UNA Launches “The Shine” Podcast; Student-Led Production Shares Alumni Stories
Jan. 29, 2025
Michelle R. Eubanks , UNA, at meubanks@interactivebilisim.com, 256.765.4392
FLORENCE, AL – Born out of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering Advisory Board, The Shine podcast has provided a unique opportunity for first-year University of North Alabama students to learn a special skill while also meeting and interviewing alumni of the institution. The first season has just launched on the CASE YouTube channel and is available at this link.
“This initiative highlights the stories of UNA alumni as interviewed by students in our First Year Experience (FYE) course,” said Dr. Ryan Zayac, Interim Dean of the College. “The podcast is produced entirely by students in the class, showcasing their growing skills in media production and storytelling.”
The one-hour course is taught each fall semester by Michelle Eubanks as part of the First Year Experience program, which assists students with becoming acclimated to their academic and student support resources. This course focused on Podcasting. Capped at 12 students, the course provides students with insights into how to interview, edit, produce, and create audio for a podcast episode that is approximately 25 minutes in length. Each guest featured is also UNA alumni. This season’s guests include Grammy-award winning artist Dillon Hodges, former NFL player and small-business owner Lamonte Thompson, and former member of the UNA Marching Pride, Rita Harris.
“Before the class, I only listened to podcasts while driving or working out,” said Emma Pugh, a freshman at UNA and one of the students in the class. “I didn’t really appreciate all the work that went into making an episode. Throughout the semester, I learned how each of the parts come together to create a whole episode, how to work as a team, how to conduct an interview, and, finally, how to edit and produce the final version of our podcast. It was a really great learning experience.”
Episodes will be created each fall as part of the next course cycle and uploaded to the first season. Submit the name of a UNA alum who you think would make an interesting podcast feature at this link.
About The University of North Alabama
The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs through the colleges of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering; the Sanders College of Business and Technology; Education and Human Sciences; and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. UNA Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of NCAA Division I as part of the Atlantic Sun and United Athletic conferences. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: interactivebilisim.com and interactivebilisim.com/unaworks/.