The Station
KUPS is a non-commercial, educational radio station licensed to the Board of Trustees of the University of Puget Sound and operated by the Associated Students of UPS. KUPS began in 1968 as a closed-circuit AM experiment. In 1975 KUPS became a 10 Watt FM station, and in 1983 blossomed into a fully operational 100 watt FM station. KUPS is 100% student-run and broadcasts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, serving the greater Tacoma area with programming in a variety of genres including Alternative, Loud Rock, Hip-Hop, and Electronic. In 2002, KUPS began streaming its standard live programming online to the world. For a first-hand account of the inception of KUPS, including audio of the initial sign on in 1968, click here.
KUPS and the DJs of The Sound have also earned various awards while broadcasting over the years. In 2004, KUPS DJ David Conger was recognized by Collegiate Broadcasters Inc. (CBI) as one of the nations best DJ’s as one of four finalists in the Best DJ category of the 2004 CBI National Production Awards. In 2005, KUPS was named by The Princeton Review as one of the best college radio stations in the country (#12). Then-music director China Bialos was nominated as ”Music Director of the Year” by CMJ. Finally, in 2007, KUPS was ranked number 9 by the Princeton Review in the Top Ten Best College Radio Stations in the Country.
KUPS maintains a proud tradition of the promotion and critical review of local, independent, and new music. This is evident in the music we play, the reviews we post, and the events we support on and off campus. KUPS is also committed to sharing the experience of radio broadcasting with students, faculty, and staff members at the University. Over 100 volunteers and paid student staff members operate KUPS on a daily basis.
For any questions, please email, write, or call. Contact information is available in the Contact section. We are happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you for listening and enjoy our broadcasts!
Core Staff
General Manager
The General Manager oversees all operations at the station. As the leader of KUPS, the General Manager organizes the Core Staff, represents the station at weekly ASUPS Media Board meetings, maintains financial transactions and records, and communicates with DJs.
Programming Director
The Programming Director manages the DJs. Specific tasks include hiring DJs, maintaining a document monitoring DJ attendance and behavior, scheduling PSAs, DJ plugs, underwriting announcements, printing legal logs, conducting air-checks with new and returning DJs, mentoring, and dealing with finding DJ substitutes.
Business Manager
In addition to funding from ASUPS, KUPS relies on financial support from outside resources. The main responsibility of the Business Manager is to obtain financial support from outside resources. This primarily comes in the form of underwriting, in which local businesses donate money to the station in exchange for on-air thank yous. The business manager contacts businesses with which we already have a relationship, as well as new business, in an attempt to build sponsorship. This includes phone calls, mailings, and on-site communication.
Promotions Director
Deals primarily internally with station promotions. This includes communicating with concert promoters and venues to obtain tickets for giveaway. This can also be expanded to obtain other items for giveaway, such as gift certificates, sports tickets, etc. Another responsibility includes maintaining an up-to-date concert calendar.
Public Marketing Director
Purpose is to expand the visibility of KUPS off-campus. Work outside of the radio station, using promotional tools obtained by the Promotions Director. Responsibilities include flyering around town and campus, getting KUPS info in local businesses, handing out stickers/flyers after shows, organizing KUPS events, getting our name out in local press, and doing giveaways at events.
Production Director
Uses CoolEdit Pro computer software to edit interviews and create underwriting announcements, promotions, DJ plugs, PSAs, etc. Goes through mail and emails to filter unwanted PSAs and press releases. Maintains news board in DJ booth with updated press releases and pertinent news.
Music Director
There are six Music Director positions, broken down into each genre: Alternative, Hip Hop, Loud Rock, Electronic, Weekend, and Local. Each Music Director has the same responsibilities that are genre-specific, with the exception of the Local Music Director, who deals with music crossing all genres. These include: reviewing submitted music, compiling weekly top 30 or top 10 chart, adding and removing music to/from rotation, communicating with promoters via telephone and email regarding add choices, managing music library, making labels for CDs, contacting DJs regarding adds and music, and hosting listening sessions.
Assistant Alternative Music Director
The responsibilities of the assistant will include, but are not limited to, the following: collecting mail from Mail Services, sorting it, and logging alternative submissions; loading music onto our computer, maintaining the alternative library and database, labeling and placing CDs into rotation, occasionally shadowing the Alternative Music Director to learn how college radio promotion works, how to communicate with promoters, how to assess music submissions, and how to create labels for those music submissions that make it to rotation; occasionally assessing music submissions and creating labels independently from the Alternative Music Director.
Assistant Programming Director
Assistant programming director primarily serves to listen to all of the DJs shows and give constructive feedback on things they could improve on. Their responsibilities include listening to all shows, giving constructive feedback, monitoring behavior and quality of the station and its DJs, filing operations logs, DJ exams, and assisting the programming director when necessary. Monitoring and criticizing shows is essential to increasing the listenership of the station.
Webmaster
Maintains and enhances KUPS website. Works with other staff members to keep site content current and accurate.
For information about how you can reach the Core Staff, please see our Contact page.
