Over 100 Oswego State communication students shared 14 DSLR cameras this fall, according to broadcasting professor Marybeth Longo.

“It’s difficult for me as a faculty member when a student is standing in front of me in tears saying, ‘I can’t get my project done because I couldn’t get gear out’,” Longo said. “It’s like trying to build a house without hammers and nails. You can’t do it.”

As enrollment rises, the School of Communication, Media and the Arts (SCMA) lacks funding for equipment upgrades.

“The college understands there is a great need for new and more equipment for our ‘tech-heavy’ majors,” said Julie Pretzat, Dean of the School of Communication, Media and the Arts. “We make every effort to accommodate them as best we can, given the confines of a less-than-robust budget.”

According to Pretzat, “state budgets have been flat” while student admission has increased by 45 percent since 2007.

Tyler Hall restorations have disrupted the potential storage space used by the broadcasting department.

“We are in the midst of a major renovation that has affected the space and equipment needs of all our majors in SCMA,” Pretzat said.

Limited facilities, faulty devices, a shortage of broadcast engineers and errors in the Zeus management system, a registration server for equipment, have hindered student academic opportunity.

“I got three audio kits for 35 kids,” said broadcasting professor Jeff Bradbury. “I can’t assign the amount and level of assignments that I think should be required for students to properly learn and craft the material, because I know they won’t have the resources to complete it.”

Currently, the Oswego State video production course has 151 students at ratio of 11 students per camera.

According to Bradbury, Cayuga Community College has approximately 25 students who share 14 cameras.

“A lot of these places have at least three or maybe four students per camera. Nobody has 11 students per camera,” Bradbury said. “But that’s just one side of it.”

Despite alumni donations, external revenue in the department is often scarce.

Recently, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences received a $1.5 million Environmental Protection Agency grant.

“The sciences are fortunate,” Pretzat said. “There are many more opportunities to receive funding through grants than there are for the broadcasting.”

In 2006, the Communication Studies department was awarded $875,000 state-grant to upgrade Lanigan studio A. The money was put into renovations this past summer.

According to Oswego State Vice President of Finance and Budget, Victoria Furlong, Gov. Cuomo’s SUNY State budget of $800,000 to $1 million is allocated to Oswego State for academic affairs.

“Within the finance area we hold reserves aside for unforeseen circumstances that may arise throughout the year,” Furlong said. “If there is increasing enrollment in a particular area we may need to allocate some funds specifically towards a curriculum that sees exponential growth.”

SUNY tuition will be raised by $300 next fall. The salary increases for contractual workers are not included in this tuition hike.

“We don’t receive extra money for that,” Furlong said. “A professor may get an increase on his salary and we as a campus have to absorb that. A lot of money has to come from this tuition revenue.”

According to the President of Finance and Budget Nicholas Lyons, the funds are used to support additional faculty positions.

Due to the surge in students, current broadcast engineer Patrick Moochler lacks additional assistance.

“We need to update equipment, we need to update software and one engineer can’t do all of that,” Longo said. “He’s doing the work of three, four people.”

Two weeks ago, sophomore and broadcasting and communications major Shaun Streb wrote a letter to the dean highlighting the issues he faced in his morning video production course.

“I am a perfectionist,” Streb said. “It was disheartening to turn in projects that weren’t up to my full potential. I didn’t have enough time to take out a camera, [and] get more B-roll. Little things like that eat at you because you know you can do so much better if you have the resources.”

Each week, Longo lugs three DSLR cameras and tripods from her home in Syracuse to Oswego for her upper division students.

“I use my professors’ gear because it’s more convenient for me than to check it out,” said junior and broadcasting major Matthew Cancel. “It’s always a hassle for me. Zeus isn’t the most helpful. I try to do it from my room back at home and there is always errors that occur.”

Senior and video production teacher’s assistant Sara Boileau explained that upgraded equipment is of high demand.

“We’re looking at Cayuga Community College that has 1.8 students per camera,” Boileau said. “When we all get our projects there’s 11 students battling for one of those cameras.”

Longo explained the broadcasting staff requires additional administrative support.

“We love to teach,” she said, “But we can’t teach without the right tools.”

According to Pretzat, in the coming year Oswego State will implement the college technology plan and the scarcity will be “alleviated.”