Television Production; Learning Experiences Improve with $86,000 Grant
The grant from the Dubuque Teleprogramming Commission will fund upgrades to Loras’ TV studio and control room.

Loras College has a strong and competitive media studies department, which consistently provides students with hands-on experience in a variety of aspects of television production. As the technology in the field is ever-changing and improving, it is important for the school to be able to train students with the most up-to-date equipment.

An $86,000 grant from the Dubuque Teleprogramming Commission will fund upgrades to Loras’ TV studio and control room. In particular, the media studies program will be installing high-definition studio cameras and a high-definition video switcher.  

“This grant will provide our students with the opportunity to produce some of the very highest quality programming for the Dubuque community, and at the same time, provide a state-of-the-art learning opportunity,” explained Craig Schaefer, professor of media studies. “This is not just an investment in our students, but in expanded opportunities to produce and share some of the great stories that are happening in and around Dubuque.”

Currently Loras College students produce a multitude of shows for the greater Dubuque community including the award-winning newscast and sports shows, which are produced live every Wednesday at 7 p.m. and subsequently re-run at various times on Mediacom channel 17.

“The media studies students at Loras have had some great success with news, sports and a variety of other television shows produced in our studio,” said senior media studies major Michael McCarty (’11) (Alton, Iowa). “The improvements made possible by this grant will allow Loras’ students’ work to be even more impressive.”

Loras is planning for the installation to begin in December and students will begin utilizing the new equipment during the 2011 spring semester.