Conference focus is 'Engaging Faculty in a Digital Future'

Conference focus is 'Engaging Faculty in a Digital Future'

Penn State Public Broadcasting (PSPB) was host for the Engaging Faculty in a Digital Future conference at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel Oct. 3 and 4, with 70 participants from more than 15 colleges and universities, as a pre-conference to the Outreach Scholarship Conference. For pictures, go to http://live.psu.edu/still_life/2004_10_05_conference/index.html

Engaging Faculty in a Digital Future is a joint project of Penn State, The Ohio State University and the University of Wisconsin-Extension. It was co-hosted by Ted Krichels, PSPB general manager and associate vice president for Outreach, who was named chair of the recently formed University Licensee Association (ULA); Bryon Knight, director of Broadcasting and Media Innovation at University of Wisconsin-Extension; and Tom Rieland, general manager of Ohio State's stations of WOSU.

"The goal of the Engaging Faculty project is to engage the staff of public broadcasting stations that are licensed to colleges and universities, along with faculty from those universities, to collaboratively explore and build digital technology skills, resources and services," said Krichels. "University-licensed public broadcasting stations are uniquely positioned to put digital production, with its multimedia possibilities, to work to disseminate research and enhance faculty projects."

The conference featured a rich array of speakers and panelists. They included Jennifer Lawson, general manager of station WHUT of Howard University and former executive vice president for programming for PBS; Freeman Hrabowski III, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Amy Philipson, executive director of the Research Channel; Cheryl Scott Williams, vice president of education for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB); Marsha Semmel of the Institute of Museum and Library Services; and faculty from Penn State.

"As public broadcasting converts to a digital format, significant new opportunities will bring a greater focus on the formal and informal educational goals of the University. The classroom experience, research dissemination and community engagement can all be enhanced through informed use of digital technology," Krichels said.

PSPB is presenting examples of its own successful Engaging Faculty collaborations at the conference. Primary among them is the "Geology of the National Parks" project, created in partnership with Penn State's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, featuring Richard Alley, Evan Pugh professor of geosciences; Tom Keiter, PSPB creative director; Sridhar Anandakrishnan, associate professor of geosciences; and David DiBiase, director of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences John A. Dutton E-Education Institute. The Ohio State University and the University of Wisconsin-Extension will present projects as well.

The initial Public Service Media conference, held two years ago at Penn State, laid the groundwork for the larger Engaging Faculty initiative, which this year received major funding support from CPB. PSPB, which operates stations WPSX-TV and WPSU-FM, serves a 29-county region of central Pennsylvania.