Organisational Communication

Quantitative research

Doris Altin, Eliise Brigita Mõisamaa, Kertu Rumm, Sheila

Roose, Laura Teder, Kristi Varik, Ellen Valgepea, Liisi Voolaid

What are You studying in BFM?

75%

25%

MediaFilm

How long have You studied in BFM?

38%

18%

20%

12%

12%1 year2 years3 yearsover 3 yearsNo answer

How old are You?

20%

22%

29%

25%

4%

18-2020-2222-24over 24No answer

What is Your gender?

47%

51%

2%

FMNo answer

Where are You from?

71%

27%

2%

EstoniaAbroadNo answer

1. In your mind, which key words describe BFM the best?

In your mind, which key words describe BFM the best?

00,5

11,5

22,5

33,5

4

Students

2. Please write below three of BFM’s most important goals: To prepare good professionals. Represent Estonia. Getting more budget to finance student works. Attracting good scholars to teach new technologies.(2) Prepare students for real jobs.(2) Become the best Media school in Europe. (4) To offer the best standards and teaching. (3) To offer competitive and high level education in mental and technical aspects. To enrich visual concepts an bring together like minded people. Create new environment and standards of work. To educate people in the field of film, TV, media.(5) To become best film school in Scandinavia. Develop professionals. Professors abroad. International students.(3)

Bureaucracy. Create filmmakers.(7) Getting new campus done.(4) Integrate people from different countries and cultures to work together. Have many successful people working in movie and film area who are

from BFM. Provide students a great studying environment. Improve Estonian film industry.(5) Develop movie world in Baltics. Teach creative people. (2) To offer quality international Media and Film studies. To offer an output for talented people in the interests of Media and Film. Professionalism. Organizational skills. Strong teaching stuff. Well informed students and communication. Produce PR people. To help young people to understand what they want to become.

Lots of practise.(2) To be the most innovative school.(3) Plenty of students.(2) Be known overall.(3) To make profit. (3) Organize some lectures. Develop creative thinking in youth and adults. To develop the talent of students. To support the student. To have a good world-wide reputation.(2) Ditch PR. Keep the school running, so teachers could get their salaries. Teachers fighting about whose artistic opinion is the most valuable.

3. Please evaluate BFM`s values and goals.

BFM`s goals are important to me as well

Values stressed by BFM are important to me as well

6%14%

25%45%

6%Not at all

Rarely

Sometimes

Often

Always

I see the perspective while studying in BFM, I know where we are heading

16%

20%

27%

31%

6%Not at all

Rarely

Sometimes

Often

Always

I know what BFM appreciates in students work

4. What do you think BFM actually appreciates in students work?

Mix of both technical and creative skills shown, ability to work in teams, respect of the given criteria (meeting the deadlines, etc.). Innovation. 3x This category is very vague, but I guess it appreciates if knowledge obtained in

school is used in production. Individual input, originality, hard work, skills. Motivation and interest to evolve. Correct work. Some weird art way which is not what I want. Activity, having a goal yourself. Development. Depends on a student, it is difficult to get attention nevertheless appreciation. Professionalism. 4x Activity in taking part of projects.

Study fee payments. 3x That it‘s done on time. Creativity. 8x Doing something new with the things available. Honesty. 2x That it gets done. 3x The film and AV part - PR is left out. Originality. 2x Effort. Innovative ideas. 2x At the moment it seems that BFM appreciates independence and capability

to do things yourself not by the help of the school. Depends on teacher (some are understandable, some are mystery). 2x Own vision in the frame of instructions given by BFM. Form. The will to do things, self-confidence, new discoveries, respect. Imagination. 2x Knowledge, individuality, thoughts. Filmmaking.

5. Which aspects need to be appreciated in students work?

Daring to express oneself, devotion of all potential skills (motivation), ability to apply critical thinking as well.

Their willingness to participate in practical work which leads to.. well, paid jobs.

