even landed in the pages of the New York Times. Lucy Shaffer is here in studio to tell us the latest.
Lucy Shaffer: In an era where misinformation spreads fast, even major institutions aren’t immune.
Shaffer: Television, Radio and Film Grad Students at the Newhouse School were shocked. They’re program was listed as cut. They aren’t. They’re being restructured. However, SU Public Communications Professor Meg Craig says panic had already set in.
Megan Craig: They started reaching out to me to basically be like hey they are closing the TRF grad program, that’s crazy like oh my gosh, is there someone we can petition to stop this from happening and I was like that’s definitely not happening so what is it that your seeing.
Shaffer: The TRF Master’s program is just making a slight change. Instead of having it be a Master of Arts, it is now a Master of Science. However, many articles published caused mass confusion.
Craig: I talk a lot about there being a need for contextualization of information, because straight facts don’t tell the whole story.
Shaffer: An email sent to the Newhouse faculty and staff said, quote, none of the identified programs have been eliminated-they have simply taken on new names in recent years because of updates to the curriculum. No email has yet been sent to students regarding the confusion. Lucy Shaffer reporting for NCC News.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC NEWS)—Syracuse University announced 95 programs were set to close or pause last week. Within hours, it had spread across social media and even landed in the pages of the New York Times. But in an era where misinformation spreads fast, even major institutions aren’t immune.
Television, Radio and Film (TRF) Graduate Students at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications were shocked. Their program was listed as cut; however, it was not. The programs are being restructured. However, General Manager for Orange Television Network, Megan Craig, said panic had already set in.
“They (TRF Graduate students) started reaching out to me to basically be like ‘hey they are closing the TRF grad program, that’s crazy like oh my gosh, is there someone we can petition to stop this from happening’ and I was like that’s definitely not happening,” Craig said.
The TRF master’s program is just making a slight change. Instead of having the programs as a Master of Arts, it is now a Master of Science. However, the original announcement sent out by the University listed the program as “closing,” rather than transitioning to a different degree type, leading students to believe their program had ended.
Reading beyond the programs listed as being ended or paused is important as according to Craig, the full story can not be told without clear context.
An email sent to the Newhouse faculty and staff said, “none of the identified programs have been eliminated — they have simply taken on new names in recent years because of updates to the curriculum.” No email has been sent to students regarding the confusion.
The Newhouse information page regarding the TRF graduate program still lists the degree as a Master of Arts.