The Oswego State student-run radio station, WNYO, has implemented a new training program for future radio hosts.
General Manager Scott Glickman and the E-board of WNYO put the new training program in place to make sure that students understood how to run their own show.
The new training program includes students shadowing six hours of experienced radio hosts, and an on air five minute air check to make sure students know how to run a show. The program also has optional review study sessions of the WNYO handbook and requires students to take a test on all the material they have learned from the training program and the WNYO handbook.
Andrew Nicholson, program director for WNYO and e-board member, said that with the new training program the number of student radio hosts dropped, but that it was for a purpose.
“We had 38 applicants, and they all got shows this semester and they all sound phenomenal,” he said. According to Nicholson, people did not want to take the program seriously, they felt that the program was too much and did not want to return for the workload involved.
Nicholson also went on to say that the purpose of the new training program was simple, “We were trying to get people more comfortable with the equipment, while also trying to see who really wants to become a (radio host),” he said.
The old training program was “just 10 minutes of going through the studio and saying ‘good luck,’ and we decided that it was very inefficient,” Nicholson said. Another problem that put the training program into effect was the lack of true interest in the station, “We had a lot of people that were not passionate about the radio show,” said Nicholson.
“I felt more comfortable after training,” Will Furdyn. Furdyn went on to say some parts of the training were a little overboard, “It’s just much more complicated. There were a lot of hours,” he added.
Another thing that was big motivation for Furdyn to put a lot of time into the training program was the test.
“Motivation of not being able to do it again (the test),” was big as only had one opportunity to pass, and if failed this spring semester you could not retake the exam. The on air check that was also new and had Furdyn a little nervous. “My finger was shaking (as) it was a little nerve racking having someone watching you,” he said.
There is plenty of optimism in the new training program said Josh Kay, a freshman WNYO member, “In the long run it absolutely helps the station. It makes everyone who has a show sound professional and it will be a tool for the future.”
Kay also believes that the best way to prepare for the new test format and on-air microphone checks was simple.
“I had to read through the DJ handbook and really understand how to create a show,” Kay said.
Kay went on to say that another thing that helped him last semester was asking questions on his own.
“I just asked more questions on my own time.” Kay said.
The training program had differed from last semester’s program where students took a 38 question multiple choice and true-or-false questionnaire: if they passed they were given an hour show. The new test format has multiple choice, true/false and detailed short answer questions.
The short answer questions were on a range of knowledge and asked questions such as how to successfully go into a radio break from the show and how to come out of the commercial break to back on the air. The short answer was something that Nicholson really liked.
“They were in-depth sentence answers that we enjoyed reading,” Nicholson said.
