Chet Laprice, Ph.D. Email and Phone Number

Our shared goal as IBS member stations is to showcase our campus media outlets as unique, engaging learning laboratories where creative students can augment their skills in writing, performing, and producing content. These help nurture our students with essential traits in communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thought: essential components necessary to lead and succeed in the 21st Century marketplace. Our media outlets offer the perfect foundation.

Leading a student-operated broadcast station involves many facets: the object being to delegate downward to the students as many responsibilities as they can effectively be empowered with. To that end, I organize and maintain the many components of the facility (programming, music, news, sports, social media, production, promotions, budgets, licensing, etc.) with student managers in charge of each branch. In 2005 I implemented our move up the dial to 90.5-FM, culminating a decade-long capital improvement effort. The new antenna location effectively quadrupled station reception in the tri-state region.I secured the necessary funding to augment two major technical improvements to WERG: the purchase of a WheatStone D7512 studio audio console (2008), and the transition to Google Radio Automation Systems (now WideOrbit) master control system (2009). Our webstream was augmented in 2016, followed by our audio stream in 2017; we became an NBC NewsRadio affiliate in 2019. In 2022 we secured a $15,000 grant to replace our studio-transmitter link and audio processor. These enhancements have significantly increased the quality of our technical sound and continue to enable our students to gain practical experience with industry-standard equipment.Gannon students in the School of Communication and the Arts regularly attend the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System's (I.B.S.) annual conference in Manhattan where we frequently present on various panels; in 2014 we were honored to be the recipient of the Abraham & Borst Award (named for the I.B.S. founders) as "Best College Station in the nation."Our two-fold mission has always been to 1) serve the Gannon and Erie communities with diverse alternative programming choices; and 2) serve as a learning laboratory with station structure and operation as consistent as possible to the operation of a professional radio station.WERG: Rockin’ GU Since 1972 - - we’re the right choice, left on the dial!

This was "Planet Radio 93-9" and I did middays for a year. I also had production duties that involved recording and mixing spots for all six stations in the cluster: Rocket 101, Star 104, Froggy 94.7, The Planet, 1330 The Fan, and 1400 WJET. Occasionally had to “tweak” the AudioVault system when troubleshooting was necessary.

The bulk of my professional career was at WXTA. I was the Midday personality for seven years; I also did Evenings, Overnights, PM Drive, and AM Drive fill-in. As WXTA's Production Director from 1992-1995, I developed and produced "The Weekend Countdown" show which was hosted by our Morning Drive personality. From 1995-2001 I was WXTA's Music Director, with the responsibility of crafting a signature sound and demographic market-specific appeal for the station. Our team grew WXTA into a market leader during the 1990's with #1 successes in the 12-plus and 25-54 age demographics.

I hosted live shows on K-104 FM for the weekend overnights and occasional fill-in roles. On the AM side for WEYZ, I was the producer for various sports broadcasts and also managed the overnight automation concurrently with on-air duties across the aisle at K-104.

News gathering, editing, and delivery.Live airshifts, call-screening and engineering for talk shows.Maintained station automation procedures and policies.