Communication Arts Receives $50,000 Grant for Studio Equipment Upgrade
In December 2020, UIW’s School of Media and Design received a $50,000 grant from the City of San Antonio to improve studio equipment on campus. The grant is an interlocal agreement between the City of San Antonio and UIW regarding programming for the educational access channel using public education government funding. Professor Teresa Coronado of the Department of Communication Arts is overseeing the funding received.
“At UIW, … students get involved and produce a newscast. We currently use a green screen studio,” Coronado said. “We use a pre-built virtual set, however in the real world in the professional TV studio there’s always a real set and backdrop.”
Coronado is currently in the process of using a majority of the grant to upgrade the school’s TV studio set. She said she hopes to have the studio completed by the end of the Fall 2020 semester.
“One of the major purchases that I am using the money for is to purchase a studio set, a background, and a news anchor desk,” Coronado said. “It aligns itself more to a professional TV studio. It’ll give students the opportunity to work more in an environment that mirrors the outside world. It’s going to look like a professional TV station, so we’re really excited about that.”
Coronado said the coronavirus pandemic did affect the grant because the city needed to focus on other matters earlier in the year, but she was extremely pleased to receive it. The City of San Antonio has three public channels: one for public access, one for government access such as city council meetings, and one for education access. UIW’s student newscasts will appear on the education channel on Thursdays at 8 p.m.
Coronado said she believes the new TV studio will make a major difference for learning and production.
“Sometimes students walk into a studio and they see the professionalism of it and automatically they rise to the occasion of that to match, so I definitely think it’s going to impact their performance.” Coronado said.