The Geneseo Student Television organization disbanded in May. Its former office space has since been converted into a student organization resource center.
GSTV experienced technological and budgetary issues over the past five years, according to former executive producer for GSTV programming senior Alexandra Lovrić. Those challenges led to a dwindling interest and a lack of student participation, which jeopardized the club, according to former GSTV member senior Megan Metz.
“We’ve been having problems for a couple of years now, I would go as far as to say four, five or six years,” Lovrić said. “We never really got a ton of support in coming back from that.”
GSTV specifically struggled with broken or outdated broadcasting equipment and the lack of technical knowledge to effectively broadcast, according to former special events coordinator for GSTV senior Laura Ricci.
The organization found that equipment would often break or malfunction at inopportune times and it was difficult for students to manage those technical issues independently, Ricci said.
Campus Auxiliary Services implemented new technology that did not work with GSTV’s old equipment, but GSTV was originally charged $300 a semester for the cable system despite not being included on it, according to Lovrić.
“When we got the new modulator it basically didn’t align with all our old equipment,” Lovrić said. “We emailed them multiple times, but they never responded to us.”
The organization also reached out to the communication department for help but was not able to find much support because the department’s video production specialist is not a full-time faculty member, according to Ricci. The department recently began to search for a full-time professor who would specialize in visual communication and video production, according to associate professor and chair of the communication department Andrew Herman.
“The people who did help were really supportive, and we really do appreciate their assistance,” Lovrić said. “It was really such a slow progression, it wasn’t like we didn’t get this one thing this one time so we fell apart.”
The GSTV room in the mailroom was replaced with a new student organization resource room on Sept. 13. The room was renovated in order to allocate a specific area for student organizations to meet, according to Senior Coordinator of Student Programs & Activities Kristina Barsema.
The college will be employing three trained, student involvement mentors who will staff the room and hold office hours to meet with students. The college wanted to provide a space simply for student organizations, according to Barsema.
“While the union is the heart of the campus, it’s a space for everybody. We wanted to provide a space that was just for student groups,” Barsema said. “We wanted them to feel like they have something of their own.”
While conceding that the contributions to GSTV’s disbanding weren’t shocking, Metz expressed her disappointment at the result.
“It felt like it was a long-term process, it wasn’t a surprise,” Metz said. “I think it’s kind of sad that a liberal arts college doesn’t have a TV station, so I hope that at some point there’s a way to bring it back.”
The Geneseo Student Television organization discontinued its activities in May after multiple years of issues working with outdated equipment and decreasing member participation. The studio (pictured above) is currently used for storage. (Annalee Bainnson/Photo Editor)