Student Originated Studies: Media

Are you embarking upon a *new* project this quarter? If so, keep in mind that all new projects benefit from TREATMENTS, and out in the real world you'll have to write 'em regularly.

If this means YOU, I'd like you to write a treatment for your new project and post it on the drupal site for us to read. This will keep your peers in the loop and better able to provide you with helpful feedback.

There are a million-and-one career websites and books out there with numerous examples of successful cover letters, resumes, etc. And every college and university in the world has a Career Center with websites full of resources. There are also thousands of artists websites out there with artist statements for you to look at. See our RESOURCES page.

But, I'll attach here a few of my own documents for you to peruse:

• 1-page resume (at this point, you all should be creating resumes no longer than 1 page.)

• Complete CV (curriculum vitae): follows guidelines on CAA site for CV for Visual Artists

• Cover letter/letter of interest: This letter was not written to apply for a specific job, but to express my interest in working for an audio documentary producer whose work I admire. I followed up on this letter with a phone call about 1 week after sending it. She didn't have work available but was very open to talking with me when we spoke by phone.

• Graduate school statement of application/purpose. Application to the MFA in Video program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

• List of Work Submitted with MFA application: Provide a key to the creative materials submitted. This is the "packing list" that ensures that your application materials stay together and are viewed in their entirety. It also reeks of good organization skills!

**Remember, clarity, neatness, and professionalism are key here. But since you're all artists of one kind of another, you'll want to use this as an opportunity to create aesthetically-pleasing documents, as well. Don't overdesign them, but it always counts to show evidence that you spent time crafting not only the content, but also the look of your application materials.

1. WHAT TO PREPARE

a. Application materials for 2 different JOBS of interest to you. This requires you to research resources such as: job webpages of companies or organizations for which you’d like to work, employment websites like http://monster.com or http://www.careerbuilder.com, and other places listed on the SAMPLE DOCS and RESOURCES PAGE

~OR~

b. Application materials for 2 different GRADUATE SCHOOL programs of interest to you. This requires you to research resources such as graduate/professional school directories available at the library in book form (reference area), individual school websites, and more general sites. See listings on the SAMPLE DOCS and RESOURCES PAGE

~OR~

c. ONE OF EACH—1 Job AND 1 Grad school application packet

___________________________________________________________________________

2. TIPS to help you GET and STAY ORGANIZED:

• Have a computer of your own? Create a Bookmarks folder in your web browser called "JOBS" and one called "GRAD SCHOOLS"

• Get a 3-ring notebook, some dividers and folders, and make this a dedicated SITE for handouts, docs, and materials you generate.

• Make a calendar-based timeline for each job application. This should include due dates, dates by which you need to request letters of recommendation from faculty, employers, etc., dates to mail thank you letters (for recommendation letters written for you, advising/counseling from mentors/faculty), dates to follow up by email or phone on your job application submission.

___________________________________________________________________________

3. TIMELINE

• WK 6: You’ll prepare the materials required by the application as best you can in draft form for the week 6 workshop.

Bring one copy of all of these docs to class.

• WK 7: You’ll bring edited and polished materials to the week 7 meeting for workshopping with your peers. This means you’ll bring the following:

--several hard copies for a small group of your peers to read and mark on

--all materials clearly labeled on a CD for selective viewing on-screen.

__________________________________________________________________________

4. NEXT STEPS // FURTHER READING

SAMPLE DOCS

RESOURCES PAGE

1. Attend all class sessions and be punctual. Since we meet so infrequently, illness should be the only reason to miss a meeting or part of one. Please communicate with me about any absence IN ADVANCE.
2. Complete a self evaluation for Spring Quarter. Due Fri of Week 10 (June 8) by email.
3. Complete an evaluation of the program faculty, Julia Zay, and submit it directly to Julia or to Cindy Fry, Com Building Program Secretary
4. Complete and submit a personal syllabus/schedule to Julia and post on drupal site by Tuesday of week 3.
5. Complete a goals statement for the quarter and submit to Julia and post on drupal site by Tuesday of week 4.
6. Complete and submit a packet of materials for the Finishing School Workshop as follows:
1. cover letter/s
2. resume/s and/or CVs
3. artist statement and/or additional materials as specified in your job posting or grad application
7. Present your creative work at at least 2 WIP sessions and at the Week 10 final critique [Evidence of continuing work]
8. Participate in critiques and class discussions
9. Post progress updates weekly on the drupal site

•• YOUR CHOICE. NOT REQUIRED. If needed, edit your Fall/Winter Self-Eval and incorporate it into a multi-quarter SOS self-eval, to be completed by the end of WEEK 10 and e-mailed to Julia by FRIDAY JUNE 8.

I've been reading through all of your Fall and Winter self-evals to get a sense of how you're thinking about the learning you're doing this year. I want to strongly suggest that you all take a look at your Fall and Winter Evals and edit them accordingly:

• Readers will be bored by reading lists of things you *did* or reading detailed descriptions of your production process.
• Focus on KEY aspects of your progress only, and always contextualize them.
• As you edit your self-evals, aim to provide your reader with a sense of the ideas or concepts you're interested in and how your thinking about these concepts has progressed or changed over the course of the quarter/s.
• You also want to give the reader a sense of the *larger* (bigger picture) things you've learned over the quarter/s (not only descriptions of the smaller things).
• I'm encouraging you to be more engaging and reflective while providing your reader with less process/production/technical detail.