Feedback November 2002 (Vol 43 No 4)

and instructors involved in the lab. Avoid confusion and the tendency for colleagues todrift away from the lab for meetings, appointments, or even “just a few minutes,” bysetting clear expectations at the outset. The third step requires securing the technicalsupport for the operation. Our digital media specialist, Todd Broomall, eases the loadby helping students overcome the technical obstacles they sometimes fear. And thatallows faculty to concentrate on the bigger picture. “I think it’s great to let faculty focuson critical pedagogical issues, and have someone they can come to when they needtechnical expertise,” said Broomall. “Otherwise, you have a danger of getting overloaded.”While on its face, convergence might appear to require fewer human resources, it, inpractice, requires more.Getting startedBefore embarking on a converged curriculum it may be useful to consider the oldsaw, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll probably end up somewhere else.”“A department needs a widely agreed-upon mission, and once that mission has beendeveloped, just simply expect that everybody is going to go there,” said departmenthead Smith. Identifying how convergence fits into the mission becomes the next step.Budget, of course, may be the biggest obstacle. But, as we have found, it is possible topaste together a converged operation and run it out of a trailer, if need be. However,committing to a major digital integration project requires a project manager to take theendeavor from a needs analysis through final installation and testing. We hired formerCNN executive producer Chet Burgess as a consultant to manage our project and keepit on track.As we begin teaching in our new facility, skeptics persist in questioning the viabilityof media convergence. They prefer operating in silos, the way it’s always been, andwant to continue doing so. But Smith doesn’t doubt our direction for a moment,recognizing the industry’s lead. “They’re out there converging like hell,” said Smith.“So, that’s given us a sense of assurance that we’re doing the right thing.”1 Negroponte, N. (1995). Being Digital. New York: Knopf.2 While print and broadcast students have covered election night for decades, this was the firsttime, to my knowledge, a print student had gone on the air live.BEA—Educating tomorrow’s electronic media professionals 31