The ASU Humanities department plans to add a film degree in fall 2005, though many details of the program are still in revision.
The film degree would involve both the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Herberger College of Fine Arts, said Peter Lehman, director of the interdisciplinary humanities program.
"We are currently exploring the possibility of two tracks -- one in critical studies and one in production," he said.
Lehman said the department received an approval from the Arizona Board of Regents four years ago to plan for a film and media major.
"Given the many changes that have taken place at ASU since then, things have been delayed," he said.
For a major to gain planning approval it must prove high demand for the program, prove it fulfills the needs of the state of Arizona and the region and prove the program is a basic academic subject normally taught in most universities.
Provosts then review proposals before the regents and the chief academic officers review them.
Ron Newcomer, faculty assistant of film studies, said it frustrates him that there is not a film degree at ASU, one of the largest public universities in the country.
Currently, ASU offers film courses through multiple departments, though there is no unified degree.
"[The courses] don't give them an inside to what, in my opinion, is the second most competitive business in the world," he said.
Chad Ohnstad, an interdisciplinary studies sophomore and president of the Independent Film Production Club at ASU, said members have pushed for a film major at the University, though there has not been much support.
"There's a lot of red tape," he said. "As of right now, we have a lot of work to do."
Pre-business sophomore and club member Tyler Quinn said the lack of a film degree at ASU limits students from what they want to do.
"In a school with over 50,000 people, they should try to provide opportunities for everybody's interests," he said.
Jared Mercier, an undeclared junior, started the club last spring with five members and has since recruited 60, he said.
The purpose of the organization is to foster connections between ASU students and other college students and to provide a hands-on experience with filmmaking.
"[The club] is mainly trying to be a networking program and provide opportunities for students that ASU doesn't provide," Mercier said.
Mercier said the club, which meets weekly in the Memorial Union, would hold seminar sessions on the process of filmmaking with faculty and other guest speakers.
The film club is one of two at ASU -- the other is the Film and Video Career Club.
Members of the Film and Video Career Club work together and produce one film every school year.
Reach the reporter at shaina.levee@asu.edu.
