Friday, March 29th, 2024
Categories
Featured News News

Broadcast Equipment Puts Students on Top

Additions help make MU’s broadcasting center state-of-the art.

You can watch a video about the equipment at: http://youtu.be/AUHAGZHoQFg.

If searching for a state-of-the-art broadcasting center with the aim toward helping students prepare for the job market, look no further than Millersville University. Housed within the McCollough Communications Complex, in Bassler Hall, is a virtual treasure trove of studio cameras, teleprompters, editing software, LED lighting and audio boards.

Dr. Bill Dorman

Putting all that new equipment to good use for its students is the job of the communication and theatre department.  The department operates two fully-equipped television studios, digital video and audio computer editing suites, multi-track audio recording facilities and a 24-station computer lab with current multimedia software. Dr. Bill Dorman, a professor of communication & theatre at the University and advisor of the campus cable TV station, MUTV-99, immerses himself in every aspect of teaching the fields of communication and broadcasting at Millersville. He recognizes how valuable the broadcasting studio upgrade is for students. “A college gets a shot every 10 to 15 years of being at the cutting edge, and that’s where we are right now. The new equipment gives students who are here the chance to walk out at the very top of the latest equipment available to anyone anywhere in the whole industry,” Dorman said.

“The facility is for everyone who teaches and takes classes in the broadcast option,” said Dorman. “Together we have planned, implemented and now share the facility.  From new editing software, to the digital switcher, our faculty are so excited for this opportunity.”

In the last 12 months, Dorman states, the television facilities and the studios at Millersville have undergone an incredible transformation. “We have purchased new cameras and new camera mounts, we’re in the process of changing our studio lighting and then we’ve completed the renovation of the entire control room,” he said.

The updated facilities at Millersville have caught up with the industry in terms of being able to provide for its students access to the types and quality of equipment they will use in the broadcasting field. “It’s truly second to none. I don’t think there’s another place that offers an opportunity to give students over a million dollars’ worth of production equipment from the very first day they come to campus,” Dorman said.

But, he emphasizes, it is not only the new bells and whistles that makes for a successful program. “I think the neatest part of the Millersville program is the people who are here. The students who work in this environment are incredibly welcoming. The faculty is very supportive, very talented, very knowledgeable, but they’re also very nice people. And that’s really important. The emotional support of the people around here is critical to the program and is what makes it work.”

The total for equipment for the broadcast studio was $1.5 million spent over two fiscal years.  In addition, approximately $42,000 was spent on infrastructure upgrades for the networking and electrical systems needed to support the new equipment.

One reply on “Broadcast Equipment Puts Students on Top”

Cool article and video! Hope I get to work with some of this stuff in the future.

Leave a Reply