The SF State BECA department now offers tours of the department to give prospective students insight on the program and the culture of this popular SF State major.

These tours were started late in the 2008 spring semester by BECA graduate assistant Adam Greenfield.

“People kept asking to see the department and there wasn’t a program in place to make that happen,” Greenfield said. “I saw this as a golden opportunity to be able to show students all of the opportunities this department has to offer and how they can take advantage of them.”

The tours are on the last Thursdays of every month and begin promptly at noon outside room 133 in the Creative Arts Building. Anyone interested in the undergraduate or graduate BECA programs are encouraged to come along. The tour itself lasts about 30 to 45 minutes as Greenfield leads the tour group through the different areas of the department.

“A tour of the department facility and a chance to meet and speak with people in the department can only be a great help in deciding where to proceed in a college career,” sound and radio assistant professor Jeff Jacoby said.

The tour groups are usually fairly small, so Greenfield is able to structure tours around what tour participants are most interested in learning about. Included in the tours is a chance to see BECA's three television studios, the KSFS radio station, the audio studio, control rooms and sound equipment.

“I had no idea so much existed in this department,” said tour participant Jason Cooper, a SF State senior looking to change majors.

Students participating in these tours might even catch a glimpse of current BECA students in action as they work on class projects or creative projects of their own. Tour goers get a chance to see what kind of things they will get to do and explore as a student of the BECA department, whether it be hosting their own radio show or producing a television program.

“When students get into the program I encourage them to think outside of classes, to think of all kinds of projects they can get involved with,” Greenfield said.

After seeing all of the sound and recording equipment on the tour, Cooper felt inspired to expand on his own interests in the BECA department.

“I hope to incorporate my love for music with the tools I’ll learn from BECA,” Cooper said.

Greenfield hopes these new tours will show students all of the perks of being part of the department he feels so passionate about.

“When you love what you’re doing, it’s never work in this department,” Greenfield said.