CSU station on Web

Charleston Southern University launched its own Web-based radio station to reach students, prospective students and alumni around the world.

Anybody can access Buc Radio from Charleston Southern's Web site. People can hear Christian and secular music for free 24 hours a day at the site. And starting next week, the university will include talk shows and campus news and activities.

Rick Brewer, vice president for student affairs and athletics, said it's essential for a university to have an appealing and informative presence online because research indicates that 90 percent of parents who are checking out colleges for their children go first to the school's Web site. Charleston Southern's site is a "central piece to marketing and branding the university," he said.

The university will use the site and Buc Radio to promote academic excellence in a Christian environment, Brewer said. And university leaders think it will reach students, faculty, alumni and potential donors.

Charleston Southern isn't alone in investing time, money and staff energy to improving its Web site.

The College of Charleston, The Citadel and Charleston School of Law also have recently revamped their Web sites. Leaders at all those schools said Web sites have to be visually compelling and easy to use.

College of Charleston spokesman Mike Robertson also said a site has to include information young people want. For instance, he said, the college's site has links to videos on YouTube and to Facebook, a social networking site.

Rusty Bruns, Charleston Southern's chief information officer, said the university was the first all-wireless campus in South Carolina in 2003 and the school continues to be a leader in bringing new technology to campus.

The university turned to the Charleston-based American Media Services Interactive to develop Buc Radio and to bring music to the site, Bruns said. The company streams the music to the site, he said, so the university isn't forced to use its own bandwidth, or data communication resources.

Brewer wouldn't say how much the system costs but said it's a cost-effective way to spread the university's message.

"In the long run, it's going to help Charleston Southern take another step forward in technology," Bruns said.

Reach Diane Knich at 937-5491 or dknich@postandcourier.com.