Radio - TV Program

What is the program’s mission statement or statement of purpose? Why does the program exist?

WEIU's mission is to use its human and technological resources in partnership with others to benefit EIU and help make Charleston and the surrounding area a better place to live, learn, work and play. We do this by:

Complementing the work of the Departments of Communication Studies and Journalism at Eastern Illinois University through real-world training on state-of-the-art equipment to enable EIU students to become the most employable broadcast students in the United States.

Promoting community service through quality programming that engages and educates.

And through community outreach that has a positive impact.

How does the program mission align with the university mission?

WEIU-TV/FM, through the Radio-TV Center, have a proud history of representing the very best that Eastern Illinois University has to offer. Through WEIU, we help tell the story of how EIU grows, changes and adapts to the ever-changing world in which we live. Over the past quarter of a century, the students at WEIU have learned the craft of broadcasting and its many forms: news, sports, radio and TV production.  They’ve learned the laws, rules and regulations that govern broadcasting as well as the guidelines of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Public Broadcasting Service.  In addition they have formed lifelong bonds and friendships with their counterparts in the professional world. The broadcasting industry currently employs dozens of students from WEIU in a variety of positions.

Currently we have 91 students associated with different facets of our program.

These students are learning today’s equipment hands-on in a way that enhances their educational experience with real life media tools. Very few institutions have the freedom or learning tools that WEIU has at our facilities in Buzzard Hall.

Whom does the program serve?

The Radio-TV Center and its broadcast stations, WEIU-TV & FM, serve over half a million residents of eastern Illinois. We bring high-quality PBS programming to viewers across our wide TV coverage area.  We bring music and entertainment to listeners of Hit-Mix. We offer a wealth of locally produced programs for and about the residents of our community of license, Charleston.  We service the many departments of Eastern Illinois University that utilize the center as an opportunity to reach out and tell EIU's unique story.

But even though those are huge numbers of people we touch, our real strength is what we do for the EIU community of students.

The Radio-TV Center serves as a hands-on lab for students entering broadcasting, journalism and mass communications semester after semester.  Their work at the center has resulted in numerous awards including six Emmys.  They have worked on actual broadcast shows.  They direct, run camera, handle graphics and audio for EIU football and basketball productions.  They anchor, produce and report live newscasts.  They host and DJ their own radio programs and deliver up to the minute radio news.

They don't just sit and watch professional staff putting radio and TV programs together.  They work the productions. Learning by doing.  Experiencing the excitement and drama of the broadcasting business.  They learn how it feels to succeed as well as how to recover from the inevitable mistake.

So the Radio-TV Center enjoys a multi-faceted mission that allows us to serve many in our community

What are the services provided? How do these services align with the university mission and program mission?

The Radio-TV Center partners with and provides services to:

Students in the Departments of Journalism, Communication Studies and Geology/Geography who aspire to broadcast careers work with WEIU-TV’s staff on the live broadcast of News Watch.

EIU Athletics – the home of EIU Sports on radio.  WEIU TV provides students with a hands on experience of live EIU sports.

Student Community Services - PSA’s to inform students, live interviews.

Health Education Resource Center – PSA’s to assist their community service programs.

EIU Alumni Association –  Various events and Welcome Back during Fall Semester.

WEIU-FM attends all student recruiting sessions, telling the story of EIU and what they can achieve at WEIU.

EIU Business Department for students to give live market updates on WEIU-FM.

Communication Studies students do shifts on the Odyssey radio which also serves as a training ground to become announcers on WEIU.

Journalism Department to allow students to give real newscasts on the Odyssey.

WEIU staff members teach courses in Communication Studies and Journalism that bring broadcast and media experience to the classroom.

Issues/Attitudes each Monday at noon on WEIU-FM focuses on many EIU professors.

WEIU provides music and announcers for many EIU related events for back to school each fall.

WEIU runs PSA’s for the EIU SACIS program, to help prevent sexual assault and abuse on campus.

WEIU provides internship opportunities for students to work along professional staff members to gain real-life work experience and knowledge in the broadcast field.

WEIU offers Communication Studies students local television production experience.  Students apply classroom knowledge to these productions. 

Describe the program’s origins (e.g. year established, purpose, expectations).

The Radio-TV Center began in 1981, when EIU's Speech Communications Department recognized the needs for a hands-on laboratory for broadcast students. The center opened as a cable operation with various local programs and additional programming of The Learning Channel and The Financial News Network.

Radio was introduced July 1, 1985 and WEIU-TV signed on the air as a UHF station one year later.

In 1987, WEIU was able to acquire funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting as an independent public TV station, airing syndicated programming, classic films and the station's two cable network feeds of TLC and FNN.

