Leveraging Advice from Industry Professionals in the Creation of a Course in Broadcast Meteorology

The field of broadcast meteorology is rapidly evolving, and meteorology programs may find it challenging to keep up with industry trends in order to best support students who plan to enter this area. In Fall 2019, a new course in broadcast meteorology was offered at Central Michigan University. The course was team-taught by a broadcast meteorologist employed as an adjunct in the meteorology program and a tenured professor in the broadcasting program, with guidance provided by the director of the meteorology program and a meteorology undergraduate student.

A survey of industry professionals was conducted to help shape the development of the course. The survey asked respondents to rank the importance of topics, including 18 categorized as “skills” and 9 as “content”. In addition, respondents were asked to add additional topics, describe resources they use to stay current, and provide further advice. 29 broadcast meteorologists from across the country and 6 news directors from small and mid-size television markets in Michigan responded to the survey. Topic rankings by news directors and meteorologists differed notably in 25% of the topics, providing insightful information to aid in course development. In addition to the survey, syllabi for similar courses at 9 schools were acquired in order to further assist in the course development. The results of the survey, similarities and differences in broadcast meteorology courses across universities, and challenges in course development and delivery will be discussed.