By Victoria Andrade
The new media program has separated from the RTA School of Media as of Jan. 1. According to the program chair, this change aims to simplify program management while creating greater opportunities for new media students.
The new administrative change includes no curriculum modifications according to the senate meeting summary from May 2024. Motions to start the separation process began in January 2024.
Following new media’s separation, RTA now includes only two undergraduate programs, media production and sport media. It also offers three graduate programs including a Master of Arts in Media Production, a Master of Fine Arts in Scriptwriting and Story Design, and a PhD in Media and Design Innovation.
When asked about the reason for this separation, new media chair David Bouchard emphasized the overwhelming managerial responsibilities of all three programs in the RTA school over the years.
“What started as more of a manageable unit became quite large over time. We were the biggest school in The Creative School and that meant it became a little bit inefficient to operate from a management administration standpoint,” said Bouchard.
According to the senate summary, the proposal to separate the new media program from the RTA School of Media was discussed in Fall 2023 between the RTA chair council and the Dean of The Creative School Charles Falzon.
Third-year new media student Ethan Wong said he sees the separation as a way for the program to grow and create its own identity within The Creative School.
“When we heard that new media was separating, it wasn’t too surprising. It kind of made sense,” he said. “I hope that in the future a lot of people will see new media as its own thing and it won’t be compared as much to these other two RTA programs like it used to be.”
In contrast to Wong’s thoughts, fourth-year RTA media production student Ayanna Seesahai worries about how the separation will impact future opportunities for RTA students.
“Yes, there are opportunities [for RTA students] but not as much as new media. I find that if you work together with new media people and join their projects there are more.”
When asked about the possible effects of this separation on RTA students, Bouchard described the efforts of The Creative School to connect not only students in new media and RTA but also students in their other programs.
“I think The Creative School, in general, is moving to become a little bit more of an ecosystem, as opposed to these silos of the schools functioning independently … this is what everybody is thinking about. How do we build better bridges?” said Bouchard.
He further emphasized that the change in administration will allow both new media and RTA students to approach their programs with more autonomy and space for creativity.
As outlined in the senate proposal, “Students will continue to benefit from the collaborative environment that the new media and media production programs have cultivated over the years. Building on this, we intend to maintain and expand the shared elective courses available not only to our students but also to others within The Creative School.”
The new media program will be completing its 30th year at TMU in 2026 and the standalone new media department will be accepting its first intake of students in September 2025.
“We’ll continue to see exciting things coming from the New Media students in the future. We have a great program and a thriving community, and I look forward to continuing to build that with our students,” said Bouchard.
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