On July 1, 1992, WEIU-TV began its association with the Public Broadcasting Service as a limited use station using an air schedule for no more than 25% PBS programs, delayed at least eight days from their original air offering.

On March 14, 2006, WEIU-TV signed its new digital transmitter and tower on the air and completed its transition to high definition television broadcasting.

During our entire history, the Radio-TV Center has held the mission of serving our community, serving the university and of using the facility as a lab for Eastern students.  That early mission has grown extensively as hundreds of students have worked or interned at the center over our 25 years of operation.  

During their time here they learned the ropes of the business through experience with our professional staff.  They have used the exact equipment they would later use when they began their professional careers.  They learned from their successes and occasionally from their mistakes. Those experiences have taken many to exciting and successful careers in radio and TV broadcasting.

How has the unit changed or adapted over time?

Over the years, WEIU-TV & FM have increasingly worked to serve the larger community of eastern Illinois as an important community resource and radio-TV broadcaster going well beyond our role as an important part of the EIU community.  Our early efforts revolved largely around passing on national programming. Initially we aired second-runs of national network series such as “Combat” and “Bonanza”.  Later we became a member of the Public Broadcasting Service.  We then became a source for high-quality educational and public affairs programming from PBS.  Programs such as “Nova”, “Nature” and “Masterpiece” became a staple in our schedule, broadcast at alternate times in an era before home video taping.

More recently we have significantly increased our quantity and quality of locally produced programs.  Programs such as “Heartland Highways”, “NewsWatch”, “Backstage at Doudna”, “Being Well”, “Panther Sports Talk” and local political debates are a staple on WEIU.  These efforts are produced specifically by and for our local community.  The production process includes not only WEIU’s highly trained professional staff but large numbers of EIU students, who are able to learn and hone their broadcast production techniques before embarking on their careers in the industry.

Another positive element of these locally produced programs is that they provide exposure of the expertise of EIU faculty who are often interviewed as the guests on many of our local programs.  WEIU allows us the ability to showcase the talent and the university to the community as well to the national PBS audience on an ongoing basis. 

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the program’s history and relevance to university mission.

The WEIU TV Call Letters are a constant and visual on air representation that "We Are EIU".

In 2011, the WEIU logo was re-designed to better represent the station branding with Eastern Illinois University. 

WEIU provides programming to all ages with a strong commitment towards education.

*  Total Television Broadcast Coverage Population:  1,080,987

*  Total Television Broadcast Coverage Households:  477,448 

*  Total Radio Broadcast Coverage Population:  211,755

*  Total Radio Broadcast Coverage Households:  93,449

Provide data, if available, on the numbers of students, faculty, staff, or others served by the program during the past four years. If no data are available, please estimate the numbers served annually.

Over the past four years, WEIU has had 364 students take part in the radio, television and sports program.  Currently in the 2013-14 academic year, WEIU has 34 students in WEIU TV News, 47 students in WEIU Hit-Mix 88.9 and The Odyssey, and 12 students in Sports.  In addition, we have had 4 interns at WEIU.

Does the program offer any co-curricular opportunities for students (e.g., internships, RSO support, service-learning activities)? Please describe.

WEIU offers the following: 

*  In-Service Training and Workshops for EIU Early Childhood Education majors

*  Partners with EIU Communications Studies faculty within the radio announcing class giving students the opportunity to work on The Odyssey online radio station (a service of WEIU).

*  Partners with EIU Communications Studies faculty within the electronic production class giving students the opportunity to work on WEIU TV productions.

*  Partners with EIU Journalism faculty within news writing courses giving students the opportunity to deliver the newscast on The Odyssey online radio station (a service of WEIU).

*  Partners with EIU Geology/Geography faculty providing meteorology students opportunities to prepare and deliver weather forecasts and alerts for WEIU TV News Watch.

*WEIU TV broadcasts television programs produced by Geology/Geography faculty and students.  WEIU TV staff provides production support for those programs.

*  Partners with EIU School of Business faculty and students to provide market updates on Hit-Mix 88.9 WEIU.

*  Partners with EIU Athletics giving students opportunities to produce radio broadcasts, video board production and live tv sports.

*   Partners with EIU Doudna Fine Arts Center giving students the opportunity to work on "Backstage at Doudna", WEIU TV series.

*  Partners with EIU Student Community Service during the Annual WEIU Kids Day event where over 1000 community members attend.

*  Partners with EIU Foundation classes providing WEIU station tours exhibiting student opportunities.

Does the program contribute to the delivery of academic programs (e.g., providing professional expertise, serving as adjunct faculty)? Please describe.

Five WEIU staff members serve as adjunct faculty in Communication Studies and Journalism Departments.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the internal demand for the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., curriculum changes made by another program) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

Is the program accredited or approved by a recognized external agency or otherwise certified to meet established professional standards? Provide an executive summary of and link to the program’s most recent accreditation or certification report, if available.

