By Katy Brown

The Harrington School of Communication and Media has been awarded a $149,800 grant from the Champlin Foundation to partially fund the transformation of the Chafee TV studio into a state-of-the-art video/sound recording, production, and broadcast center. This is the second year in a row the Champlin Foundation has awarded a six-figure grant to the Harrington School. The new Center will include state-of-the-art digital video/sound recording and production capabilities, and will significantly enhance and expand our current curriculum and job placement opportunities for students.

“The URI Broadcast Center will be the only facility of its kind and magnitude across the state.” Adam Roth, Director of the Harrington School and Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said. “The Center will include state-of-the-art digital video/sound recording and production capabilities, and will significantly enhance and expand our current curriculum and job placement opportunities for students.”

The new studio is set to open in fall of 2018. The equipment we are installing will prepare students for careers as broadcast journalists and anchors, multimedia reporters, videographers and digital video editors, film producers and directors, camera operators, video and audio engineers, and public affairs professionals in the private and public sectors. The film, video, and audio recording, production, and editing skills students will learn by training in such a center are transferrable to a wide range of industries, from media and entertainment, to public relations and advertising.  The Harrington School is excited to be able to integrate cutting-edge technology into the curriculum to increase the value of a Harrington School education and ensure students are broadly prepared to become global leaders in communication and media.