Version 0.11 (April 15, 2015)
changes:
0.1 - first draft
0.11 - expanded foreword and corrected a misquote
Contrary to what may be popular belief among BAMS students, there are actually established guidelines and protocols that are meant to be followed as they weave through the program. It just so happens that pretty much all of them is subject to change.
UPOU navigates over capricious waters of the times. Perhaps more so than any other UP campus, UPOU is subject to the rapid changes in trends of technology and society. Since the opening of the BAMS program back in 2008, I have seen prevailing ICTs change, from paper-based correspondence to SMS, to content management systems and mobile platforms. This is huge because ICT is the artery bridging the students to the university. We have also seen student demographics and dynamics dramatically change from the population dominated by full-time professionals to the emergence of UPCAT passers fresh off high school. These things force us, the UPOU faculty, to never stop moving forward to adapt to these changes. Otherwise, we run the risk of getting left behind and be doomed to irrelevance.
The BAMS Survival Guide is meant to be a supplement for whatever official guide or handbook is issued to you by the UP Open University. It aims to cover issues which any official guide cannot. It is also meant to keep pace with sudden changes to anything that relates to your being a student, unencumbered by the rigorous process an official guidebook has to go through before being approved by the university.
With that said, this is not meant to replace any official guidelines issued by the university. If you find any sort of conflict, unless it is explained clearly in this guide, you, the student have to trust that the official guidelines supersede this survival guide.
At the same time, this guide is only meant to point you to what we feel is the right direction. This guide will never be complete in the sense that everything you need to know will eventually be here. That is what we call spoon-feeding -- students expecting it and teachers practicing at are deeply frowned upon around here. As UPOU students, you are expected to practice a certain level of autonomy and proactiveness. If you can't do that, you may have to do a bit of soul-searching and figure out for yourself if you are in the right school.
Lastly, as it is emphasized here, when all else fail, talk to someone with authority and ask for help or perhaps directions. It's part of why we're here as mentors in the first place.
Al Francis Librero
BAMS Program Chair, 2014 to present
Introduction
Transfer of Credits
Enrollment
Student Conduct (coming soon)
Frequently Asked Questions
There are generally two types of students – the full-timers and part-timers. Full time students are typically encouraged to take on a full twelve unit load for each trimester. Part-time students, whom we presume to have full-time occupations, are advised to take three or six units.
However, based on what I have seen, classifying students is much more complicated than that. We also have to take educational background into account. That leads us to the following:
These have yet to cover so many other parameters in what is the student demographic. It may take a while to do so. But what this means is that the UPOU studentry is a highly diverse group of people, all of which must be fairly accommodated. Does it sound like a daunting task? You bet.
Sooner or later, you are going to have problems. And then I, or whoever the program chair will be when that time comes, will have to go through the repetitive process of helping you out. Now, it's ok if such things are isolated or are easily resolved. But there are times when neither is the case.
Therefore, it is also in my best interest to help you prepare early on with how to go about your business not just in BAMS, but in UPOU as a whole.
Let me start with the most important thing:
I'm not pertaining to any specific case or person (even though doing so will not be difficult). Being careless about instructions and content is sadly endemic to students as a whole. I think at least half of your potential problems can be avoided just by reading intently, whether it is your course site/manual, the academic calendar, AIMS, or whatnot. Aside from preventing yourself from making mistakes, it also saves you time because you won't have to needlessly make inquiries to me, your learning center or OUR and move on with whatever you need to do.
Ask me, other faculties-in-charge, the learning center coordinator or your fellow students. Whatever happens, DO NOT keep any questions to yourself hanging and lingering until it’s too late. Whenever there's a problem, an excuse that starts with I would like to ask that you reconsider [a ruling for whatever it is I screwed up]. I did not know that... is probably one of the worst that you can come up with.
Like I said, excuses are best made before deadlines. It gives us time to figure out how to deal with whatever problem you're going through.
We have lots of deadlines ourselves. We are pressured to produce grades on time. Heck, some of you even expect your assignments to be marked immediately. Personally, I am usually able to meet those deadlines under most circumstances. But it gets annoying when somebody sends an email asking for reconsideration, making up all sorts of excuses just to get away from a DRP or 5.0 long after I've submitted the grades. Do you have any idea how tedious (and potentially embarrassing) it is to modify official records?