WEIU-TV is a part of the Public Broadcasting Service, a network of over 200 television broadcasters dedicated to serving our local communities.  We are licensed to serve the city of Charleston, Illinois and are a part of the Champaign-Urbana-Springfield market as one of three public TV stations in the market.  But even though two other PBS stations are in our market, we’re the only one charged with serving the Coles county community.  In addition, we air a schedule far different than the other PBS stations in the market, utilizing a high percentage of locally produced programs created specifically for our local community and for EIU.

Is the program required to meet any regulatory or legal requirements? Is the program subject to any special auditing requirements?

Being a radio and TV broadcaster requires WEIU-TV/FM to be aware of and abide by a large number of laws, regulations and guidelines administered by the Federal Communications Commission.  The FCC is the regulatory agency charged with the oversight of all radio frequency spectrum use in the United States.  All broadcasters, whether radio, television, commercial or non-commercial are required to be aware of and follow this often-changing array of rules.  Most importantly we are required to always be operating in the public interest. The penalties for violating any of these laws is significant, often resulting in fines and occasionally license revocation.

As a non-commercial broadcaster, WEIU also is required to follow very strict laws that are not required of commercial broadcasters.  These laws require even more diligence and constant attention to content to avoid any step toward commercialism.  Again, any violation would result in fines to the station.

In addition, WEIU-TV receives significant funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in the form of a Community Service Grant.  The purpose of the grant is to assist local non-commercial broadcasters to serve our local communities.  The receipt of these grants also requires close attention to very strict guidelines that dictate that we always operate in the community interest.  Failure to abide by these rules would result in fines and the possible elimination of the grant.

What are the most important outreach or public service activities supported by the program?

The Radio-TV Center, through the broadcast and online efforts of WEIU-TV/FM, provide EIU outreach into the community 24/7 in a variety of forms.  Our ability to reach literally every member of the community at any time of the day or night with news, information, activity of Eastern Illinois University, educational involvement and entertainment make the Radio-TV Center a resource unmatched by any other communications vehicle either within EIU or our community of license. 

Literally any important information of interest can be disseminated instantly and universally to several counties in our viewing and listening area regardless of circumstances.  We’re a resource for community members who may not have significant internet capabilities, may not be connected to cable or satellite or may be without power due to weather or other emergencies.  In any emergency, anyone with access to a battery-powered portable radio is instantly connected to EIU and the world.  And at other times, we provide EIU services to the community without the need for a listener or viewer to subscribe to any third party connection device.

A number of EIU faculty and staff have appeared as guests on WEIU’s local programs. Expertise provided by these individuals has been a valuable addition to these programs. Areas of the university represented include but are not limited to: Health Studies, Kinesiology and Sports Studies, Health Services, School of Business, Geology/Geography, Communication Disorders and Sciences, Biology, Economics, Communication Studies, Journalism, Booth Library and History. These individuals have appeared on locally produced programs: Heartland Highways, Being Well, 4 Rivers Ag Report, News Watch, At Issue, Live Election Coverage, Issues and Attitudes. Programs are broadcast on WEIU TV as well as online on the station’s You Tube Channel.  Community viewers benefit from the knowledge presented by these faculty and staff members.

Community Impact goes beyond the broadcast signal through WEIU Educational Services

Each week, WEIU-TV broadcasts more than 40 hours of quality PBS Kids programming. These programs not only entertain, but also focus on literacy development, healthy lifestyles, and positive social skills.  WEIU has engaged in a collaborative effort with Child Care Resource & Referral (CCR&R) to provide training and resources for teachers, parents and child care providers to extend the learning power of the children's programming we broadcast. Our services include:

• Community-based projects such as child care provider literacy visits.
• Health and literacy outreach.
• Book and literacy kit distribution programs, events, and more.

Goals of the Program

• Increase children's emergent literacy skills.
• Increase parents' frequency of reading with their children.
• Increase parent/educator use of the Learning Triangle with children.

Our Partners

Literacy visits are offered to the following counties:

• Coles, Cumberland, Clark, Edgar, Shelby, Moultrie

Many organizations have benefited from our services, such as:

Head Start, serving the following communities:

• Altamont, Pana, Sullivan, Charleston, Mattoon, Tuscola, Neoga, Casey, Pana, Westfield, Effingham, Cumberland Home Base, Robinson, Toledo, Effingham, Vandalia, Chrisman, Cowden

Project Help, serving the following communities:

• Charleston, Kansas and Ashmore

Child Care Centers and Community Organizations

• Building Blocks Play and Learn Center, Child Care Resource and Referral (EIU), Coles County Health Department, Charleston Parks & Recreation, Eastern Illinois University Student Association for the Education of Young Children, Eastern Illinois.

