About Instructional & Media Technologies

Instructional & Media Technologies' primary function is to aid teaching, learning and research of the campus community by supporting the UMM campus with technological tools," says Ron Kubik, office coordinator and senior communications technician. Projects for classroom learning, research, seminars, marketing and outreach are just some of the applications Media Services can assist with.

Traditional audio/visual services such as lamination, dry mounting, photography and equipment distribution are still provided by the department. The major growth however, has been with services that require the use of cutting-edge technology.

Part of this technology is supporting the campus interactive television system (ITV). The system is linked to the coordinate campuses in Duluth, Crookston and the Twin Cities, including a site in Rochester. "Basically, we are linked to the whole state of Minnesota ... and the world," says Ron Rosen, senior electronics technician at Instructional & Media Technologies, who oversees the technical aspect of the ITV system. Classes run each day from either of the four ITV sites in Morris.

Possibly the most widely-seen service is that of television production. Insructional & Media Technologies supports two complete television studios, satellite downlink, closed-circuit television, tape duplication, and master control room. "From conception to final post-production, Instructional & Media Technologies can handle all aspects of a television project right here, on-campus," says Mike Cihak, senior media resources producer. UMM faculty, staff and students can take full advantage of Instructional & Media Technologies' excellent facilities and knowledgeable personnel to accomplish their educational goals.

Instructional & Media Technologies' all-digital post-produciton/editing facility centers around a Media 100 non-linear editing system and utilizes Panasonic's DVC-PRO digital video format for tremendous flexibility and superior quality. "We can retain digital quality video and audio throughout the entire production process, from aquisition through final editing." says Cihak. "The results are remarkable."

The department produces many television projects throughout the year directly for broadcast. Now in its 21st season, Prairie Yard and Garden is a weekly gardening program, airing October through April of each year on Pioneer Public Television (KWCM), and reaches over 375,000 households in west central and southwestern Minnesota, eastern South Dakota and northern Iowa. In 2005, Prairie Yard and Garden was ranked the sixth most-popular program on Pioneer Public Television out of its 200 regular scheduled programs. A ranking the program has retained for more than five years.

In addition to the traditional educational equipment around campus, Instructional & Media Technologies maintains many campus systems ranging from KUMM 89.7 FM in the Student Center to the Language Lab in Humanities and the sound system in the Science Auditorium.

The Instructional & Media Technologies office is located at 123 Humanities-Fine Arts. Office hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. M-F and can be reached at 320-589-6150 or via e-mail at media@morris.umn.edu.