Zeke Jazwinski Sports Editor
Manhattan University, which is now known for its engineering program, was once known for having a highly respected liberal arts program. In what some could call the media capital of the world, it’s no wonder that it would make sense for Manhattan to have a great program with such great opportunities in New York City. However, with budgets cut coming from COVID, the program has seen a drastic downfall and hasn’t been able to recover ever since.
This drop has been especially noticeable in the communication and media programs, which used to be a big strength for the school. With less money, students now have fewer classes to choose from, older equipment, and not as many hands-on opportunities. In a field like digital media, where things are always changing, this makes it harder for students to keep up.
The communication departments at Manhattan include digital media, game design and production and digital media art. This wide range of options should allow students to express their creative and thinking skills, but with budget cuts, it’s been harder over the years.
Rachelle Nuzzaro talked about her experience with digital media.
“The Digital Media Art program equipped me with a well-rounded education in various forms of digital art and resulted in me having an outstanding skill set, portfolio, and resume,” Nuzzaro said. “The combination of my coursework and work-study position allowed me to do what I love and turn it into a career.”
Despite these successes, current students and faculty have voiced concerns about the program’s ability to maintain that same level of excellence. The focus has not been on these programs, with cuts being made that started with COVID.
There has been a steady decline in communications, according to MSN, “Fewer students choose comms, as well as other specialized degrees, because it doesn’t guarantee a job or career path as it once did. The market now rewards technical and data-driven skills and comms, ironically, hasn’t done a great job of Aww its value in that landscape.”
The rise of artificial intelligence has not helped either, with jobs being replaced left and right with its use. It’s been especially tough to try to get ahead in this world with everything going on. Tasks like basic content writing, social media scheduling and even some forms of reporting are now being tasked to artificial intelligence.
The students have been looking for different approaches for a while. John Swenson, who graduated in 1972 from Manhattan University, talked about his experience. “I learned pretty much everything I know about journalism working at The Quad. I wrote news and sports stories, and mostly music and film reviews and cultural types of pieces. I honed my craft later, but it was really, really rewarding.”
All of this has put communications programs in a tough spot, especially in places like New York City, where competition is already high. What was once a clear path into media, journalism, and public relations now feels far less certain. The idea of getting a communications major used to be a great way of getting into iconic New York businesses, but it has sadly declined throughout the years.