A building that once served Windsor’s most vulnerable citizens is being celebrated for its 10-year anniversary as a world-class education facility for budding journalists.
St. Clair College’s MediaPlex is being celebrated this month after a successful decade of giving students hands-on experience in media programs offered at the facility.
The MediaPlex is a state-of-the-art multimedia learning hub, located at the corner of University and Victoria in downtown Windsor. It is the only one of its kind in Canada and allows students real-world experience in Journalism, Public Relations, Travel and Tourism, and Media Convergence.
Veronique Mandal, coordinator for the Journalism program and one of the founders of the MediaPlex, travelled to various American colleges to learn about a new type of journalism, called Media Convergence. At the University of North Carolina, she found a facility called the NewsPlex that was teaching just journalism. Later, she would find another NewsPlex in Germany that was doing the same thing, but with an added component of public relations.
"I brought all of this home to the team and said, 'we need a made in Windsor plan for our own type of NewsPlex,’” Mandal explained.
The MediaPlex opened in 2010 after the college received a shuttered Salvation Army building for $1 from the City of Windsor and secured a $5-million federal government grant to transform the aging structure into a state-of-the-art education facility.
With that money, renovations began and the MediaPlex officially opened in 2010. Now, this St. Clair campus is home to a diverse student community and faculty made up of industry professionals.
Students attending this campus are given hands-on experience in the media field. This experience comes in the form of a weekly, student-run newspaper that tasks journalism students with finding real stories in the Windsor-Essex region. A weekly news show at the MediaPlex gives students the opportunity to anchor and learn what goes on behind the scenes of broadcast television.
St. Clair College President Patti France noted that hundreds of graduates in the field of journalism, public relations and tourism have gone on to rewarding careers throughout the world. “That success story will continue for decades to come given St. Clair’s long-standing and ongoing commitment to the sort of arts and service industry programs based here,” France said. “Still, after 10 years, the facilities at the MediaPlex remain state-of-the-art.”
As for what makes the MediaPlex special, apart from being the only one of its kind in Canada, Mandal points to the teachers.
"We all have worked in the media," said Mandal. "Whatever is going on in modern newsrooms is what we're bringing to the students."
Mandal hopes the next 10 years will be a continuation of what has been accomplished in the last decade at the MediaPlex.
"I want to continue to welcome students from across the world," says Mandal. "When you have people coming in from different countries, they bring various skills, ideas, ways of doing things, and I think it makes us all a lot richer for it."
"Over the next ten years, I hope we never lose that family mindedness," Mandal said. "Because I think humans are fragile and if you allow them the opportunity to grow in an atmosphere that is safe, and an atmosphere where they know people care about you and your success, I don't think they can fail."
Mandal said every member of the MediaPlex team has been involved in developing a world-premiere facility.
"A tremendous thanks to Patti France and everyone at the MediaPlex who continue to be invested in us and see our importance," Mandal said.
"And to the students who come to us and allow us into their lives to help them to be successful, and all grads to go out there and spread the word about what a tremendous place it is to be able to study at the MediaPlex."