Number of resources developed to enhance family and/or caregiver use and practice around WEIU Educational Services learning goal:

October 2012 CCR&R Newsletter flyer “Eat Smart for a Great Start” handout= 385 copies

 January 2013 CCR&R Newsletter flyer “123 & ABC: Math & Reading Are Fun For Me! handout and “Helpful PBS Website Links for Engaging Children” handout= 385 copies

April 2013 “CCR&R Newsletter flyer “Festival of the Young Child/Cat in the Hat 123 & ABC: Math & Reading Are Fun For Me!” handout= 385 copies

August 2012 Kids Day Activity Bags = 250

Literacy Kit Activity bags for Literacy Visits =300

Festival of the Young Child Activity bags = 300

PBS Kids Writer’s Contest Activity bags = 12

Number of capacity-building outreach activities directed at families or caregiver:

August 2012 Kids Day event

August 2013 Kids Day event

April 2013 Festival of the Young Child event

(78) Literacy Visits

Number of capacity-building outreach activities directed at educators:

(9) WEIU Station Tours, WEIU Educational events/activities discussed.

(12) PBS Learning Media presentations

Number of educators who participate in or receive RTL professional development in 2012:

280 educators participated 

Number of families or caregivers who participated in literacy visits in 2012:

Caregivers attending Literacy Visits = 124

Number of children who participated in outreach activities:

2012 Kids Day = 250

2013 Kids Day = 400

2012 Festival of the Young Child = 350

2012 Literacy Visits = 819

2012 PBS Kids Writer’s Contest = 34

2012 WEIU Station Tours (RTL events/activities discussed) = 206

Number of national and community based organizations that collaborate:

Child Care Resource & Referral (CCR&R), IAEYC, Healthy Families 4 Life, United Way of Coles County, Paris Community Hospital, Team High Maintenance Bicycle Club, Douglas-Hart Nature Center, Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center, I Sing the Body Electric, Girls on the Run, EIU Health Resource Center, U of I Extension, Charleston Public Library, American Red Cross of Coles County, Charleston Fire Department, Central Illinois Big Brothers/Big Sisters, (60) Family Child Care Homes, Cornerstone Christian Academy, Prototykes, Kermit’s Kove, Small Blessings, Mattoon Head Start (2), Building Blocks, Bright Start, Casey Head Start, Charleston Head Start, Little School House, Grace Lutheran CDC, Paris Head Start, City of Charleston Tourism, 1st Federal Savings & Loan Association of Central Illinois, Eastern Illinois University, ROE #11, ROE #12

How do the local community and the region benefit from the program?

WEIU is the ONLY television station licensed to serve Coles county and the neighboring area.  Other television stations in our market bring a signal into our local area, and to EIU, but are dedicated to serving their communities of license, usually Champaign, Urbana, Springfield or Decatur. 

Further, WEIU-TV broadcasts a daily newscast, “NewsWatch”, that is produced and delivered by EIU students.  That program specifically targets our community.  That leaves WEIU as the only television broadcaster in the community where EIU’s students, faculty and staff reside that is providing the community news, information, weather alerts and other items of interest targeted specifically for our area.

WEIU-FM is now Charleston’s ONLY radio station and the only one utilizing EIU students, staff and faculty to reach the Charleston and EIU community.  In addition to providing our students daily hands-on practical lab experience in radio, we broadcast EIU events of interest to the Charleston community, including local weather, news and EIU Sports events.  

If needed, provide supplemental comments or data sources to help the reader understand the external demand for the program.

What are the two or three more important measureable outcomes tracked to assess program quality? Does the program conduct an outcomes assessment, and if so, what has been the impact?

The Radio-TV Center has a dual mission.  We are licensed by the FCC to serve in the public interest.  This means we are required to provide a public service to our community.  And as a non-commercial broadcaster, that mission is especially important.

Our second mission, as a part of the EIU community, is to serve the university, most importantly our students.  

As for service to our community, we have dramatically increased over the past two years the number and production quality of programs that are produced by EIU staff and students specifically for members of the east central Illinois community we serve.  This substantial increase in programs dealing with specific issues being dealt with by our community allows us to serve in a way no other television station, commercial or non-commercial, can do.

As for serving our students, we currently have 91 EIU students associated with various facets of our program.  At this moment, 34 are involved with WEIU-TV News, 32 are involved with WEIU-FM Hit-Mix, 15 are associated with WEIU-FM Odyssey and 12 are involved with WEIU-TV Sports.  Each year comparable numbers of students are a part of these Radio-TV Center efforts where they work with our professional staff to learn the skills and techniques they'll require after graduation from EIU.

