After receiving applications from across the nation for a a prominent position at KWVA, the University’s campus radio station, an EMU hiring committee is expected to decide on the final two candidates as soon as this week.
Gregg Lobisser, the EMU director of student activities, said the EMU has been working for the past five months to hire the next general manager.
The committee will decide between Charlotte Nisser, the current student general manager at KWVA, and Greg Jaquay, the general manager of KCSS at California State University in Stanislaus.
KWVA, which was formerly a student government program completely run by students, on Jan. 1 became an EMU program, meaning the EMU Board of Directors will decide the radio station’s budget.
The general manager position, formerly filled by students, will now be awarded to a salaried professional, Lobisser said. He also said he felt the change to a full-time administrative position will provide for “greater continuity and stability” within the station.
“A part-time person doing a full-time job is pretty challenging,” Lobisser said.
The new general manager will be required to maintain KWVA policies and programming and to ensure compliance with FCC regulations and federal, state and local laws, according to the University’s online job directory. He or she will also supervise KWVA staff members and facilitate fundraising and promotional programs.
The position offers an approximately $38,000-$40,000 annual salary and about $22,000 in additional yearly benefits.
KWVA’s assistant general manager, James Sandberg, who goes by Jimbo, said the change in the general manager position could be a good thing for the station.
“I’m feeling quite optimistic about it,” he said. “The station’s only going to get better, more professional.”
Sandberg also said the change could give KWVA employees new energy and focus working under a more authoritative figure.
“A professional general manager might be able to bring the hammer down a little bit more,” Sandberg said.
The EMU started advertising for the new position on Feb. 12.
The push to make KWVA an EMU program was first proposed by the KWVA Board of Directors, then was approved by the student government’s executive branch, the EMU Board of Directors, the ASUO Senate and University President Dave Frohnmayer, Lobisser said.
The original push was made largely to help the station maintain a more stable management and a more stable funding source from year to year. The station’s budget was previously recommended by a committee of elected students in a sometimes tumultuous process.
“This has not really been a divisive transfer,” Lobisser said. “It’s gone through with ease.”
Nisser and Jaquay were the only two candidates to go through the full interview process, EMU hiring committee chairwoman Lee LaTour wrote in an e-mail to KWVA employees. Both gave a public presentation entitled “What Makes Good College Radio?” earlier this month.
They were also interviewed by the KWVA Board of Directors and student staff in addition to the hiring committee, Sandberg said.
Sandberg said there was some uncertainty about the change with the KWVA staff at first, but the mood is more positive now.
“We were afraid that we’d get a candidate that would view this as a retirement position,” Sandberg said.
He said he would like to see the station get more recognition and exposure, and that it was important to find a candidate who will be fully dedicated to the job.
“Luckily, both candidates were outstanding,” Sandberg said.