College of Public and Community Service Debuts Community Media and Technology Degree

By Ed Hayward

The UMass Board of Trustees approved a new UMass Boston bachelor's degree program in Community Media and Technology (CMT) in the College of Public and Community Service at its August 6 meeting.

The program's faculty, led by Reebee Garofalo, designed a degree program that will focus on media analysis, technological proficiency, social vision, and community service. For the past year, the college has offered a certificate program in the subject.

"What we were struck by was how extensive the community media and technology movement has become," said Garofalo. "The Benton Foundation estimates there are 1,800 community technology centers in the US. There are more than 100 in the City of Boston alone."

With advances in digital video, as well as media software and hardware, the community "computer centers" of old have become multimedia production hubs offering new opportunities in print, electronic, and visual media to the neighborhoods they serve.

Garofalo said the degree is the only one of its kind in the country, as other media programs focus on either major media corporations or the content being produced.

"No one is looking at community-based programs," said Garofalo. "This sector is now large enough that somebody ought to be paying attention to it with an educational program. The movement is also large enough that people need to start thinking about national standards."

The new major will dovetail with an existing VISTA grant to place volunteers in community technology centers across the country, Garofalo said. That program is entering its fourth year and funding is approaching $2.25 million. In addition, researchers with the new program are finalists for a Technology Opportunity Grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Garofalo said.

The program will attempt to bridge the "digital divide" by providing the knowledge and tools for communities traditionally denied access to high technology. In particular, graduates can take their skills to non-profits and community-based agencies to build organizations and communities in an effort to promote "digital equity," Garofalo said.

Fred Johnson, founder of the Media Working Group in Cincinnati, was the first full-time faculty member hired for the new major. Other instructors include UMass Boston Professors Mark Schlesinger and Pepi Leistyna, Netrice Gaskins of Boston Neighborhood Network Multimedia Center, and Peter Miller, director of the VISTA grant.

Completion of the CMT degree will require 120 credits, of which 81 credits are in the general education and electives component of the curriculum. As with other majors in the CPCS curriculum, students would have the option of combining a CMT Major with a related concentration in an area such as management, organizing, or training and development, Garofalo said.

Go to menu