Just as important is the number of WEIU alumni who have entered the broadcasting industry immediately upon graduation.  The number who have found employment within the industry, often even before graduation, offers proof of the positive impact of the program. 

And finally, the Radio-TV Center serves the entire EIU family both through its ability to reach our listeners and viewers as well as the financial donations and contributions our growing family of members makes to EIU. We have dramatically increased the number of WEIU members since 2010, now numbering well over 1,000. 

What are the two or three most effective best practices that the program has implemented? What benefits have been gained from implementing these best practices?

Student involvement in public broadcasting stations often takes one of two forms.  In many cases, students essentially watch as professional staff produces the programs, anchors the news and handles most of the significant roles in a broadcast production.

The other approach often used is to show the student what needs to be done, assign them to a project and assess the success or failure afterward.

The Radio-TV Center, through WEIU-TV & FM, has designed a far different approach that continues to result in far better training opportunities for our students and better programs for our listeners and viewers. Our model has our professional staff and EIU students working side by side daily.

For example, our News Director and producers work every part of a NewsWatch newscast along with the student news team. At various times, our staff will fill every newsroom role in a way to demonstrate very visibly what the skills, techniques and expectations are for every production position.  Whether on-air anchoring, control room producing or directing, our staff works alongside our student news team.

The result has been several Emmy awards for our students.

Similarly, in another best practice, every Radio-TV Center staff member works each on-air pledge campaign. We are able to effectively teach students the value of each role and allow them to learn from the professionals who do the roles on a daily basis.  

This best practice also teaches involvement to our students as they learn that in the broadcasting field, the term teamwork is far more than a cliche.  They're able to see and experience first-hand that everyone is required to accomplish the goals of a first-rate production.

Those who go on to public broadcasting careers will also benefit from the involvement in effective on-air fundraising. 

What external recognitions (e.g., awards, accommodations, professional certifications, references in trade publications) have the program and its staff received in the past three years?

WEIU News Watch Awards

National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences EMMY Award

Mid America Region

2010 – Student Production News – Newscast 02-8-10

2011 – Student Production News

2012- Student Production News

2013 – Student Production News

National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences College Television Awards

2011 – 3rd Place – Best Newscast

2012 – Blue Ribbon Finalist – Best Newscast

Broadcast Education Association – Festival of Arts Student National Awards

2010 – Outstanding Weather Anchor – Kevin Jeanes – 3rd Place

2011 – Outstanding T.V. Newscast – 2nd Place

Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Awards

2010 – Outstanding T.V. Newscast Region 5 – 1st Place

2011 – Outstanding T.V. Newscast Region 5 – 1st Place

2012 – Outstanding T.V. Newscast Region 5 – 1st Place

2013 – Outstanding T.V. Newscast Region 5 – 1st Place

Society of Collegiate Journalists Awards

2010 – Outstanding T.V. Newscast – 1st Place

2011 – Outstanding T.V. Newscast – 1st Place

2012 – Outstanding T.V. Newscast – 1st Place

Illinois News Broadcasters State Collegiate News Awards

2010 – Outstanding T.V. Newscast – 1st Place

2010- Outstanding T.V. Reporting – 1st Place - Katherine Rufener

2010- Outstanding T.V. Sports Reporting – 1st Place – Emily Mieure

2010- Outstanding Sports T.V. Program – 1st Place

2010 – Outstanding T.V. Videography – 2nd Place – Kevin Ratermann

2011- Outstanding T.V. Newscast – 1st Place

2011 – Outstanding T.V. Reporting – 1st Place – Krista Henery

2011 – Outstanding T.V. Reporting – 3rd Place – LaMar Holliday, Barbara Harrington and Vicki Paisley

2011 – Outstanding T.V. Videography – 1st Place – Dustin Tylman

2012 – Outstanding T.V. Newscast – 1st Place

2012 – Outstanding Hard T.V. Program – 1st Place – Graywood Coverage

2012 – Outstanding T.V. Reporting – 2nd Place – Kodi Smith

2012 – Outstanding T.V. Reporting 3rd Place – Victoria Zeal

2012 – Outstanding T.V. Sports Reporting – 1st Place – Kodi Smith

2012- Outstanding T.V. Sports Reporting – 2nd Place – Kyle Guertin

2013 – Outstanding T.V. Reporting – 1st Place – Savanna Tomei

Illinois Broadcaster’s Association Student Silver Dome Awards

2010 – Best T.V. Sports Package – 2nd Place

2010 – Best T.V. Photo Journalism – 3rd Place

2010 – Best T.V. Newscast – 1st Place

2010 – Best T.V. Weathercast – 1st Place

2010 – Best T.V. Longform – 1st Place

2011- Best T.V. News Pack – 1st Place

2011- Best T.V. Sports Pack – 1st Place

2012 – Best T.V. News Pack – 1st Place

2012 – Best T.V. Newscast – 2nd Place

2013 – Best T.V. Newscast – 2nd Place

2013 – Best T.V. Weathercast – 1st Place

2013 – Best T.V. Sports Pack – 1st Place

2010 CBI Student Production Awards

2010 – Best T.V. Newscast – 1st Place

Hit-Mix 88.9 WEIU Awards

John Twork, EIU Communication Studies graduate won the Jim Nantz National Radio Sportscaster of the year Award 2010 and Finalist Collegiate Broadcasters, Inc. Best Sports Play By Play 2010.

