A look inside the University’s upgraded electronic media lab
Professors and students are singing high-tech praises for a newly revamped electronic media classroom in Meredith Hall.
Meredith’s Room 2, which was originally a photo-processing lab and then a small audio/video editing room, was transformed this summer into what Professor John Lytle calls a “digital palace.”
The addition of 18 flat-screen Final Cut Pro-enabled Mac computers and a totally redesigned layout have created a state-of-the-art haven for electronic media students, who recently completed their first semester of study in the lab.
The classroom is also equipped with a full teaching station and two large projection screens. A new shared server makes it easy for file transfers and group-work.
Autumn Moore (JO ’12), a senior radio-television production major, says the addition of so many computers with Final Cut Pro video-editing software eliminated competition among students for lab time. Moore took a sports television production class from Todd Evans, professor of journalism, in the new room this fall.
“The classroom set-up is great because you can be working while following along with the professor,” Moore says. “It really makes for an excellent learning environment.”
Several other classes used the new classroom this semester, including Television Field Photography and Radio News Editing and Reporting. Students are free to use the room when class is not in session.
The renovation project cost nearly $70,000, and was funded primarily by the tuition-funded technology fee. The investment will not only help current students, but will act as a selling point for potential future electronic media students.
— Jack Thumser, Class of 2012