Students taste everything and discover their path: CSU’s Travis Holland

Travis Holland has recently been appointed Course Director for the Bachelor of Communication and Master of Communication degrees at Charles Sturt University.
 
He speaks to radioinfo about the courses, which continue to have success in equipping students for a range of jobs in the radio industry, due to the combination of theoretical and practical content.
 

Students at CSU Bathurst have the opportunity to broadcast on community station 2MCE and report for the daily National Radio News bulletins generated from a fully functioning newsroom at CSU.
 
At the recent Australian Commercial Radio Awards, Amanda Keller and Andrew Denton both spoke fondly of their time studying at CSU and the career success that came from it. Each year the university channels graduates into jobs in media, continuing that history of success.
 
Holland says students “come here for the course then, working with our staff, they find their special talents and discover the path they will follow.”
 
The courses contain practical skills such as presenting, production and podcasting, and also incorporates subjects such as sales, promotions and marketing that equip graduates for sales and management career tracks.
 
“The students get a taste of everything so that they can work with people all across the communication media and entertainment industries,” says Holland.
 
“We say to them, tell your story in this medium, but what story they tell is up to them.”
 
Travis Holland also lecturs and researches in Communication and Digital Media. He teaches both undergraduate and masters level subjects on digital media, communication theory, and research strategies.
 
Before joining CSU, Holland was at the University of Wollongong in communication and media studies, specialising in digital communication. His PhD dissertation applied Actor-Network Theory to media networks in three NSW local government areas. His writing, teaching, and research includes work on fan studies, politics, digital media, television, and local government. He is also thought of in some sectors as the ‘go to guy’ for commentary on the impact of The Simpsons tv show.
 
“I’ve long jumped around different roles and sectors in the media industry. I started off in media as a community radio announcer on a youth station (then known as MVHFM, now 92.5FM Youth Radio) while at school and later moved to my mainstream local community radio station Highland FM.
 
“I later worked as a journalist at a regional Fairfax paper, and for a brief stint during my PhD I was a radio journalist at ABC Illawarra. I’ve also run programs for regional youth arts organisations. This experience gives me a really good grounding in all of the areas that are part of the Bachelor of Communication at CSU and has shown me how they can all work together.” 
 
Holland was appointed in June 2016 as a lecturer in CSU’s Communication and Digital Media faculty, and became Course Director in July this year.
 
“My main interest is in ensuring our graduates have a breadth of understanding across the media, communication, and entertainment industries but with deep discipline expertise in their chosen field,”  he says. 
 
The CSU site www.seeseeeye.csu.edu.au hosts student work from various fields, including 2MCE Extra and a range of live webcast channels. There is now a feed directly from CSU’s Channel 5 on that site to Facebook Live, “letting us broadcast student work through the School’s Facebook page any time we wish.”





 
If you are considering studying at CSU, you can contact the University here.

 

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