Korey Adkins, EIU Communication Studies graduate, 1st Place Illinois Best New Ad Radio Contest 2011, 1st Place Illinois Best New Ad Radio Contest 2011, 1st Place Best Use Of New Media Illinois Broadcasters Association-University 2011.

Monica Becker, EIU Communication Studies graduate 2nd Place Buckle Buddy PSA Contest 2011, 2nd Place Illinois Broadcasters Association-University Radio Aircheck 2011, Finalist Donate Life Illinois Radio PSA 2011.

Ethan Kruger, EIU Communication Studies graduate, EIU Communication Studies graduate, 3rd Place Illinois Broadcasters Association-University Radio PSA 2011, 3rd Place Illinois Broadcasters Association Small Market Radio PSA 2012 (Professional).

Tom Bickham, EIU Communication Studies graduate, EIU Communication Studies graduate.

Nathan Schwalm, EIU Communication Studies graduate, EIU Communication Studies graduate

Is the program active with any regional, national, or international professional organizations?

The Radio-TV Center's management and staff are very involved with several organizations within the public broadcasting community.

WEIU is on the Board of Directors of the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) and has been since 2010.  That membership gives us a strong voice in the operations of the organization that distributes non-commercial programming and provides professional training and services to public broadcasters in all fifty states.

WEIU is completing our second year on the Board of the Small Station Association, allowing us to set the direction of several dozen small stations within the public TV community.

We are a member of the University Licensee Association which is a large group of public broadcasters owned and operated by universities across the country.  

We have been a member of The Beta Group since 2010. This membership of stations provides us the opportunity to partner with other PDP stations (stations whose programming is less than 25% PBS distributed) in the production and distribution of local programming that can be shared nationally.

WEIU is a member of the Illinois Public Broadcasting Council, a group of public radio and television stations based in the state of Illinois.  This partnership allows us to acquire state funding and to produce or air statewide programming.  

We have also been a member of PBS, the Public Broadcasting Service, since 1992.  

Note any presentations, publications, or offices held in the last three years.

Jack Neal, the Executive Director of the Radio-TV Center, is on the Board of Directors of the National Educational Telecommunications Association, representing WEIU-TV.  Neal has been on the Board of NETA since 2000.

Jack Neal is on the Board of Directors of the Small Station Association and has been since 2011.

Jack Neal is also on the Illinois Public Broadcasting Council.

If needed, provide supplemental comments or data sources to help the reader understand the quality of program outcomes.

Note any special benefits (e.g., personnel support, equipment, permanent improvements) that the program has received in the past three years from its grants and other sponsored programs.

                             FY11                    FY12                    FY13

CPB               $752,799                $783,154             $713,203

IAC                $188,333                $109,460             $90,605

Friends            $52,714                 $79,863              $103,370

Underwriting    $66,045                 $70,674               $48,185

How does the program benefit from donor gifts (e.g., scholarships, endowed chairs)? Does donor support provide a significant percentage of the program’s overall funding?

WEIU engages in development in a variety of ways, including on air membership drives, direct mail, online gifts and underwriting.

List two or three key relationships that the program maintains with external constituencies (e.g., community colleges, other universities, government bodies). How do these relationships advance the university mission or otherwise benefit the university?

WEIU-TV is an important part of America's public broadcasting service.  And as a non-commercial television station meeting the guidelines required by the Federal Communications Commission and Congress, we receive significant funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in the form of our Community Service Grant (CSG).  CPB funding has averaged approximately $750,000 annually over the past three years.  That brings significant funding to the university while allowing WEIU-TV to serve both the university and our community.

Additionally, WEIU is a partner in the group of non-commercial radio and TV broadcasters in the state of Illinois.  Our efforts to serve our community as well as to partner with other non-commercial broadcasters in our state bring in approximately $100,000 per year in funding from the Illinois Arts Commission.  The IAC remains an important partner for the station and the university in our efforts to fund our work on behalf of our local community.   

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the resources generated by the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., revenue pass-throughs) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

Provide an executive summary of and link to any metrics or benchmarks that the program tracks to measure productivity.