Every aspect. Personal growth. 3x Contribution and general interest. Other creative activities outside

school curriculum. The students individual desires. Will to develop own strengths. Not weirdness. Finding their style of living and making film, thinking outside of box. Creativity. 9x Self-confidence, imagination, new discoveries, respect.

That they have trouble paing tuition fees that are already high and have in-humane conditions for the study. Understanding ability, analytical capacity. Goal. The availability of equipment to make quality work. Dedication. The whole PR department. 2x Deadlines and instructions should be more strict. Originality, the work that’s behind it. Each student work (2x), not just the group. Innovation. Potential, talent. It depends on type of course. The time they spent doing it.

Their personalities and their life situations. Intelligence, results, loyalty. Commitment. 2x Effort. 5x The main approach. Character, the potential of success, potential of getting better,

potential of progress Technical fluency. Punctuality in the schedules. Content, experiments. The will to do things. 3x Independent work. Knowledge, thoughts.

6. Do you think you get enough information about what is going on in BFM?

7.I get information about happenings in BFM from:

8. Which channel do you prefer to get information from?

Three most prefered channels:

E-mail

Mailing lists

Web-site

9. Please evaluate the information flow.

10. What kind of information do you think is relevant in the inner communication of BFM?

11. If in your opinion the information interchange is

lacking in BFM, then it is because: 

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Def icient interaction between students inside the univ ersity

Indef inite instructions which are conf using and hard to understand

Def icient opportunities to exchange inf ormation

The assistants do not pass on necessary inf ormation

The department (Film, Media) leader does not pass on necessary

inf ormation

Students f rom the same department (Film, Media) do not pass on

necessary inf ormation

Students f rom other departments (Film, Media) do not pass on

necessary inf ormation

Def icient knowledge of general goals and trends

Structure and study ing distribution is unclear, it is not clear whom to

rely inf ormation and f rom who to get inf ormation

Too much inf ormation disturbance or unessential inf ormation

Too many channels f or inf ormation (intranet, driv es, mailing-lists, web-

sites)

Def icient interaction between students inside their department

Other

YES

NO

No answer

Please specify other: The information between Estonian film department and media

department should be shared more. Especially when it comes to TV journalism students’ opportunities in Estonian channels. I heard PÖFFihunt was looking for content editors from the Estonian department (which does NOT school media people). There was no information about it for AV students. Why?

Time issues- too few tutors to give sufficient feedback to students’ progress.

A matter of responsibility, honesty and interest in innovation. A college-wide mail-list that you have to subscribe if you want, like

the grant list is for all of TLU. Or is the BFM mail-list the same for all PR, Media and Estonian film?

The Estonian mentality. Everything is stuck but nobody sees it.

Only one clear channel for information. It is irritating that every teacher has his own way to tell us that he is

sick or whatever.. why do students have to be alerted all the time through Moodle, Twitter, FB, Intranet, TLU e-mail, own e-mail, hear stuff from students, come to school and get the information on the last minute from a board... why cant there be ONE system that everybody uses...

Every course should have their community for example in Facebook where all the information will spread.

Most important messages (lecture cancelled, room changed,

etc) come too late or appear only on the message board. Most important messages (lecture cancelled, room changed,

etc) come too late or appear only on the message board. /NAME/ promised the student council to fix this, nothing happened, as usual.

12. What would you recommend that would improve theinformation movement in BFM?

To ensure that all of the information (including the irrelevant) is available in English.(2)

A unified e-mailing list, intranet could function better and be

accessible to all or not be used at all. And I find it absolutely outrageous that to

change my e-mail password, I have to the TLU main building and catch the

computer lab assistant (who is always rude to everyone)! Have a weekly bulletin on internet and print, where information about

upcoming and past events, productions, competitions and opportunities to

spend our free time (theatre, exhibitions etc.) and print it in ENGLISH. Common organized meetings between media and film/courses. Communal

board in school, where students could stick their ideas (should be promoted a bit more). More feedback.

