Preparing Media Professionals to Meet Workforce Demands
The University of Guyana’s Centre for Communications Study was on the verge of closing its doors. This partnership made it possible for students in the program to complete their studies—and for the program to accept new students. The Centre prepares undergraduates as well as practicing journalists and media professionals to meet workforce demands in the media and communications industries. As Guyana's only higher education institution, the University of Guyana's efforts to revise and strengthen its offerings in media and journalism can be expected to create impacts at the human, institutional, and national level.
Through the partnership, three University of Guyana faculty members earned master’s degrees at Ohio University, increasing the postgraduate ratio at University of Guyana from 1:6 to 4:6. The partners developed and delivered a new program in Narrative Film as well as a new course in Rapid Film Production. In addition, they supported the first workshops and classes in sound and lighting for television and narrative film making in Guyana in more than two decades.
Students and representatives from various local media houses trained by the partners produced several highly acclaimed documentaries about Guyana’s archeological and cultural heritage. The University of Guyana received $51,000 in leveraged funds to support the production and distribution of more student-produced films under the project name, CineGuyana. Subsequently, the Guyana Cultural Association premiered eight student-produced short films in New York, Coventry, England and the American Film Institute near Washington, DC.
Building upon this success, the partnership is developing three possible income generating projects to sustain CineGuyana, as well as the Centre's emerging distance education program and seminar publications. A visit by Guyana's Ambassador to the United States, Bayney Karran, to Ohio University marked the conclusion the partnership's funded activities.
Related Links
Guyana Ambassador, Scripps Faculty and Administrators To Celebrate Successful Collaboration
WOUB Public Media, 04.25.2012
At a Glance
Partner Institutions:
Ohio University; University of Guyana Centre for Communications
Region:
Latin America & the Caribbean
Dates:
Oct 2008–Dec 2011
Funding Level:
$299,646
Proposed
Cost Share:
$84,957
Success Story
A collaboration to transform the faculty and curriculum at the University of Guyana's Center for Communications studies has resulted is a vibrant and growing film and video production program.
