Cedarville Magazine Spring-Summer

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an FMnetwork for around 50 years [WCDR], and I was on air there
28 years while serving as a faculty member,” he explained.
When Leightenheimer returned, Cedarville’s program was
exclusively radio broadcasting. “In 1982, we would prepare
students by having them do audio with a little bit of video, on-air
performance, production, news,” he said. “Now they take courses
in social media and web design. There’s an emphasis on writing
and promotions; audio and video skills are still important with
every website, even for radio stations, putting up video content all
the time.”
“What sets us apart is that we’re well-tuned to what’s happening
in the industry,” Leightenheimer continued. “Radio has been in a
state of flux. Television came along and had a tremendous impact;
FM impacted AM. Radio always snaps back. We just make sure our
students have tools that stations are looking for today.”
Broad course offerings have been the key to Cedarville
graduates’ employability. “It’s not just about radio, television,
film, or production courses,” Leightenheimer said. “They all get
courses on law and regulations, ethics, writing, and audio and video
production.”
There’s also a film emphasis under the leadership of Jim Kragel,
Associate Professor of Communications. Audio production courses
used to prepare students solely for radio context, but now they
teach sound design, post-production for film, and live and sound
music production.
“We took a program that had two production courses and
increased it to six production courses, with a wide preparation in
multiple areas,” Leightenheimer said. “With today’s environment
you don’t get in as a specialist anymore; you get in as a utility player
who can do five things well.”
Adapting to the changing environment of media has meant
changing the way Cedarville delivers radio itself. Eight years ago,
Cedarville moved its low-wattage student station online. That’s
today’s , which can be heard worldwide courtesy
of the Internet.
A student leadership teamof sixmanages a volunteer staff of 30 at
Resound. They develop their own programming, based on research
and testing. There’s an on-air voice presence from 8 a.m.–5 p.m.
every day Cedarville’s in session fall and spring semesters.
Coming Back and Giving Back
Because of Leightenheimer’s desire to see current students
become as professional as possible, he encourages graduates
working in the broadcasting field to return and teach as adjuncts
or provide coaching.
Bill Montgomery ’93, General Sales Manager at Columbus,
Ohio-based 104.9 FM the River, teaches once a week at Cedarville.
The River was named the number one large-market Christian
Station of the Year last year by the Christian Music Broadcasters
organization.
“Our graduates serve as non-paid consultants,” Leightenheimer
said. “Todd Stach ’94, Chief Creative Officer at the River, is one
of our programming consultants. He listens to our ‘Amp Up with
Angela and Stephen’ team every week and gives them critique.
We’re very serious here.”
This drive to develop students into professionals before they
leave Cedarville has paid results. Managers from all over the country
in Christian radio know that students coming fromCedarville will
be well-groomed and prepared to make a difference immediately.
“We’re always looking for the best people we can find out there,”
noted Dusty Rhodes, Senior Vice President of WAY-FM, a national
network of Christian radio stations, in a video promoting the
Cedarville program. “For many years our go-to guy for fresh new
candidates has been Professor Jim Leightenheimer fromCedarville
University. Jim and the team at Cedarville [Baker, Kragel, Assistant
Professor of Communications Jeff Simon, and Assistant Professor
of Communications Mischelle McIntosh], they really know how to
train and equip students for the real world.
“WAY-FM has hired over a dozen Cedarville grads over these
many years. And they’reworking successfully in…Denver; Nashville;
West Palm Beach, Florida; Huntsville, Alabama; Tallahassee, Fort
Myers/Naples, Florida. We love these students. They’re always ready
to jump into what we’re already doing. In baseball terms, it’s almost
like us having our own farm club team out there in rural Ohio.”
(To see the video, go to )
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