The URI film program has been upgraded to a department this semester, but what does that mean? PHOTO CREDIT: Melissa Marchese | Staff Photographer
As a part of the Harrington School of Communication and Media’s goal to constantly innovate and improve, the film program was officially promoted from a program to a department.
The decision was approved by the Board of Trustees and was announced to students in an email by President Marc Parlange. He added that this decision will “strengthen and emphasize its importance to majors in the Harrington School of Communication and Media” in the summary.
The upgrade will give the new film department access to more resources, allow them to hire specific faculty and reinforce to potential students, current students and alumni that they are getting a prestigious and accomplished education.
“We want our students to not only be innovative media makers, but also to be strong communicators, they need to write well, present well and be good critiquers,” Director of the Film Program Rebecca Fine Romanow said.
The process was initiated in the summer and had to get approved by multiple channels until it got the final approval by the Board of Trustees in January. The proposal was a 15-page document addressing all of the possible concerns, the benefits and reasons why the upgrade was important.
Romanow credited the main success of its upgrade is due to the overwhelming support by Dr. Kothari, the director of the Harrington school. Kothari began her directorship in 2021 and has worked in all areas to bring Harrington to new levels in the world of storytelling and media.
Romanow equally credited the support of Jeannette E. Riley, the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, as being a huge positive part in the proposal. The chairs of all of the other Harrington Departments also wrote letters of support.
The film program has exploded since its inception, with approximately 250 students currently in the Film Media major. When the program began in 2006, there were just 30 students in the major, according to Romanow.
“We hope that by becoming a department we can grow our majors which will then grow our budget which then leads to us being able to get new equipment,” Romanow said.
The film program is full of well respected professors whose work has been shared nationally and globally according to Romanow. Students in the department are getting hands-on experience in all aspects of the film industry from people who have done it themselves.
The film department prides itself on its interdisciplinary work with many professors being professors in other departments as well. The film courses also can count to other majors which creates easier opportunities for film students to either declare a double major or a minor.
The department upgrade is more about the academic merit than the monetary one for Romanow.
“I think that this upgrade will have a positive impact on the film program, on Harrington, on the College of Arts and Sciences and on the University,” Romanow said.
Current film students are excited to see what opportunities this will bring for the Film program as they spend their time at URI.
“With how big this program is getting, more funding would definitely be needed,” Senior Anna Viola said.
Viola further remarked that since she started in the program, every year she meets more and more students who she didn’t even know were also film students.
“I feel like we do need a lot more access to equipment, especially at the rate we’re growing,” Sophomore Nathan Taft added.
As Harrington continues to develop, students and faculty are hopeful that the education will continue to be cutting edge.