Meeting deadlines is only one issue, however. All of us have our problems. We respect your right to privacy. However, when your problems start affecting your performance as a student, it might already be a good time to let us know enough of what's going on so we can try work with you to come up with a means to make things more bearable.
If that is no longer possible, at least we can advise you to drop your course(s) or file a leave of absence. It sounds harsh, but in my experience, working students with families are usually the ones facing the most problems and studying is almost always the lowest priority among them. Therefore, letting go of their studies, at least for the time-being, is usually the most practical decision. At the very least, an LOA is much more preferable than an array of DRPs and 5.0s.
Communicating with your FICs is also good practice because, eventually, it is something you will have to do constantly, when you make it to the higher major courses, especially MMS 200. If by then, you still don't know how to approach your profs, you might be in for a difficult time.
The first batch of BAMS graduates marched back in 2012. One of them graduated magna cum laude and delivered the valedictory speech for the entire class. She closed her speech with the following passage:
To the graduates, today is definitely a good time to ask for graduation gifts. This is our day. And today we celebrate that in spite of how much our Professors challenged us, we won over them! Congratulations fellow survivors!
It’s strange to see students behave as if the university and its professors are roadblocks – antagonists or kontrabidas in the stories of their lives. For the most part, such way of thinking has been tolerated. Truth be told, if it can be a source of motivation to excel and succeed at it, then all well and good. Unfortunately, there are incidents when students take it too far. Aside from being offensive, such incidents are unnecessary.
So, let’s get it out of the way early on. The institution and the people working for it are not your enemies. It is the course contents which you need to master. The professors are here to help you achieve that, but only if you let them.
On the other hand…
With students having to pay for tuition, it is not surprising for some to regard themselves as paying customers. Therefore, we should all abide by the old adage that the customer is always right. This can be a root of a lot of issues.
Remember this, and remember it well. You are not in UP buying a degree through the tuition fees your pay. You are in UP paying for a chance to prove yourself and earn a degree. That’s a titanic difference right there…
When communicating with professors, the least a student can do is get their names right. Some of you are probably going duh. But believe it or not, names are gotten wrong more often than it should, even if their email addresses are their actual real names. Whether it is borne of carelessness or ignorance, it is difficult to say. It is awkward, either way (not to mention insulting for some).
Even more awkward and embarrassing is being exposed for not knowing who you are actually addressing. You know the name, but not his or her title, position or responsibility. I know of incidents where students don’t know who the FICS dean, or worse, who the UPOU Chancellor is. There is no excuse for such levels of ignorance. Do take the time to know about these things.
You are in BAMS (not BAMMS, BMS or anything else), the Bachelor of Arts in Multimedia Studies program. It is an undergraduate degree program run by the Faculty of Information and Communication Studies (FICS) at the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU).
FICS is NOT the same as FIC (faculty in charge). Speaking of, there's what we call Faculty with a capital F, which pertains to the office (FICS, FEd and FMDS), and then there's faculty with a small f, which pertains to us, the assistant, associate and full professors.
This is quite important to keep in mind, especially when communicating with UPOU staff. Get it wrong, and you will look foolish. Even though most of us will not mind, it's still best to avoid that. We've encountered instances where a student makes it through graduation without even knowing which Faculty they belonged to. That's just embarrassing and I don't want any of you to be the same.
The program chair is actually the wrong person to ask for regarding which courses you took from your previous school or university can be credited by UPOU. He or she is not involved in this particular process. This is handled by the Faculty Secretary and therefore should be the person for you to contact regarding this matter.
However, there are a few things you can keep in mind prior to contacting the secretary.
A self-advising checklist is released during registration and can usually be found in the front page of the AIMS student portal. It includes all the courses offered in the trimester. The instructions in that checklist are fairly straightforward. However, certain questions often come up.
Full-time students normally take on full twelve unit loads for each trimester. Part-time students are often advised to only take three or six units per trimester. However, they are free to take up to twelve as well, if they do so desire.
