On the Ground: Going Live in the YCP TV Studio Complex

At first glance, York College may look like a typical campus in a typical college town—but look a little closer, and you’ll discover a community full of hidden (and not-so-hidden) gems. In our On the Ground series, we explore some of YCP’s most beloved places and spaces with help from our own Spartan students.

Lights. Camera. Action! York College’s Mass Communication students are no strangers to these words. They practice these skills often in their classroom––a real TV broadcasting studio right here on campus.

The YCP TV studio complex is an active broadcasting and recording studio located on the third floor of Wolf Hall. It has a state-of-the-art TV control room and two large TV news studios. Morrissey Walsh ’23, a Mass Communication major, can often be found here getting hands-on experience that will serve her well when she starts her career. She is interning at WBAL in Baltimore this semester and aspires to become a news anchor in a top-ten market, such as New York City or Philadelphia. 

To Morrissey, the TV studio complex is an invaluable asset to her education. “We are lucky to have access to the wide array of equipment…and software,” she says, and adds that they are “very similar if not exactly the same as what is used in the industry.”

Having such a sophisticated studio complex on campus allows students to practice with the latest equipment and complete real-world projects. Morrissey had the opportunity to work on a video showcasing a local landmark, The Yorktowne Hotel. “I am extremely proud of this video,” she says. “It showcases the skills the department teaches [and was] a real-world experience in a job-like setting.”

She spends a lot of her time in the TV studio complex. “Many of the classes take place in the studios, so we can use the equipment and sets,” she says. “I often go back outside of class to complete assignments. The computers in there have more power than a typical laptop, so sometimes I go in there to do work for non-Mass Communication classes, as well.”

As the Mass Communication program is a small, tight-knit group, “the studio is not only a learning space, but a social space,” she says. “I have met some of my best friends while working in the studios, and I am so grateful for that…I have several classes with the same people, and it is nice to really form those bonds and learn how to work together as a cohesive group.”

Morrissey says her professors have been very knowledgeable about the industry and have been great mentors to her. “Professor Jeffrey Schiffman, Professor Craig DoVidio, and retiree Professor Lowell Briggs when he was here, really work to provide a friendly and instructional environment,” she says. In addition to having access to up-to-the-minute equipment in the TV studio, her professors “have made my college experience worthwhile.”