University of Salford prepares to redefine media studies

As the University of Salford gets ready to move into its brand new buildings in Salford Quays, How-Do spoke to Jon Corner, its recently installed MediaCityUK director about what it means for students and the wider media industry.

It’s over 2 years since the University signed the partnership agreement with the BBC, how much of a relief is it to actually get the keys to the building this week?

“It’s a great feeling to receive the keys to our new MediaCityUK building and to begin the fit-out of what will be a remarkable new campus. Peel have delivered the building on schedule and our own fit-out will be complete by mid August 2011. We’ll be opening the doors to students in October 2011.”

How important is it to be part of MediaCityUK?

“It’s important to be a part of MediaCityUK because there’s simply nothing else like it in the country. It puts the University at the focus of further international attention and it gives us a once in a generation opportunity to position ourselves as the place in the UK to study for today’s rich media world. Also, Salford has a long history for being a University that innovates – our move to MediaCityUK is really an extension of that intention to continue to innovate.”

When the students do arrive, Corner says that they will see a big difference, not least in their workflow:

“Students at MediaCityUK will have many advantages – firstly there will be unrivalled connectivity at every workstation, studio and hotdesk. Students will be exposed to file-based workflows and metadata techniques – in sync with where the sector is heading and with the skills it needs.

“There will be ongoing masterclasses with industry experts and leaders, interactive exhibition spaces where students can share and showcase work, and new types of course programmes which combine technology and creativity with new levels of relevance for the digital sector. In short, Salford students will have experienced live brief and real content delivery quality targets by the time they graduate – they will not only be ready for today’s industry, they will have already experienced it.”

There is a section of the media which still looks down on Media Studies type undergraduate degrees, is that something that you are working on?

“I agree with you about certain prejudices surrounding the notion of ‘Media Studies’ – but really Salford will be focused on new digital content creation and new digital content delivery. Ours is a very technological, industry-focused offer with the relevance the international sector is hungry for.

“However, I do think there’s a potential growing mismatch between what’s happening at forward-thinking higher education institutions like Salford and how ‘media’ is delivered in UK secondary schools. It’s something I’m personally passionate about and I think we have an opportunity to begin to redefine and change that delivery by opening up new types of dialogue and shared practice with schools."

Will your role be purely as a provider of graduates, or do you see yourselves as working alongside the media industry to deliver research and technological advances?

“At our MediaCityUK building partner universities and private sector R&D specialists can problem solve together. We see MediaCityUK as a source for next generation content solutions and that’s why we have these collaborative physical spaces and innovative partnership agreements. We’re also aware that the digital media sector requires fast turnaround research methods and the Research Hotel provides just that. In our building telecoms specialists, engineers, games specialists and new content makers can work together in new ways at a physical location which can meet their demands.”

There continue to be stories in the London press about Salford - and Salford University hasn’t been immune from them, with your predecessor opting to stay in London. Has that been difficult when building commercial partnerships? Is it something you worry about?

“There is a ‘London-centric’ attitude across most media organisations which assumes a professional career and finished output must emanate from within the M25. Increasingly, though, this attitude is looking old-fashioned and out of step; there’s a growing realisation that new talent and new thinking is strong in the regions and that, for international markets, a UK location is becoming irrelevant. If you add to that an iconic location such as MediaCityUK where driven media professionals can have the thing they most need – an opportunity to network daily with other leaders in the field – then the pre-occupation with London starts to fragment further. If nothing else, Salford Quays is likely to become one of the great media hubs in the country – a place with its own identity and not an ‘alternative’ to the capital.

“I’ve met with over a dozen leading London-based commercial partners so far who have been astonished by three things:

The extent and relevance of the University’s ambitious programmes
The opportunity for agile solution-driven research
The sheer scale and quality of the Mediacity footprint which they only ‘get’ when they visit.”

More on a personal note, you’ve been in the role for going on 5 months now, how have you found it?

“I’m loving my role at the University. Of course I’ve worked in education before so I’m no novice – but Salford is a very entrepreneurial university with a dynamic executive team. Things get done here and there’s a tangible quality of delivery. Quite frankly, without those two things, there would be little point engaging with the commercial media sector.”

Something to add? Then leave a comment below or email us now.