Info-minutes once a week. Maybe 5 minutes from lunchtime.(2)

More feedback from professors, more discussing about everybody's own strengths and weaknesses and more information about general goals.(5)

Emails could be received more often. Only really important information would arrive to school email box.

Certain people who have to pass information and whose job is to be responsible for it.

People don’t communicate because of their indifference towards BFM coals. If there’s a way how school unites people to one NOT media and film then maybe people start caring about sharing information.

Be more humble and seriously re-invent yourselves Word of mouth that management TELLS us! Join all the information channels into one.(9) Information flow should be improved.

Students should get more information about their studies, about school rules etc. No one passes on important information. Nothing goes smoothly - there are always misunderstandings with timetable, lecturers, school rules etc. Nothing is clear at BFM. A proper manager of media department, who gives meetings for students would improve the information movement in BFM!

Better communication. First, talking and thinking. If it doesn’t help then, perhaps, some

people from the staff should be replaced with more communicative people.

One big forum on Internet. One simple blog webpage without stupid submenu system, and

opportunity to evaluate classes. Using Twitter for most news from students and fac.

Use the same channels, that are used by others. Do not invent anything new. FB, Twitter and e-mail are enough.

Strict decisions from teachers and stuff. As suggested years ago - a contract with a mobile service

provider for mass-SMSing in case of cancelled lectures. Checking which e-mails to forward to which groups of students.

Transparency to the whole system: from decision making to giving the info blaming the others and escaping from the responsibilities does not help.

There is no information on what courses are about available before taking class (BFM courses either don‘t have descriptions on TLU website or they don‘t seem relevant); Syllabuses should include clear requirements for finishing course and should be more freely available (e.g. from Intranet) and shouldn‘t be very long and outdated; And don‘t assume that I always check my e-mail - posting important information on school‘s bulletin board too would be helpful.

13. What sort of information would you like to get from BFM‘s mailing lists?

Job offers, scholarship offers, internship offers etc. Everything that is directly and indirectly connected with my studies. The

more information on selected field the better. Also option to choose which news you would like to receive would be useful, as some prefer only very specific information.(2)

Events, happenings, feedback from lectures and fellow students. Also links and threads about interesting content. I really like the weekly newsletter.

I am OK with what I get. Job offers and film festivals and maybe dates for exams. Job offers, information about schedule changes, possibilities to participate

in other students' projects. Career/internship opportunities, BFM future plans, staff change,

information about lectures and professors.

Info regarding lectures, study opportunities, grants, movies, events. I’m not sure do I actually want any information from the list anymore. The future and general news about BFM. For example, the students have

never heard a formal explanation about BFM’s (new) facilities, nor the future of the PR programme.(5)

Feedback about my studies.(2) Everything regards studies, not film festivals. Everything that is important to my department, events, problems regarding

class times.(7) Useful and more about the future. Information about the courses/assignments/grading, changes in staff, news

from my department (not from others as it is being done now.(2) Events connected with school, anything concerning the lectures and

lessons. About BFM’s events and changes made from every day activities to over-

all structural changes in school. All what could interested me, but in English language.

More relevant to BFM not TLU. What’s going on in the departments - any projects together, any interesting projects are about to start off, any career opportunities, any new (ex-)BFM students film are being screened, any new Estonian films are being screened somewhere, any help is needed in the projects...

Important notifications, reminders, opportunities, grading, information from professors.

BFM‘s mailing lists is most only spam. Right now there is enough information. Workshops, success of others. Only titles + links to further info about everything considering studies,

the field and leisure time. No cross-mailings. Clearly labelled option to inscribe and reply (this is more relevant to

non-BFM TLU mailing lists). And I don‘t know what else, because they send something very rarely.

