Topic: College of Communication Information and Media
May 4, 2009
Ball State University's reputation as one of the nation's top programs for aspiring broadcast professionals was recently enhanced when — for the fourth time since 2000 — it was named the Television School of the Year by the Indiana Association of School Broadcasters (IASB).
Ball State beat out 16 IASB members to claim the top prize with students winning six individual awards in various video categories. Ball State students also won three awards in college radio categories.
"Our students once again demonstrated to the other colleges, universities and high schools in the state that we are the top television production program," said Joseph Misiewicz, chair of Ball State's Department of Telecommunications "This speaks highly of our students, and it nice to get the recognition from judges throughout the state."
Ball State has been nationally recognized several times in recent years for its telecommunications program. In 2004, Ball State was listed as having one of the nation's top broadcasting programs in the book "This Business of Broadcasting."
Helping to develop talented professionals who can communicate on multiple platforms, including TV, the Web and mobile devices, is part of Ball State's Emerging Media Initiative, a planned $17.7 million investment to accelerate economic benefits to Indiana with media-savvy human capital.
Roger Lavery, dean of the College of Communication, Information, and Media (CCIM), believes the award underscores the university's reputation for graduating outstanding students who have participated in a wide variety of technology-centered immersive learning experiences as well as worked in the David Letterman Communication and Media Building, a $21 million cutting-edge facility.
Named for the university's most prominent graduate and host of "The Late Show with David Letterman," the building encloses about 75,000 square feet of classroom, studio and faculty office space. It helps advance Ball State's educational efforts by placing the latest production and postproduction technology at students' fingertips.
"Ball State has been able to take its broadcasting programs to the next level since we opened the Letterman building in 2007," Lavery said. "Our students have the opportunity to work on the same equipment found in most of the top production houses and film studios in Hollywood, New York and London. When they leave the university with a degree, they are highly marketable in one of the fastest-growing industries in the world."