The Media, Communications, and Visual Arts Department at Pace University recently updated their policy on the film equipment checkout policy, allowing students who have taken Media Production I to check out equipment for personal projects.

In the past years, students were only allowed to checkout film equipment if it was needed for a project assigned by a professor for a class which caused a lot of frustrations for students who wanted time and space with the equipment in order to learn and become better acquainted with the filmmaking process.

Many felt that the previous policy was unfair, because one of the biggest reasons they chose Pace over other schools is because we’re considered a hands-on learning school and they were expecting personal time with equipment.

This updated policy doesn’t just give students the opportunity to learn more but it gives them the opportunity to live out their dream sooner than expected and to start their reel for the professional world.

In the past, students weren’t able to start their professional reel until their junior or senior year when they started taking more film classes, but now students can start as soon as their second semester of freshman year.

The opportunities for Media, Communications, and Arts students continue to grow everyday as our world evolves and becomes more digital and starting a reel and learning as much as possible has become more important than building a resume for many of these students.

Giving students a chance to create their art during their personal time can also allow them to perform better in the classroom and ask more questions so that other students can learn as well. There have been several times when students in the classroom aren’t sure what to ask because they aren’t acquainted with the equipment.

No question is ever a ridiculous question, however, being confident enough to ask the questions needed is extremely important for students that are more shy and passive in a classroom setting.

The only pieces of equipment that are restricted are drones because they require specialized training and any cinema level camera unless the student has taken Cinematography and Art of the Moving Camera.

Although the policy states that students can take out equipment for personal projects, the equipment may not always be available because priority is given to students who need it for production-based courses on campus.

It was time for Pace to make a change and they have made it. Now it’s time for students to take action and work to their potential in order to show Pace that they made the right decision.