Student-funded and student-run KWVA radio station cleared one hurdle toward financial stability on Wednesday as Student Senators voted to add the station as an EMU-funded program.
KWVA General Manager Charlotte Nisser said she thinks student government’s Programs Finance Committee, which initially sets the radio station’s budget, does not understand the importance of funding the federally licensed radio station. The station often needs immediate funds to replace equipment and ensure the station is broadcasting 24 hours a day, every day, including holidays, she said.
The Federal Communications Commission could shut the station down by terminating its license if it doesn’t continually broadcast, she said.
“It’s gotten to the point that every year we have to go and fight for funding,” Nisser said. “If PFC decided not to fund us, then we are in violation of (Federal Communications Commission) regulations.”
The EMU Board of Directors, which allocates $3.7 million of student fees to operate the building, must still vote to transfer KWVA from the PFC to the EMU. The EMU Board heard the proposal Wednesday afternoon, but decided not to vote on it until Oct. 19, after its Budget Committee hearing this Wednesday.
As an educational, commercial-free radio station, the federal government views KWVA as a tool and outlet for students to learn about the radio industry, Nisser said.
“EMU Programs are thought of as longer-term programs, where PFC programs are dependent on membership,” she added.
KWVA Board of Directors Chairman Michael Huntsberger said he was surprised when he first started working at KWVA because of its high level of autonomy, but he said that in his 20 years of college radio experience, equipment replacement and general long-term goals have been difficult.
He said it is difficult for the Senate to allocate large amounts of money on short notice to replace broken equipment, which is often the problem when no reserve accounts are established for long-term planning.
“Most of the Student Senate is focused on other sorts of programs,” Huntsberger said, “and this is not a temporary group.”
ASUO Finance Coordinator Nick Hudson said KWVA will become a more financially sustainable, long-term student group by becoming an EMU program.
Under the EMU, an officer of administration position will be established to deal with FCC regulations, taking pressure off the general manager, who currently deals with them.
“(One) long-term benefit for KWVA is in the stability of knowing they would not be at the whim of PFC giving the market standards,” Hudson said.
As an EMU program, Hudson said, KWVA would have reserve funds to allow for short- and long-term financial stability.
Hudson, who submitted the proposal to the EMU and Student Senate, said the EMU will also benefit in the long term because KWVA has the potential to eventually be self-sufficient and possibly make money for the EMU.
The radio station cost PFC $83,384 this year as an educational radio station.
Nisser said the radio station serves as an important tool for students on campus and in the community. It provides hands-on experience not offered in the journalism school, she said.
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