BAA, BFA or BS?
Brian Stuparyk attended Ryerson University in the hopes of earning a bachelor of applied arts (BAA). He wanted to become more familiar with photographic processing, develop pictures in dark rooms and learn how to use a camera.
But two years into his Rye education, the school of image arts decided it was time for a change -- so instead of graduating with the BAA he came in for, Stuparyk left with a bachelor of fine arts (BFA) instead.
"The fact is that Ryerson may have kept up with the degree, but it didn't keep up with the technology," says the 2003 photography graduate and former Eyeopener photo editor. "I would've at least liked to hold a digital camera before I graduated."
Stuparyk is bothered by what he believes was a "seamless transition between degrees." Degrees that, on paper, are wildly different. He would rather have focused on the mechanical aspects of art a BAA program would have provided for him, not the refined and structured approach he instead received from his BFA.
At other Ontario universities, a BFA encompasses disciplines such as dance, painting, sculpting and theatre, which is a far departure from the photography, film and new media streams that Ryerson's BFA program offers.
Yet, a name change didn't consitute a curriculum makeover for the former BAA degree.
Five years ago, with approval from the students and support from university administration, Ryerson began offering its image arts students a BFA as opposed to a BAA.
This decision, which was proposed and passed in October 2000, by the image arts departmental council and academic council, was a "healthy move" for the school, says image arts academic co-ordinator, James McCrorie.
"When the department discovered that it would be an easy transition to switch from a bachelor of applied arts, we just went for it," McCrorie explains. "We didn't have to do any additions or deletions in order to be deemed a BFA program.
"There were no adjustments. It made no difference as far as cuts, it made no difference as far as substitutions. Students were already in a program that constituted the title of a BFA and so it was a degree designation change. That's all it was."
He said Ryerson's BAA program was already meeting all BFA curriculum requirements based on the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities' standards -- it simply wasn't operating as such.
But, Tanya Blazina, an official for issues management and media relations of the MTCU, says the ministry is not involved in the designation and content of academic programs for arts courses.
"Universities, like Ryerson, are autonomous institutions," Blazina writes in an e-mail to the Eyeopener. "They are responsible for developing their own program standards and determining all matters of academic quality."
Bruce Piercey, spokesperson for Ryerson University, confirmed this statement.
"It's Ryerson's job to decide on its own curriculum requirements," he says. "Image arts decided to offer a BFA because they thought it was best, not because the ministry told them it was best."
Stuparyk doesn't feel the degree designation change was beneficial for him.
"Ryerson was really big on promoting itself to be home to the 'leaders of tomorrow' back when I was there. It was this whole advertising campaign. But I remember thinking to myself: 'If we're the leaders of tomorrow, it would be nice to have equipment that we could use today.' "
Despite Stuparyk's disapproval, McCrorie says the degree designation change has opened the doors for students to picture perfect paths of artistic success.
"With the university's new title, came new expectations," McCrorie says. "We thought that since the university was going through a bit of an all-over alteration because of the requested name change, we should make sure our degrees coincided with the status shift."
In June, 2001, the school officially changed its name from Ryerson Polytechnic University and assumed its present identity as Ryerson University. The school was the only Ontario university to ever offer a BAA.
Margaret Przystawko, program assistant for the school of image arts and one of Stuparyk's former classmates, also thinks the change made sense for Ryerson.
"Offering applied arts was appropriate when we were still a polytechnic university, but after that, it made more sense to change it to something more recognizable," says Przystawko, adding that Stuparyk has always had the tendency to be "overly dramatic" and "somewhat of an over-exaggerator."
But after dedicating four years of his life to a degree he believed would lead him to his future, Stuparyk feels mislead, because it didn't.
"The change happened because the BAA wasn't recognized in a lot of institutions, in the workplace, in the U.S., or even around the world," says Melanie Loiselle, image arts departmental secretary.
Still, Stuparyk's shiny new BFA from a Canadian school did nothing for him. Even though it wasn't a BAA, the stigma of Ryerson's applied approach to teaching followed him and his transcript wherever they went.
Convinced his newly named degree would gain him entry into Canada's leading master of fine arts program at the University of Alberta, Stuparyk submitted his pre-application only to be told he was not good enough for this Western Canadian art elite.
"An applicant must normally hold a bachelor's degree in fine arts or design (or its equivalent) from a recognized institution," reads the University of Alberta's department of art and design website.
Stuparyk was told that the curriculum on his transcript didn't meet the faculty's requirements. In other words, he says, his degree was not from a recognized institution.
"When I got out of Ryerson, I felt as if I hadn't received the proper education," he says. "I applied for jobs and photographers sent me on my way because I didn't have the experience they expected me to have. And when I applied to grad school, they told me I didn't have enough history credits.
"If Ryerson's BFA is as good as everyone there is saying it is, then why couldn't it even get me into the U of A?" he asks.
Dawn McLean, academic advisor for the department of art and design at the University of Alberta, says admission depends on each student's readiness and experience.
"If we don't admit a student, it's for a very good reason," McLean says. "We take this program very seriously because it is very intense and demanding and so if we feel as if a student isn't ready to be part of it, then we act accordingly. I guess some applicants just literally don't make the grade."
Stuparyk happened to be one of those applicants.
After being turned down, Stuparyk looked for other ways to put his love for the applied practice of photography to use. He is currently studying printmaking at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomsfield Hills, Mich.
McCrorie is confident Ryerson's BFA compares well to other Ontario university programs offering the same degree, in both practical and theoretical approach.
"We have a very nice mix of theoretical and practical," he says. "Within the practical, we have a very nice mix of analog and digital.
"People can whine and complain all they want, but when it really comes down to it, a degree is just a degree.... Degrees are only what the person themselves do with them," he says.
"I could've just sat there and dwelled," says Stuparyk, who feels he would have been better off with a BAA because applied arts and science-based artistic techniques are what he is most interested in. "But you have to cut your own breaks, so I made it work for me."
McCrorie says that students who were studying any of the three image arts programs during the transition years had the option to receive a BAA "if they really wanted to hold to their roots.
"So, when the whole thing went through the BFA switch, they were notified by the academic advising office that if they wanted to do this they'd go through x, x and x procedure and follow through."
Although he can't remember the exact details regarding how this information was communicated to students, he is adamant that it was.
Ann Mackay, assistant registrar of academic advising, says the appropriate graduating years were informed of the possibility.
"A letter from Brian Damude, the chair of the program at the time, was sent to alumni on April 19, 2002," she writes in an e-mail.
Stuparyk maintains that he was never informed of this choice available to transition year students.
"I didn't hear anything about it," he says.
"If we did have the choice, I had no idea."
If he had known, Stuparyk says, he would've made the proper arrangements and done all of the necessary paperwork to receive the degree he preferred.
McCrorie says "only one or maybe two" students in the transition years chose to keep their BAA. Stuparyk would have been happy to be one of them.
"It really pisses me off that no one ever told me about this," Stuparyk says. "But then again, the guy that's saying we were informed is the same guy who never returned my phone calls when I had concerns.... I would remember if I had gotten a letter in the mail, a phone call or even had a conversation about that. I went into Ryerson for a BAA and I should've come out with one.
"I don't care what they say about it not being recognizable. Frankly, neither was their BFA. So, what's the difference?"
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