Chair's Message - April 13, 2020

Dear BECA Students,

As we move into the last weeks of this challenging semester, I want you to know the BECA faculty miss you very much. The sudden move to distance learning has dismayed us all, and we share your frustration and sorrow about how this semester has developed. I also want to assure you that BECA is committed to helping you achieve your goal of graduating on time.

To that end, I want to share some information that I hope will help you maintain your progress towards graduation.

First, SFSU is in the process of approving a special grading resolution for the Spring and Summer semesters. Until the resolution is approved by President Mahoney, we cannot be sure of the details, but it is expected to include an opportunity for students to choose credit/no credit grading, even for classes that are not normally available as credit/no credit. You should be able to request a credit/no credit grade much later in the semester. The limit on the number of credit/no credit classes you can take should not apply to classes from this semester. The opportunity to withdraw from a class should also be extended much later in the semester, so you should be able to wait to make this decision until after the plan is finalized. BECA will send you more details about these policies when they are officially approved.

Second, although the Fall schedule is now available online, you can expect to see some changes in the next couple of days. A few BECA classes will be converted to synchronous online delivery. This should enable those of you who are close to graduating but are unable to easily return to the Bay Area to earn your degrees. Additionally, although the classes you see in the schedule will be offered in the Fall (assuming they enroll well), some of the dates and times are going to shift to accommodate changes SFSU has asked BECA to make. We will send you an email when the times in the online schedule are finalized.

Third, BECA faculty are working hard to develop plans to help those of you who missed studio time this semester get some extra production practice once BECA moves back to campus. We cannot finalize those plans until we know when we are able to return, and I know it cannot be the same as spending a semester spent working with your colleagues in the studio, but I assure you that your faculty are committed to doing our best to make up for some of the lost experience.

Please take care of yourselves and stay safe!

Chair, Broadcast & Electronic Communication Arts