IC News

Dan Heffner ’78 has been returning to South Hill just about every year for the last two decades—often on his own dime—to mentor and invest in Ithaca College students through the Park’s alumni-in-residence visits and hands-on learning opportunities. 

What has led to this Emmy Award winner’s continued interest in giving back?

In 2006, Heffner was serving as a producer for the filming of Saw III on location in Toronto, Canada. The then current dean of the Roy H. Park School of Communications Dianne Lynch paid Heffner a visit on set and invited him to return to campus. He drove down after filming wrapped and began developing a relationship with the school.

When Diane Gayeski ’74 took over as dean in 2010 she continued the relationship with Heffner. She suggested the in-residence model, an idea Heffner loved. Over the ensuing years, they realized that shorter visits weren’t sufficient to accomplish the breadth of student engagement Heffner envisioned and that a week was the perfect amount of time to travel, work, and return.

The current dean of the Park School, Amy Falkner, says the school values alumni engagement that supports students’ learning. “When alumni return to campus to mentor students and share what they’ve learned in the industry, it’s incredibly powerful. We’re grateful to those who invest their time and energy in our students and help create these opportunities."

During his residencies, Heffner attends classes and meets with students one-on-one for 30-minute sessions. The topics? Whatever the students need, which varies depending on where they are in their academic journeys. First-year students have different needs than seniors.

Heffner has observed that meetings with first-year students often focus on building confidence and a sense of belonging in the field. Some students arrive at Ithaca with film experience already under their belts, while others are entirely new to the field. Both have a place, and Heffner is there to encourage them.

With seniors, Heffner discusses thesis films, reads scripts, and talks through future plans and next steps. “I also publicize and finance thesis films, and the films they are making are becoming much more professional-looking and much more ambitious,” he said.

The common advice he gives every student? “Do as much as you can, learn as much about everything as you can, because through that process, you're going to learn what you like—but almost equally as important, you're going to learn what you don't like and what you don’t want.”

It’s a lesson Heffner learned through his own career.

When he was looking into attending a film school for his undergraduate degree in the 1970s his options were USC and UCLA in Los Angeles and Tisch School of the Arts in New York City—none of which were appealing to him. At the time, IC’s communications school was located in half of the basement in Dillingham Center. What stood out to him? It was the only school, he says, where “from day one, you could just get the equipment and go out and do something.”

He recalls his campus tour, walking into the student union and watching a film made by a student. The film followed the Cat Stevens song “Father and Son” and Heffner “thought it was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. It wasn’t a rinky-dink film—it was something you would see in a theater, made by students where I was going to be if I went there.” At that moment, he said “That’s it. This is where I want to go to school. I didn’t even want to apply anywhere else.”

What is he excited to see now?

Heffner points to the growing cross-collaboration between schools and the way they are combining strengths to create opportunities as a major driver of increased production value. “The film students are aware of the drama students who want to be in films. There are music students who want to create scores for movies. Now the business school has gotten involved, and there’s curriculum that crosses over. I spoke in an MBA class, a business law class, and was even asked to speak in a still photography class, which was something new.”

Falkner is a fierce advocate for keeping Park’s alumni network accessible and engaged for every student. “Dan’s ongoing involvement is a great example of the many ways alumni can stay connected to Ithaca College—bringing energy, mentorship, and real-world perspective to campus and beyond.”