14. Please assess your possibilities for giving feedback?

15. Please give your evaluation for a collaboration in BFM.

16. Please evaluate the atmosphere in BFM.

17. I have always been enthusiastic about my studies at BFM...

47%

29%

22%2%

oftensometimesyes, alwaysvery rarely

18. My motivation to study at BFM has increased during the last year...

29%

22% 18%

16%

8%6%

not at allvery littlea lota bitvery muchdon't know

19. My professors know how to motivate me in order to gain better study results...

41%

20%

20%

12%4%2%

not reallynot at alla bitquite wellvery welldon't know

20. I like to study at BFM...

41%

25%

14%

10%6%

4%

rather likelike very mucha bitnot reallynot at allno answer

21. Changes taken place during the last year have created a change in the activities in BFM...

37%

27%

18%

12%4%2%

don't knowvery littlea bitnot at alla lotvery much

22. I am pleased with the courses that BFM has to offer...

37%

35%

16%

12%

relatively pleaseda bitvery littlenot at all

23. What kind of changes would you recommend that would improve the atmosphere of BFM?

Better study environment. (2 answers) More interaction between students in different courses

and departments. Change of location. (6 answers) A study/ relaxation/ coffee room, where students can have

group meetings, work with their laptops, read magazines, listen to some music on headphones or watch a movie. Something like library but much more comfortable and relaxed. (2 answers)

Better courses. More challenges. More allowances in terms of equipment and available funds.

More interesting ways to carry out lectures. (2 answers)

People have to be valued. There’s no point of taking people to school, asking them to pay tuition and not care about them. More like one big happy family, rather than media and film apart. Care for the students not for their money. University should make us feel like one family, inform us all at the

same time of changes. Bring professors who are able to speak at least proper English. Have the heat on in class 217, it is not normal. Someone should check what the professors are talking about in the

class. We can‘t take the exam if the professor talks about irrelevant things and maybe even is not attending the class.

Staff members should be at school when they are supposed to be (if I read a note from the door that a specific person should be at school at certain times and they are not there then it pisses people off).

Students should more interact with each other and actively participate in changing the BFM, not just sitting till and waiting.

More open communication. Lack of information flow. (2 answers) Staff should be more approachable. More events that involve all the departments not just a particular one. To have strong teachers who will support students more to be

enthusiastic and innovative. Too many changes and losing good rectors is a big lost. Improve it to

keep the good teachers. School-fee is very high for the quality and should be considered again.

A lot of people wonder, for what they are paying for. Improve it with fare price and quality.

The PR section needs to co-operate with the advertising section more. Stop divide film and media department. Information between students and lecturers should improve. (2) In the first years the professors cared more. Now it has dropped.

Honesty, openness. Stronger connection and interconnection to Tallinn University. More motivation and organization talk to students-producers (to increase their responsibility level). More interesting foreign lecturers (not only "cheap" ones). Better computers (at least in auditoriums). To hire professional professors not constructing the building. International students and international staff. In charge of the management should be a manager not an artist. Management should regard PR as an equal partner. You can‘t dress like a freak and call yourself an artist. More comfy classrooms. Management should regard PR as an equal partner. Get rid of /NAME/. It would be nice to know if we still have BFM next year. Staffs

information should overload the rumours not the other way around.

24. What kind of information would You like to get from BFM’s Intranet?

16 persons did not bother to answer to that question at all.

5 answerers thought it is not necessary at all 17 answerers thought Intranet should contain

information regarding studies (course materials etc.)

2 persons answered: don’t know …

…other variants were: information about when the file was added; availability of master courses; information about changes; that it would be the only communication place; more information about student exchange programmes; that there was a forum.

25. What kind of information would You like to get from BFM’s web-page?

17 persons did not answer that question 15 answerers thought that the web-page should

contain information about the studies, events, classes, changes and other BFM related info.

3 answerers wanted more general news and better work of Intranet.

2 persons thought everything necessary is already on the web-page.

…

…other variants were: reliable info about students rights and status in BFM; student blog, so they can write and evaluate professors at BFM; a forum; press related info; staff contacts; BFM’s plans for the future; articles and other press-related info about BFM; the CV-s and other qualification documents of the staff.

Thank You!