Cost, proximity, job placement rate these are the types of things we and parents are conditioned to think about when looking for the right college (or post secondary school) for ourselves or our children.
Yet overwhelming research indicates that we should be looking at who’s teaching us and, more importantly, how long have they have been with the school.
A Commitment To Their Craft
Several research studies indicate that over half of all teachers leave the school they are teaching at, in less than 5 years. YIKES!!!!!
How does this harm students?
A high turnaround rate with teachers leads to a lack of programming continuity.
This means that:
- Teachers tend to be unfamiliar with the material they are teaching you.
- Even experts in their field are so overwhelmed with the logistics of teaching—classroom management, presenting material in a meaningful way, reading students’ needs—that they forget to do the most important thing: connect with their students.
- Teachers within the school are less familiar with their fellow teachers and the material their colleagues are teaching.
Collectively this translates into a weaker program for the student. Which has a greater impact on your chances for overall success.
Where We Shine
Some of our faculty were interviewed recently by a notable school accrediting agency. The agency were amazed to learn just how long some of our teachers have been teaching at MPI; 10, 15 even 20 years.
Cinematography Instructor, Robert Skates who’s been a professional Director of Photography for over twenty years has spent 15 of them teaching at MPI.
Screenwriting Instructor, Richard Rothrock who’s been a professional script reader for decades has been teaching with us for almost 19 years.
Our resident Sound Recording Instructor, Joel Porter, who’s lived and worked in Los Angeles, came to MPI back in 1997, and has been here ever since. That’s 21 years.
Kathryn McDermott who worked as a Vice President at Sony / Columbia Pictures working on mega blockbusters such as Spider-Man 1 & 2. She came to MPI over ten years ago and was recently promoted to Director of Education.
And let’s not forget Editing instructor, Josh Bowren who works as an Editor at ABC network affiliate WXYZ, and has been with MPI for almost 20 years.
Our teachers clearly love the school and believe in the program. And when your teachers are this passionate about the school they work at, it’s passed on to their students in the form of CARING about your success.
The longer a teacher stays at an institution, the stronger the program becomes. When teachers have years to revise and hone the curriculum, the students benefit from a proven program. And the more likely they are to find success after graduation.
MPI Staff
MPI’s founders, CEO Douglas Schulze and CFO Kurt Mayry, have been working together for over 30 years. Ironically the founders of MPI first met while attending Michigan area colleges in 1985. Disillusioned by the programs being offered by their schools, they sought out alternate programming and real world experience.
After running their own production company and learning the film industry ropes they returned to education to design a school they would have liked to have attended.
Today that school is MPI.
So before choosing a school take a good look under the hood; check out that engine. Take a good look at the instructors. Are they committed to the school they’re working for? MPI Instructors are.