It is also common for students to want to enroll more than twelve units. In such cases, they are required to directly ask for permission to do so from the program chair. He or she will then evaluate such requests on a case to case basis. Provided that a requestor is in good academic standing, permission can easily be granted. Otherwise, the request would be denied.
Students allowed to overload will be kept an eye on. The permission to overload is not unconditional. This means that if an overloaded student shows signs of having a difficult time coping leading to failing, dropping or being given an EXT to even one course, he or she will never be allowed to overload again.
Every now and then, you will find certain conflicts or inconsistencies between the BAMS curriculum found in the FICS website (http://fics.upou.edu.ph) and the self-advising checklist made available to you during enrollment period through the Academic Information Management System (AIMS).These are what you need to know in order to understand why.
First, what is found in the website or BAMS program handbook (if available) is the one that is official, as in approved by the UP Board of Regents. That is the one we strive to follow as best we can. However, there are times when it is necessary to bend the rules a little bit, so to speak. This can be manifested through the checklist.
OUR’s AIMS follows the curriculum originally approved by the UP Board of Regents, as already stated. The problem is that FICS is often forced to bend the rules a little, when it comes to prerequisites. That is why you will often notice conflicts between the checklist and AIMS when you enroll courses. This happens for two main reasons. First, with BAMS students coming in every trimester with widely varying degrees of previous accomplishments, provisions have been made to make sure they have enough courses to enroll in. Second, there are a number of higher major courses where students would do well taking certain lower courses prior, despite what is included in the original curriculum.
So, these conflicts, in fact, happen not out of incompetence, but of the desire to accommodate students more.
If a program chair has the authority to waive prerequisites, he or she will already do so and indicate it in the BAMS self-advising checklist provided during enrollment. So unless stated otherwise, only the designated FIC for a course has the authority to waive prerequisites and allow you to enroll even if you haven’t passed them. This is what we call COI or the consent of instructor.
Again, if a prerequisite has not been pre-waived in the checklist, the program chair can’t do anything about it. You need to directly contact the FIC. If one has not been announced yet who can give a COI, as is sometimes the case, you will have to assume that the prerequisite(s), if any, cannot be waived.
The 140 series is made up of math and computer science related courses, namely:
MMS 140 Mathematics in Multimedia
MMS 141 Principles of Programming
MMS 142 Internet Technologies and Web Development
MMS 143 Introduction to Multimedia Computing
MMS 144 Principles of Multimedia Information Management
MMS 145 Multimedia Communications and Networking
MMS 146 Object-Oriented Programming
Passing these courses can be a potentially daunting task, especially for those without a firm background on mathematics and computer programming. If you think are one such student, then you are advised to only take one of them at any given trimester. And perhaps more so than in others, FICS is particularly strict about enforcing the prerequisites of these courses.
The aptly called production courses consist of the 170 series, namely:
MMS 171 Text in Multimedia
MMS 172 Audio in Multimedia
MMS 173 Photography in Multimedia
MMS 174 Graphics in Multimedia
MMS 175 Videography in Multimedia
MMS 176 Animation in Multimedia
The originally approved BAMS curriculum indicates that there are no prerequisites for these courses. However, if you apply a bit of common sense, you will notice some logic in the sequence of these courses.
All six courses are deeply rooted from MMS 100, the first major course all students should take. Therefore, it makes sense that you take MMS 100 before any of the production courses – not after or even at the same time. Otherwise, prepare for potential difficulties along the way.
It is also an excellent idea to take these production courses in ascending order, starting with MMS 171, and becomes practically imperative by the time you make it to 175 and 176. In case you’re asking why, if you take a close look, their foundations are actually grounded on the lower production courses. For example, what is video but the combination of sound, moving pictures and a dash of text and additional graphics?
Another thing to note is that while these production courses are potentially the most fun you will have in BAMS, they typically require a considerable amount of work. Therefore, it is recommended that you take no more than one production course for each trimester.
Students are often clueless when they enroll in this vaguely titled course. The way UPOU treats this course, it is a springboard for emerging trends and topics in the field of multimedia. It is also the place to tackle topics not covered by any of the other major courses.
The actual topics will vary each time MMS 198 is offered. FICS will go out of its way to announce these topics in advance so that you will have the chance to choose the topic you would be most interested in.
