Through several large grants, totaling almost $33,000, and an In-Kind of a news set, Winona State University redesigns its broadcasting curriculum. Read more…
The WSU Mass Communication Department secured a news set worth $50,000 from Mayo Clinic and monetary support from three grants: the Winona State Foundation Grant, $2,463; the Winona Experience Challenge Grant, $7,974; and the Ethics And Excellence in Journalism Foundation Grant, $22,284.
Robin O'Callaghan, WSU adjunct mass communication faculty instructor, worked with the Department of Mass Communication Chair, John Weis, to secure the funding.
"The objectives for these grants are to update the equipment in the WSU Mass Communication Department in order to provide realistic experiences for students enrolled in broadcasting courses," said O'Callaghan. "Additionally, the grants' purpose is to establish stronger relationships with Hiawatha Broadband Communications (HBC) through student delivery of health and fitness related cable programs to the Winona community."
The grant money helps the WSU Mass Communication Department purchase up-to-date cameras and editing equipment. Weis said this equipment allows the broadcasting option at WSU to become more message driven. The new equipment enables students to focus on the creative aspects of filming editing and airing news stories.
"This shift, and the equipment that supports it, will give our students hands-on experience in identifying stories and then reporting on them in the field," said Weis. "WSU students want to become excellent on-air reporters and anchors, program producers, sports casters, weather persons and news directors, and this equipment will help them do that."
The new equipment supports the philosophical shift in the broadcasting emphasis approved by the mass communication department a year ago, and clears the way for the mass communication department to implement the changes beginning next fall, said Weis.
The enhanced curriculum of the broadcasting option is in line with the initiatives of the Winona Experience, WSU's vision for a new, innovative university, which includes experiential learning opportunities.
"Providing students with the right tools, a high-quality TV broadcasting curriculum and innovative ways to learn about the field empowers them to go beyond the classroom with their skills," said O'Callaghan. "It prepares them to enter the workplace as a stronger leader with more real-world experience because of their quality exposure to the field at Winona State University."
