Survey responses: Big Ten Network programming

Fans of the Iowa Hawkeyes have been turning their attention to the Big Ten Network (BTN), the newly created network that carried Iowa’s football games against Syracuse University (victory!) and Indiana University (ugh). With basketball about to tip off, the BTN will have hearty helpings of hardwood havoc for fans of the Hawks.

But there’s more to the network—and The University of Iowa—than athletics. As part of the agreement creating the Big Ten Network, the conference’s 11 member schools each have 60 hours a year reserved for programming that showcases academic programs, activities, faculty, staff, and students.

The University is producing programs on the Hawkeye Marching Band’s preseason “hell week,” Hawkeye mega-fans, and orthopaedics professor emeritus Ignacio Ponseti, to name a few. But we wanted to know what you, the loyal fyi reader, would showcase if you had a say in program production.

Below, you’ll find some reader responses to that very question:

What show would you produce to represent Iowa on the Big Ten Network?

“I would take time to mention the world-renowned research facilities (medical and other) or spotlight all of the highly ranked departments within University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and the College of Medicine. It might also be nice to feature a short story introducing Sally Mason to the greater University of Iowa community and the rest of the Big Ten.”

“Present and cheer all the environmental work happening at The University of Iowa: the study of urban air toxins in Chicago, the new Human Toxicology program, the burning of oat hulls in the Power Plant, the new nanoscience center (with several environmental applications), and the many research centers on campus.”

“The story of childhood cancer and what The University of Iowa is doing to help kids with cancer. Feature the children’s inpatient area, the music therapy at the hospital, Dance Marathon, etc. There are many amazing stories to be told through the eyes of a child!”

“I’d create a series focusing on how UI research, teaching, and service impacts and uplifts the human condition...from the beneficiaries’ point of view. I would include representation from all of the colleges and professional prep programs at the University.”

“The College of Education’s ePortfolio project. Started in 1996 with students who were becoming teachers, the project now reaches all school leaders in Iowa, early career teachers, and teacher mentors. The college is partnering with several statewide agencies for better teaching and school leadership for all of Iowa’s students.”

“The University of Iowa’s mock trial team is a highly competitive program that regularly beats Iowa State University. The team members practice three times per week for almost the entire school year. The team had top-five finishes six of the last seven years, and is just the second school to win back-to-back national championships.”

“I’d like to see a ‘Where are they now?’ feature on male and female All-Americans who played at The University of Iowa. We don’t need a half-hour feature on one individual, but maybe a five-minute glimpse on what they are doing now, and how their education at the University helped them prepare for their futures after they were done competing in athletics.”

“I’d look at the hundreds of other athletes on campus who aren’t on scholarship or playing on national television: intramural athletes. Also, the unique Lifetime Leisure Skills Program allows students to learn a new skill over the course of a weekend or half a semester while earning a credit hour.”

“Spotlight the newest recreation facilities, both current (the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex, including the Outdoor Rental Center) and future (the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center). Also, the Macbride Raptor Project rehabilitates injured raptors to release them back into the wild, and the School of the Wild and Wildlife Camps bring local elementary and junior high students to the field campus to learn about our ecosystem.”

“I’d highlight the Women’s Resource and Action Center—one of the oldest and most robust university-based women’s centers in the entire nation!”

“Showcase remarkable staff, e.g. Improving Our Workplace Award (IOWA) winners, especially those whose efforts affect people outside the University.”

“Last year nearly 800 UI undergraduate students studied abroad. These students embark on academic adventures, and as a result have remarkable stories to tell. If I had all the resources needed, I’d film the students while they’re abroad (in 50-plus countries)!”

“Films produced by UI undergraduate and graduate students working on degree in film studies or film and video production. Student art and photo exhibits, and student music, dance, and theatre productions.”

“I’d do a show about the dance department—not “just dance” but the fact that these students and faculty have and continue to be involved in community outreach. Dance students and faculty “go beyond the barre” to impact this world and make not only an artistic but also a humanistic contribution.”

“I would air a program on the UI dance department. It is a large and bustling department, with 180 majors and multiple performances each semester.…The dedication and passion in the program is inspiring.”

“The UI Afro-Cuban Drum and Dance Ensemble is a unique interdisciplinary course and performance group between the Department of Dance and the School of Music that explores the folkloric tradition of Cuba. We are unaware of any similar program in the Big Ten—or any other university in the country, for that matter.”

“The Iowa River provides an opportunity to talk about many things: sports (rowing, the new boathouse), a social setting (IMU landing and Campus Master Plan), power (revisiting hydroelectricity), and challenges (the chilled water crossing and environmental groups' cleanup days).”

“Students who started their academic career at Iowa and graduated in fewer than four years!”