Communications majors Elizabeth Lyles of Glenpool (left) and Skylar Scott of Collinsville (right) work on a “Life on College Hill” podcast for RSU Radio General Manager Tip Crowley’s Podcast Production class. Now in its second season, “Life on College Hill” helps RSU students navigate college life.
In an increasingly digital age, more and more people listen to podcasts to be informed and entertained.
Among the innumerable available podcasts, one exists to assist Rogers State University students in navigating college life: “Life on College Hill.”
Now in its second season, “Life on College Hill” is the audible fruit of RSU communications student labors to offer helpful tips and practical advice to other students about the college experience.
“’Life on College Hill’ is a podcast that’s primarily student-produced, designed to serve the Rogers State community. We always have our students in mind, but also faculty, staff, and just people who are interested in RSU in general,” explained assistant professor and RSU Radio General Manager Tip Crowley. “We describe it as a podcast ‘by students, for students,’ giving them tips on succeeding in college and providing a voice for current students.”
This season’s first episode, titled “How to Make Friends in College” by Aby Molina, focuses on overcoming the challenges of making friends in college and feeling like a part of the RSU community.
“Typically, students from our podcast production course create an entire season of episodes which are then released over the course of the program, with each student producing one episode,” Crowley said. “The first season, we had 10 episodes, and this season, 12 episodes have been produced, covering a wide range of topics about college life.”
First season episodes included “Cheap College Cravings,” “Unbalanced: The Journey of Being a Student,” “Express Yourself: A Quick Look at RSU Orgs,” Why You Like What You Watch,” “Mind Muscle Connection,” “Exercise of the Mind,” Nontraditional Perspectives,” “Faith on the Hill,” and “Hobbies on the Hill.”
In addition to the podcasts serving as a resource for new students to learn about campus living, their production gives students enrolled in the podcast production course the opportunity to learn about the practical, hands-on aspect of producing a program.
“It’s similar to the experience that the students would get in a production house situation, where everyone pitches ideas, works together to narrow down subjects and focus on topics that will be relevant, and either enjoyable, informative, or entertaining to the RSU students and community,” Crowley said. “For our students who’ve studied audio production, this is also the chance for them to gain advanced audio production skills, and for all the students to build storytelling techniques, to craft a narrative without simply saying everything in a straight-forward way. They can use interviews, they can use natural sound, sound effects, and all sorts of things to create a greater narrative, rather than simply have someone reading off of a script.”
Crowley said additional episodes of “Life on College Hill” will be released “typically” once every other week, with the second season to continue into the summer 2024 semester.
“Life on College Hill” is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, iHeartMedia, and RSURadio.com, amongst other platforms.
RSU’s Department of Communications offers the Bachelor of Arts in communications with emphasis available in broadcasting and new media, communication arts, and strategic communications.
For more information about RSU’s Department of Communications, visit www.rsu.edu/communications.