By Mason Edwards, Staff Writer for the University Echo
Juan Carlos Aponte Ortiz and Melissa Laseter smile as they interview a guest on their podcast, “The College Experience.” Monday, October 24, 2022. Matt Cook, Staff Photographer
When Student Support Services spoke into two microphones, they didn’t think their echoes would be heard around the world—including Canada, Belgium and Spain.
The voices on air, Juan Carlos Aponte Ortiz– a senior political science major– and Melissa Laseter– SSS’s Director and a current graduate student– agree listenership is fantastic, but they prioritize expanding how “The College Experience by SSS” benefits students locally.
If not covered in orientation, many freshmen and transfer students must learn UTC’s academic policies, like advisor holds, concurrently with their studies. The new podcast hopes to equitably share information, enabling anyone to learn more about UTC from the comfort of their speakers or headphones.
The project appeals to their personal and professional goals as they reveal, in Laseter’s words, the “hidden curriculum” of college for all students, especially pupils from “diverse and disadvantaged backgrounds.”
“We’re trying to take information that students should know and put it in a way that is accessible as well as understandable,” Ortiz said before using Laseter’s term.
“Hidden curriculum in higher education is the unspoken expectations and rules that impact students,” she later defined.
Not wanting to miss an opportunity to talk to students, Vice Chancellor of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs Dr. Yancy Freeman weighed in after his chance at the microphones.
“Folks are receiving information in so many different mechanisms, so many different ways, so many different avenues…” Freeman stated. “I think we have to be diverse in how we are doing it.”
Laseter and Ortiz, the podcast’s co-creators, share a common rule: not to take themselves too seriously. The show includes personality questions, funny anecdotes, and meaningful stories, as Student Support Program’s Assistant Director Jason Harville discovered following his recording session on Monday, Oct 24.
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Melissa Laseter and Juan Carlos Aponte Ortiz listen to their guest, Jason Harville (center) answer a question on their podcast, “The College Experience.” Monday, October 24, 2022.
“It was very comfortable,” Harville said about the podcast. “I enjoy a good rapid-fire conversation.”
The idea for a podcast grew from a senior presentation Laseter and Ortiz attended, which claimed podcasting is a manageable endeavor.
“There was a little bit of side-eye, like ‘Can we do this?’” Laseter asked, tilting her head and repeating the movement she made.
Ortiz initially thought so, considering he experimented for months, learning how to produce, edit and publish. He lugged two cases of sound equipment across campus, renting microphones and digital storage from the library studio. The best spot for recording, they discovered, shares the same space as the tutoring space, next to the kitchen and beside the bathrooms.
His nerves racing through him, Ortiz arranged the microphones, support arms and portable podcast interface on one of their circular tables. He covered a few baseline rules with the participants, prior to the show. Guests could talk as long as they wanted, as he would splice out verbal flubs in post-production, which was an exceptionally calming fact.
With a solid foundation and long-term plans, the pair decided to commit to the project. Still, several failed, never-released episodes provide proof they overcame persistent challenges.
“We technically started from zero, just me and Google,” said Ortiz as he adjusted his studio-quality microphone. “At this point, we have about 70 plays, and if we get 100 plays, we’re reaching 50% of our target demographic.”
Their primary audience includes students from typically disadvantaged backgrounds, which SSS strives to serve. Still, they publish the show on multiple audio and podcasting platforms, offering any current or prospective student a free chance to listen in.
During First Generation Week, Nov. 7-12, the podcast will release an episode a day, featuring interviews with first generation graduates, beginning with Harville and Freeman
SSS derived listenership demographical information from their podcast-hosting software.
More information concerning Student Support Services may be available by reaching out to them via their website.
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