Communications prof Sheena Rossiter’s long list of accomplishments includes covering international events like the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and editing award-winning documentaries like Pride vs. Prejudice: The Delwin Vriend Story. Her latest achievement? Receiving a 2024 Early Career Teaching Excellence award.

Here, she shares why she prioritizes building skills that help grads launch their careers and help students believe in themselves. 

You did two years of your undergrad at MacEwan when there was a University Transfer program. How did you find your way back?

When I moved back to Edmonton in 2017 from a decade of living abroad, I started volunteering at MacEwan, mentoring journalism students who wanted to work internationally. I wanted to share my experience of working as a foreign correspondent with the next generation. I had never really done any direct mentorship in that area and I wanted to pay it forward. I mentored for a semester in the Department of Communication and then I became a sessional instructor. Over the past three years, I’ve mentored more than 40 students through internships in our TV studio.

In addition to my work as an assistant professor, I am head of media production where I run the TV studio, alongside the TV studio operations coordinator. All the content on the MacEwan Media Production YouTube channel is made by students. It profiles what can be done and gives students an opportunity to start their digital portfolios. 

You say that in the current media industry, you need to be nimble and lean. How do you help students do that? 

You need to be a Swiss Army knife to be successful in this field. 

I’m an advocate of practicality. I really treat my classes like living labs, where things are hands-on, and students create in the classroom. 

There’s a balance between learning how to learn and being ready for the job market. That’s one of the reasons I proposed and created an introduction to audio and video course, which is now a core requirement in our program. The objective is to give every student – whether a professional communications major or a journalism major – some technical knowledge in audio and video production. 

Knowing how to shoot and edit video is invaluable – they’re tools students can add to their toolboxes and digital skills they need to get hired. Seeing students actually learning these skills, and then growing and flourishing, is just so rewarding. 

It’s also super rewarding to see people launch their careers. I love it when grads get jobs and thrive!

Your nominators really emphasized how inclusive your classroom is. Could you speak to that a little bit? 

Creating a safe space where students can stumble and learn and grow – and be seen and heard – is important to me.

It’s one of the reasons I am part of the team of faculty and staff that run a media boot camp for high school students from under-represented backgrounds, including people who are 2SLGBTQI+, racialized and of lower income. 

We need diversity and we need more voices in media and media production. When I worked as a senior video journalist in Brazil for almost seven years, I was usually the only woman camera operator at events – especially when I was covering sports. The people working in what are seen as more “technical roles” in production is diversifying, and it starts by allowing people to feel they belong in these roles.

I like to show students that this is their place – that they can learn the camera, they can learn the software and they can do all this stuff. I have to make them believe in themselves.