Podcast with Kauaʻi CC professors launched to help students

Mary Alexander (right) being interviewed by Jay Baker

Steve Taylor (right) and interviewer, Jay Baker

Students often consider several things when signing up for a class. What is the class going to teach me? What is the professor like? What is their passion? How will they teach? To help put students at ease, Kauaʻi Community College has come up with a new option for students to meet and connect with their professors.

Class Act is a new podcast series from Kauaʻi CC where professors are interviewed about their classes, their teaching styles, their personality and their passions and interests. The podcasts allow students to know more about the classes taught by the featured faculty, as they choose their classes for the fall semester. This season’s podcast series includes 14 faculty from programs including English, fine arts, Hawaiian studies, hospitality, marine science, physical science, theater and music, health studies, history, languages and early childhood education.

The project has been created, produced, hosted and edited by the student workers in the Kauaʻi CC marketing department, under the guidance of Marketing Director Gary Ellwood. This ensures that the content is driven by students, for students.

Student Patrick Traller, the producer of the project, said “Signing up for classes has always been like a blind date. You never know what’s going to show up on the other end of the table. That’s why we wanted to create an opportunity for students to get to know a little bit about professors before taking their class. In a way, it’s like adding a profile picture and bio to an otherwise blank profile!”

“This is an incredible way for potential and current students alike to get to know instructors on a deeper level, outside the four walls of a classroom,” said student Ticannaf “Teak” Ruby Ano, the designer and host of the podcasts. “You get to hear directly how they teach, what classes are really like, what they love about teaching and how their path in life got them to where they are. It is so interesting and wonderful to hear the different stories from the people that make Kauaʻi Community College truly the best community college on the planet!”

The podcasts are hosted on YouTube and Anchor, and are accessible on Spotify, Pandora, iHeart and iTunes apps, as well as on the Kauaʻi CC website. The project has been promoted using videos produced and shot by the student team, shared on the college’s Instagram and Facebook accounts, and on the college webpage.

“It was incredible to get to know these instructors outside of the formal classroom. I loved hearing about their passions and reasons for teaching on Kauaʻi,” said student Katie Jones, who directed and edited the video promos. “They were all so much fun and interesting! And the high production level we created added a strong professional feel to the videos.”

To access the podcasts, search for Class Act in your favorite podcast app, or go to Kauaʻi CC’s website.