Future
of Public Broadcasting Stations, USOEC Discussed
Also
at the forum, Fred Joyal (Academic Affairs) previewed
his presentation to the board this month regarding future funding
of WNMU radio and TV. Joyal said input from the campus and general
community, the WNMU staff, a community advisory committee and an
external consultant resulted in three possibilities: solicit a non-commercial
buyer, become a partner in a joint operating agreement or continue
to directly operate the two stations with an annual stipend from
the university of no more than $250,000.
Joyal
indicted his recommendation will be a combination of the latter
two options.
“We
came at this by asking, ‘What’s the return on our investment to
our core mission of teaching and preparing students for life beyond
the university?’” said Joyal. “The recommendation will bring the
stations down to a thin operation, but keeps them on our campus.
We will continue to explore an operating agreement as a way to guarantee
that we are able to provide the public broadcasting services to
our students and the region.”
The
board will also discuss future funding for the United States Olympic
Education Center (USOEC). At the forum, Roy
outlined changes that have taken
place since the recommendation to eliminate the center by 2005.
In 2003, the USOEC’s support from the university was nearly $600,000.
Roy
said this year the university provided $80,000, or the amount NMU
would lose in net tuition dollars if the center were to close. Increases
in funding from the federally supported B.J. Stupak Scholarship
program as well as other external sources and organizational changes
have moved the USOEC within $71,000 of being fully funded in 2005.
“So
at this point what we are looking for is additional external funding
to cover the $71,000 as well as the $80,000 from NMU so that the
center is self-supported,” said Roy
. “We believe there are good
possibilities for support at the private, state and federal levels
and we’ll continue to work on those.”
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