New Broadcast Media Studies at MRU

Our very own Mount Royal University has offered a broadcasting diploma since 1961, but as of September 2016, a Bachelor of Communication Broadcast Media Studies program will begin to replace it. The new four-year program is already taking applications, and will lead to the eventual disappearance of the two-year diploma.

MRU was given permission from the Government of Alberta and the Ministry of Advanced Education to add this fourth major to the existing Bachelor of Communication program. The school has chosen to implement the change because of increasing education demand in the industry.

“Transforming the broadcasting program will better position future graduates to compete […] It will also be a crucial long-term advantage for students who become successful professionals and seek career advancement and executive level promotions,” says Paul Boyd, former CBS co-host and a 1997 graduate of MRU’s broadcasting diploma.

The program is being touted as the first of its kind in Western Canada, and is in fact only the second of its kind in the entire country – the other program being Bachelor of Communication Media Production degree from Ryerson University in Ontario.

According to the MRU program description, the program will offer extensive training in audio and radio production, as well as additional video and live event production. The learning experience of working on CMRC/The Shift, which is offered in the current diploma version, will continue, but students of the new program will be given the opportunity to engage more thoroughly.

The degree program will allow students to explore different aspects of broadcast media, and the school believes that this will help them to be better prepared not only for reporting, but for advertising, producing, and managing. Additional theory content will also aid in this end goal, and will have the broadcast media students joining the other Bachelor of Communication students – including Public Relations, Journalism and Information Design – in several classes.

In addition to the theory and hands-on classroom work, students in the degree program will participate in a paid work term. The work experience term is meant to give students the opportunity to apply their skills as well as “expand the students’ network, build confidence and create opportunities to travel”, according to the Mount Royal University website.

“Congratulations Mount Royal University,” says Boyd in a YouTube video recording. “I wish the next generations of students much success going forward with this exciting new program.”