N/A

What initiatives has the program implemented to enhance staff productivity (e.g., access to training, workflow improvements)? Briefly describe the costs and benefits of these initiatives.

In September of 2012 WEIU TV added 4 new local programs to their existing 3. These new shows required a number of elements including sets, studio time and closed captioning.  To accommodate quick changes in the studio from one program set to another a staff engineer designed and built a two sided movable set. This set is easy enough for one person to setup.  The staff producers worked with CATS and their transcription team to get all local programs closed captioned.  In order to keep track of studio use between producers and CMN faculty, the staff uses the shared calendar function in Outlook. This ensured that facilities would not be double booked.  These local programs were accomplished without additional staff.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the productivity of the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., accreditation requirements, curricular changes, program restructuring) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the costs associated with the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., expenditures made centrally or externally, expenditures made on behalf of other units) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

How does the program seek to distinguish itself from similar programs at other institutions?

EIU's Radio-TV Center is unique compared not only to similar public broadcasters in the state of Illinois but also compared to our national counterparts.  in fact, there really are few true counterparts.

As for our service to the community we serve, WEIU-TV is a limited use PDP station.  That means less than 25% of our programming comes to us from PBS.  That allows us to acquire programming from many other national and international sources creating a much more interesting program schedule.  More importantly, it allows us to produce a far higher percentage of our programming locally.  Those local programs are created specifically for our viewer rather than being a program produced by a station in Chicago or New York and just aired locally.

But the far more important comparison is our value to the students we serve.  

On radio, our Hit-Mix format on WEIU-FM allows our students to gain valuable experience doing exactly the kind of broadcasting they're likely to do when they gain professional employment.  They aren't working in a limited NPR-style format but rather doing everything they'll be called upon to do in their careers when they find themselves at a commercial or non-commercial radio station.

Similarly on WEIU-TV, the students who are a part of "NewsWatch" handle literally every element of a news room production.  They anchor, fill every control room and studio position and do every element of their field reporting while being taught by industry professionals. 

Sports and mass communications students find precisely the same advantages in their experience with WEIU.

Other institutions in Illinois and elsewhere seldom allow students such a complete experience.  The overwhelming majority of university-licensed public broadcasters offer extremely limited student involvement by comparison.

Note any unique and/or essential contributions that the program makes to the university.

All parts of any university are important and EIU is no exception.  The Radio-TV Center finds itself over the course of the year working with many departments on-campus as they seek ways to increase their involvement with the university's many constituencies off-campus.

And that's what makes WEIU-TV/FM and the Radio-TV Center so very unique.

It's our ability to reach out to over half a million of our neighbors at any point the day or night.  It's our ability to turn a university project into a nationally-broadcast program that may find airtime on our counterparts across the country.

And it's our unique opportunity to provide such valuable on-air experience for the students who are going to work toward a career in this industry.

The ability to not just simulate, not just show and not just describe what that job situation will be like but to engulf our students in the industry they're studying and training for is unique.  Extremely few universities anywhere in America provide such an opportunity.  

EIU and WEIU are known for the quality of student we are providing broadcasters across the country.  Many broadcasters, including some local stations, have several former WEIU students on their staff.  And the fact that they continue to call us when those students get offers to move up to larger markets means the center is filling a unique niche of providing high-quality broadcasters for entry level positions. 

A number of EIU faculty and staff have appeared as guests on WEIU’s local programs. Expertise provided by these individuals has been a valuable addition to these programs. Areas of the university represented include but are not limited to: Health Studies, Kinesiology and Sports Studies, Health Services, School of Business, Geology/Geography, Communication Disorders and Sciences, Biology, Economics, Communication Studies, Journalism, Booth Library and History. These individuals have appeared on locally produced programs: Heartland Highways, Being Well, 4 Rivers Ag Report, News Watch, At Issue, Live Election Coverage, Issues and Attitudes. Programs are broadcast on WEIU TV as well as online on the station’s You Tube Channel.

Provide any program-specific metrics that help to document program contributions or program quality. Examples of some commonly used program-specific metrics may be found here.

On average 20 Communication Studies and/or Journalism students graduate each year who have been involved at the WEIU Radio & TV Center.  These students have received hands-on training and guidance in their field and are ready to seek careers in broadcast and media fields.

The WEIU TV Call Letters are a constant and visual on air representation of Eastern Illinois University.  For example, the WEIU logo appears in the lower right hand corner of the television screen 24/7 (8,760 hrs. per year).  All locally produced programs are copy written Eastern Illinois University.  Station ID's and other on air promotional material include the WEIU logo and/or the statement "A Service of Eastern Illinois University".

Hit-Mix 88.9 WEIU recognizes Eastern Illinois University on average 240 times per day with on air Station ID's, promotional spots, and announcements.

