New Digital Media Lab to Arrive Fall 2023

Andrew Mannion

Sports Editor

Manhattan College students will have access to a new digital media lab in Hayden Hall beginning in the fall 2023 semester.

The construction of this new lab is currently underway and will lead to many opportunities for all students considering a digital media major or minor.

The current digital media lab in Hayden Hall has had recent issues with the lack of space within the facility. This led to classes not being able to accommodate the full capacity of students interested in registering.

The digital media and art history department chair, Daniel Savoy, Ph.D., spoke about how the new lab will allow students to have more options when registering for classes.

“(Digital media) already has over 40 students in the program, and it’s just growing,” Savoy said. “The issue is space, so we needed a second lab. We’d have enough space so we can schedule enough sections of classes so that students can meet the requirements to graduate. It was just a necessity in terms of space because we’re growing so rapidly and it’s be- coming very popular among many students.”

Among students, a main issue is the lack of class options. Melody Santos, a junior in the digital media program, explained that she often has to opt for two hour and 45 minute classes that meet once a week primarily due to the lack of lab availability for students.

“It can sometimes be draining because you’re sitting down for two hours and 45 minutes staring at a computer and I have to bring my blue light glasses,” Santos said. “I just wish we could split it up to maybe two times a week, even three times if it was possible because I know that certain teachers and professors have to cram all their classes in one day just to make sure that they’re getting time (in the lab).”

With this new lab, many within the department expect that to change. Jacob Roesch, an adjunct professor in the art history and digital media department, believes that there will be more opportunities to add more classes and majors to the program.

“(The new lab) is really just another space for students to be able to take classes right now,” Roesch said. “We want to offer more classes, like advanced classes for design for drawing for photography, and we just don’t have the space to do it. So it’s just gonna allow us to keep growing the department and give wider offerings of classes, more 3D kinds of things, more animation classes.”

Apart from the current construction project, the program hopes to create new opportunities for students. Savoy hinted at the idea of an art gallery to showcase the work being done by the art and digital media students.

“What I want to suggest is…like a dedicated student art gallery,” Savoy said. “We can hang work from all of our classes. We can have an annual show and students can get experience painting, exhibiting their work but also curating. So I wanted to put that into the master plan instead of just having works of art in the entrance to the library or in a hallway.”

These new additions will expand the digital media and art history programs and add hope for more majors and minors to be available in the future.