For your reference, the following topics have been covered in the past:
MMS 200 can’t really be considered as just one of your major courses. It is your capstone. It is the avenue for you to apply everything you have learned from all the other courses to conduct research on multimedia through a project or a thesis.
It is difficult to set boundaries for what you can or cannot do because of the wide scope encompassed by the term multimedia. UPOU faculty, therefore, have to evaluate students and their ideas on a case-to-case basis.
Only students of senior standing (or have taken 75% of the courses in the curriculum) should attempt to take MMS 200. It is also strongly recommended that most, if not all, of the production courses and MMS 197 are included in that 75%.
Research is a tricky concept to grasp, hence the necessity of MMS 197. What can or cannot qualify as multimedia research is explained in greater detail in the guide for MMS 200.
As for handling MMS 200 is concerned, it is a 6-unit course, taken three at a time.
The following are to be expected the first time you take it:
Once you get an S, you can proceed to taking the second half of MMS 200. Expect the following:
In addition, you still have to understand that the world does not revolve around you. Be considerate and heed the following:
You typically would have one academic year to finish MMS 200. However, the 3-3 distribution was based on a semestral schedule. So if you still want that whole year to work with and not have any grade issues, it is a good idea to have a one-trimester gap when enrolling. For example, as a senior student, you enroll the first time during the first trimester. Assuming you pass, don’t enroll MMS 200 again until the third trimester arrives. You use that break during the second trimester to conduct the implementation of your project or experiment (while still under the supervision of your adviser). So, when the third trimester arrives, you will only have to worry about writing your manuscript (or the finishing touches of your implementation, depending on its extent).
You could be given permission to enroll 15 units (please see the part on Academic Load).
First of all, 15 units is already non-recommendable. Taking 18 units is not permitted except in the most extreme situations, like you only have one trimester left before you violate the maximum residency rule (MRR).
If you came from a non-UP school, it is not automatic, and therefore must be explicitly requested. Remember that the program chair is NOT the person to ask about this. This is the FICS secretary’s job (fics-secretary@upou.edu.ph). Alternatively, you can inquire through the FICS mailer (fics@upou.edu.ph).
Only if you have COI, or the consent of instructor. The program chair cannot give you the COI, unless he or she is the actual faculty in charge of the course you want to take.
You still need the COI. However, in such cases, faculties in charge tend to be more lenient since the shortcoming is from the university’s end.
There’s always a checklist made available for you so you can decide which major courses you can take. For GE courses, you can check out postings from the Faculty of Education. Cross check the available courses with your academic record, while keep in mind of prerequisites. This is something students are expected to figure out for themselves.
If you’re a new student, it’s a good idea to take MMS 100 as soon as possible. Among GE courses, Math 1 is arguably one of the most critical, being the prerequisite of MMS 140 which, in turn, is a prerequisite for other courses in the 140 series.
Also, keep in mind that while we do what we can to ensure that it is possible for any student to be able to enroll twelve units in a trimester, regardless of standing, there will unavoidably times when it is not going to be possible. This is not uncommon, especially for those who are not following the prescribed plan of study, which assumes that you started your life as a BAMS student on a first trimester. Those who don’t start on a first trimester can regard themselves as irregular students. Again, while UPOU does its best, it is not obligated to accommodate irregular students as far as ensuring twelve unit loads is concerned.
Technically, the official curriculum is correct. However, due to circumstances covered in this guide, there are times when prerequisites need to be waived. If a program chair can do so directly, it will be reflected from the checklist. Therefore, if the checklist does not indicate a prerequisite for a given course, it means that its official prerequisite has been waived, at least for the duration of that trimester.
Well, yes and no. Yes, because you are correct. MMS 100 is not officially a prerequisite. But it is crucial is preparing you for what's to come in all the production courses. If you proceed, you do so at your own risk.
MMS 197 is to MMS 200 the same way that MMS 100 is to the production courses. So, yes and no...
Stop right there. Unfortunately, AIMS cannot account for senior standing as prerequisite. It's a system limitation that has not been addressed as of this writing. Therefore, the coordinator goes through academic records manually and will have your enrollment cancelled if you are actually not qualified to take MMS 200 yet.
(end)