A new broadcast studio in the Carol G. Simon Hall on the River Campus is now fully operational. The studio is designed to help publicize the expertise of UR faculty, interview student award recipients and relay videos from UR President Joel Seligman.
The studio allows faculty members to record their segments, which are then broadcasted on news outlets.
The studio was installed in October 2009 and became fully equipped at the start of 2010.
The William E. Simon School of Business Administration spearheaded the TV studio for the UR Medical Center and the College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering. The Simon School also received funding for the project from the Medical Center and the College.
A major hurdle to overcome was funding and approval for the project.
Simon School Advancements Executive Director Christian Gordon proposed the idea of the studio to the Gleason Foundation and to James S. Gleason, a 1968 graduate of the Simon School.
‘Dean [of the Simon School Mark] Zupan and I met with Jim and Janice Gleason last spring, we followed up with a formal proposal asking them to support the Media Room through the Gleason Foundation and they did,” Gordon said. ‘The gift to construct the Media Room was received in May 2009.”
The Gleason Foundation agreed to give a $100,000 gift.
The gift went toward purchasing the studio’s equipment, which includes a camera, a video screen able to show different backgrounds and a satellite uplink capability.
The studio equipment, which was customized to fit the University’s needs, is operated remotely by a company in Boston called VideoLink. Simon School Director of Marketing and Communications/Media Relations Charla Kucko and Executive Director of Marketing and Communications Dawn McWilliams were introduced to VideoLink at a conference in New York City.
Prior to the studio’s existence, faculty members had to leave campus to go to a WXXI studio for an interview. They can now do an interview on campus.
The Simon family in memory of their mother, Carol, originally donated the studio’s room.
Former CBS evening news correspondent David Henderson came to UR to assist faculty members with interview skills.
‘We found that we have stars that we didn’t even know we had in terms of on-camera presence and delivery,” Kucko said.
In the new broadcast studio, faculty members will be interviewed on a variety of issues.
‘The University already has a tremendous reputation around the world,” Kucko said. ‘We have the best and brightest in the fields of medicine and business among other areas of the University, and now we’ll be able to broadcast interviews, either live or recorded, with national and international broadcast media. This raises our visibility on the international stage and provides us the opportunity to showcase our experts around the world.”
Ostrander is a member of the class of 2013.
