By Stefan Yablonski
As the Hewitt project’s faculty liaison, I started on this journey back in 2018. I think I’ve learned more about large-scale construction than I thought possible,” said Michael Riecke.
“I can’t overstate how excited I was to finally move into Hewitt in August. Seven years of planning and adapting when cost increases during the pandemic forced us to rethink some things, it led to plenty of anticipation!”
Broadcast & Digital Media Department chairman and associate professor of broadcasting and digital media, Michael Riecke joined the SUNY Oswego faculty in 2011 after spending nearly a decade in television and digital news as an award-winning reporter, producer and anchor.
As students settled in, he said he was most curious to see how they’d react to the space.
The design centered on developing gathering spaces, team rooms and state-of-the-art labs that would, ideally, draw students out of their residence halls or apartments and into Hewitt beyond class time.
“We wanted a space that would enhance collaboration and celebrate the different aspects of creativity among students in the undergraduate programs that share the building (broadcast and digital media, cinema and screen studies, communication, graphic design, interaction design, journalism and public relations),” he explained. “In addition, we wanted spaces that mirrored the type of facilities students would encounter professionally.”
It was amazing to see students throughout the semester filling the team rooms, hanging out in the lounges and using the studios, he added.
“From early morning until late at night, the building is buzzing. I don’t think anything made me happier than seeing students use the space as we intended” he said. “Our broadcast and digital media students and our journalism students were eager to use our new studios and media lab spaces right off the top of the semester. Our faculty and staff were still training on our new systems and working out some typical quirks when it comes to a project of this scope, but I think even that was a good lesson for students. In many cases, they were learning our new workflows and the capabilities of our new technologies alongside professors.”
By semester’s end, they were producing content in all of the spaces. Their first video podcast studio came alive with students in the introduction to multimedia news and sports course.
“Students in my digital reporting course produced a 30-minute special report from our incredible new set in Studio A. Our centralized production control room is a great teaching space, with plenty of room for students to observe and to practice hands-on multi-camera video production. Our intro to video production students used our other television studio to produce talk shows and game shows,” Riecke said. “Students studying sound design produced original audio — from dialogue to sound effects — for a movie scene in our new Foley studio and audio production suite. Our two Content Creation studios were the most popular. They’re smaller studio spaces designed to quickly adapt to different production purposes. Students used them to produce content for social media, shoot sit-down interviews and to create special effects for their projects.”
Speaking of projects, Hewitt’s new screening room has been tremendously popular, he added.
“There’s no better place on campus to view student work than in our 42-seat cinema,” he said.
An eSports lab was another great addition to the building. Students interested in shoutcasting (gamer speak for broadcasting video game competitions) took their first course in the new space. It was also a thrill to see students exploring potential uses for virtual and augmented in the VR studios and suites, he said.
Growing pains – teachable moments
There were some growing pains. But many of the growing pains turned into teachable moments.
“I think this group of students will forever remember breaking in the revived Hewitt Hall. It was an incredible experience for all of us,” Riecke said. “As we continue to settle in, I’m confident we’re going to hit the ground running in the spring semester. I’ve said from the start, this is the space our students deserve. SUNY Oswego has an incredible track record of success when it comes to graduates landing jobs and building successful careers in media, communication and the arts. It’s a legacy we’re proud of and Hewitt Hall enables us to grow and adapt with workforce needs as we prepare the next generation of creators, journalists and innovators in media and communication.”
