By: Sarah Baase
Professor Grim, a Digital Media professor of SUNY Niagara, was asked a series of questions, this article is meant to go over and dissect her answers.
More Photography?
For my first question I asked Grim if she believes the school should have a photography program alongside the digital media program.
Grim responded by saying that they’re working on incorporating more digital photography into the digital media degree. So, there’s an opportunity for those students that are interested in what photography means today, which is still in moving image.”
Therefore, giving those students who are just as interested in the photography aspects of digital media to have a chance to delve into it, is what she is saying.
Photography is Changing
According to Grim, “Many of the colleges around the country are actually moving away from black and white dark room in order to have the foundation of digital photography and moving black and white dark room to an alternative process. So you would have that later in photography, not as an intro to photography.”
No More Black Room??
Grim states, “I find if you’re not in the room, then you’re not there to fight.”
She says this in response to the black room being replaced as a storage room due to the lack of bodies moving in and out of it.
“But having dark rooms with chemistry, you have to have special ventilation and people to train…” “Barb {Barbara Buckman, Head of the Fine Arts Department} told me they took it out. And I saw the enlargers in another room and it is heading to storage…”
Collaborating With Real-World Projects
My question for Grim was, “Are there opportunities for students to work on real world projects or collaborations with industry partners?” her response being, “All the time. All the time.”
She claims, “I’m a full believer that you need portfolio materials, that you need to have real world experiences. Everyone graduating with the same materials in their portfolio doesn’t help them in the slightest. It doesn’t give them a competitive edge.”
Grim’s Take on Building a Portfolio
She states, ” So I do community-based learning, so students have that opportunity.”
From teaching history of photography classes at the Albright Knox gallery to taking field trips to the George Eastman house in Rochester, Professor Grim wants her students to be able to reflect on their work and their experiences repeatedly verses what she describes as, “looking at a book, which is very small.”
Professor Grim also likes to have her students collaborate with the theatre department in creating the film for them while the theatre students act it out, and afterwards, her students add their own animations to the film.
“Yeah, lots of hands-on. We don’t lecture. it’s all hands-on.”
From Classes to Clubs
Here at SUNY Niagara, we have clubs that students have the opportunity to engage on hands-on collaboration, learning even more tools to creating and being masters of digital media.
“We have a digital filmmaking club that is currently working on a project where they are filming in Lockport… there’s another art club that just got back from Cleveland… there’s a lot of clubs available.”
Diversity at SUNY Niagara
In a question about program competitiveness in Digital Media, professor Grim states, “It’s more diverse than the nursing program. The nursing program is very specific and they can only accept a certain number of students.”
It is ironic, too, because SUNY Niagara is very widely known for its nursing program being that it is the most competitive program to get into at this school. But what is nice about this school is that you can keep coming back for more.
“But we have students here that just keep coming back for more associates. They are not interested in going to a four-year program. They like the campus, they like the area, it’s close to home or they just like the programs offered.”
Professor Grim interview proved to be very informational on the future of the digital media courses offered here at SUNY Niagara as well as the opportunities that lie ahead.
Spring 2026 
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