The WEIU logo appears in print on numerous educational, membership, underwriting, production, materials.  In addition, the WEIU logo appears on the WEIU station vehicles, digital production unit, and microwave truck. 

*  Total Television Broadcast Coverage Population:  1,080,987

*  Total Television Broadcast Coverage Households:  477,448 

*  Total Radio Broadcast Coverage Population:  211,755

*  Total Radio Broadcast Coverage Households:  93,449 

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the program impact on the university mission.

Provide a link to or listing of the program’s goals and/or strategic plan.

WEIU is in the process of dramatically increasing the quality and quantity of our locally produced programming.  More importantly, we have a goal of distribution of the programs using new and evolving technology.  Our plans include apps of our news stories and local programs for Android and iPhone.  We look to partner with developers to distribute Hit-Mix similarly.

Our second goal is to better integrate our many services.  Historically, WEIU's radio, television, news and local programming have all operated somewhat independently.  With technology merging the lines between radio, television, on-air, online and mobile, we need to work to bring those functions of WEIU together.  In that way we can better serve our audience and offer the students who work with us a better opportunity to experience the technology currently being developed in our industry.

Finally, we are working toward a goal of increasing our funding from those who use utilize our services through ongoing efforts to increase our membership base as well as number of corporate underwriters.

What role will the program have in the implementation of the university’s strategic plan (provide link to strategic plan)?

WEIU-TV/FM's dual mission of serving our community as well as EIU offers the perfect opportunity for the station to be a major element in the implementation of Eastern's Strategic Plan.

Obviously, the Radio-TV Program itself is a vibrant part of EIU's services to our students.  We have been since our founding and are proud to be a part of the future.  The hands-on training we offer our students and their ability to graduate from Eastern with the experience required to find employment within the broadcasting industry is something of which we are proud. 

Yet because WEIU is able to reach every member of our community 24/7 on-air or online, we present the university with a major additional opportunity to reach our stakeholders.  Not every university holds the license to radio and television transmitters.  The fact the Eastern does gives the university an opportunity to reach viewers and listeners in a way many others cannot.

In addition, WEIU's standing within the public broadcasting community and our ability to produce award-winning, high quality programming allows us to tell the EIU story and reach potential students and donors across the country.

In short, WEIU offers Eastern Illinois University the chance to show the world what is happening at Eastern in a way no other media can accomplish. 

In the next two or three years, what best practices, improvements in operations, or other opportunities to advance the university’s mission are likely to be implemented?

The myriad of technological advances affecting all of us is even more profound in the broadcasting industry.  Changes are frequent, often confusing and occasionally mission-altering.  The opportunities presented to us as a university-licensed broadcaster were never even imagined when WEIU went on the air in the last century.  The technology of that day allowed us to make available to our students, faculty and staff programs that were produced across America and around the world. Now with current technology, we produce and distribute content both in a hyper-local environment as well as to users around the world. 

By staying aware of and utilizing the changing technology of the broadcast industry, the Radio-TV Center will continue our mission to serve our community while expanding the ways we accomplish it.

We have already undertaken efforts to add resources to content creation by sharing expenses with other commercial or non-commercial broadcasters.  In the last year we moved our television broadcast scheduling to a service resulting in less expense and added value.

Shortly, we’ll be moving our master control from on-site to a facility designed specifically switching the signals of several broadcast stations and networks.  This will allow us to focus our efforts on content creation rather than transmission and distribution and will alleviate the need for continual updating of expensive master control equipment.

Looking forward over the next two or three years, we would expect additional cooperative efforts with other public broadcasters in the state of Illinois. Our goal is to consolidate the purchase of expensive technology such as TV cameras, switchers and editors with similar needs from other university-licensed public broadcasters around the state.  The result will allow us to update technology more frequently and less expensively on a statewide basis.

Cooperative production efforts with other university licensees will allow us to produce additional content specifically for the communities we all serve and for the universities we are a part of.  These efforts will allow each of us to serve those in our local communities never served before. 

Simultaneously, efforts to produce content here at EIU will result in the opportunity to offer those programs on a national and international basis.  Increasingly, the world will be able to learn from Eastern Illinois University.  The experts we have on faculty will be available to the world.  The stories we have to tell will be told to an audience we’ve never reached before. The research going on all over this campus will be made available online, on air and in ways we’ll develop as the technology changes.

It’s important that WEIU and the Radio-TV Center remain a vibrant part of the university community.  As involved as our staff and student have been in the past, it’s imperative that the Center’s involvement with all parts of EIU continue to grow.  WEIU’s dual mission of serving our broadcast community as well as Eastern gives us the perfect opportunity to ensure EIU’s service to the community, our nation and the world is a story told well and often.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand future opportunities for the program.