Joining the board
Basics
WJRH is a completely student-led radio station. The leadership in WJRH is composed of members in the WJRH Board, a group of students who commit regular time and share the responsibilities of representing, maintaining and developing the station. Every year, in the month of December, the Board holds elections to choose new members who will take over the leadership starting in January. Board positions typically last one calendar year, with exceptions made for students studying abroad and in similar situations.
Holding a position in the Board is an opportunity to get involved in one of the most active student organizations on campus. You will get experience in running a world class non-commercial, free-form radio station. You will find large freedoms to pursue your personal projects as well as create and work on long term station projects. You are encouraged and expected to contribute ideas, take initiative and make the most out of the vast array of resources that will be available to you.
A position in the Board is not a quick way to add a new activity in your resume. Your mandatory time commitment to the Board will be minimal, at about one or two hours for a weekly meeting. However, you will be expected to spend more time working on station projects on your own time. In the end, you will have solid projects and works to add to your resume, if you choose to do write about it.
How we are organized
Hierarchy is great for predictability and repeatability. It is easier to control a large group of people from the top down, which is why military is set up this way. However, telling creative, talented people what to do all the time is completely contrary to why we have them in the first place. This is why we don’t have anyone reporting to anyone else. We do have a General Manager but he/she is not your manager. The station is yours to steer. A flat structure removes bureaucracy between you and doing what you want to do. When you’re running for a position, you need to ask yourself if you can literally run the station, because you will be.
What do we work on
You will not be told what to work on, instead you’ll decide what to work on after asking yourself the right questions. Are all my roles in my job description handled sucessfull? Of all the projects currently under way, what is the most valuable thing I can work on? What hardships are the disk jockeys facing and what can I do to fix them? Is the station not doing something it should be doing? What’s interesting? What can I learn from? What leverages my individual strengths the most?
Organizing events, bringing bands, starting new tech projects all begin by you bringing up at the board meeting. Remember that the WJRH community is larger than the board. Reach out to DJs, send out emails and soon you’ll have your idea up and running. In the end, what you choose to work on during your time on the station Board will guide the way the station grows.
Positions on the Board
We have the following nine positions on the board (job descriptions here):
- General Manager
- Vice General Manager
- Program Director
- Events Director
- Treasurer
- Secretary
- Music Director
- Public Relations Director
- Community Outreach Director
- FCC Compliance Director and Team
- Chief Engineer
Most of these positions can be filled by anybody regardless of major or past experience. In addition to these positions, the board also has an unlimited number of positions available under these titles although you will need to display a level of competence in technical work you will be involved in:
- Software Development
- Engineering
How do the elections work?
We solicit applications from the wider community. Board member applicants do not need to be current disk jockeys, as long as they are interested in working in the board. Elections will be by secret ballot and Instant-runoff voting will be used. All DJs and current officers may vote once each. Freshman can not run for the General Manager position. You will be able to run for one position only. Elections are completed through a Google Form distributed through the WJRH GroupMe and email list.
We gather all people interested in one room to find an optimal point for everyone involved. There will be a publicly displayed list of all applicants. We will encourage negotiating with other candidates on positions and asking advice from incumbent board members who will be present at nomiations.