After making adjustments to adhere to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for preventing the spread of COVID-19, the student operators of NCC’s radio station WONC, or FM89, are back on the air.
Midwestern colleges and universities cleared their stations
When the COVID-19 pandemic began to sweep across the nation in March of 2020, major universities and smaller colleges alike faced campus closures and a scramble to move their operations online. Student organizations, including radio stations, had to quickly formulate a plan to operate while keeping their students safe.
- Indiana University-Bloomington’s WIUX turned to automation, or computer-programmed broadcasting, on March 12 following their campus closure.
- Radio K, from the University of Minnesota, removed their DJs from the booth by March 17. However, they continued to air music to their listeners.
- University of Chicago’s WHPK posted a temporary farewell to their station’s Instagram page on March 19 in favor of airing archived material.
- WSUM of The University of Wisconsin-Madison announced on March 23 they would no longer air live shows.
NCC’s renowned WONC faced its own closure on March 14, as the Naperville campus shut down for the rest of the semester. The station announced on Instagram they would continue with automated broadcasts for that time.
Time to face the strange
The fall semester of the 2020 school year began on Aug. 24. Right away, NCC began enforcing CDC guidelines to quell the spread of COVID-19 on campus. WONC has returned to in-person operation. However, there have been changes made to the radio station’s typical function.
Zachary DeWitz, the station manager of WONC, said, “We’re missing some of our programming.” This affects some departments of the station more than others. Usually, WONC handles in-calling various sports events.
“Obviously, with no North Central College sports right now, our students aren’t out calling football games, and they won’t be calling basketball games,” said DeWitz.
DeWitz also addressed the specialty shows that the station hosts. These range from talk shows to programs highlighting specific styles of music. “A lot of those shows have multiple hosts, and we’ve had to kind of cut back on that,” said DeWitz. “Or the shows that do have multiple hosts, we have to have them in separate studios at times.”
The station manager explained that there are studios inside the station that are next to each other. These studios are connected by a viewing window in the wall between them. “You can at least see each other, which makes it a little bit easier,” DeWitz said
The house that the radio station resides in, officially named Oliver Hall, is open to guests under normal circumstances.
“A lot of times, you know, people’s parents like to come in and see the station, or their friends or their family, they like to come in and see the radio station and see what it’s all about,” DeWitz said. “But they’re not really able to do that right now.”
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, WONC has canceled all community and on-campus events planned for this year. This is not unusual, as most events of the year have been rescheduled or fully canceled.
Changes
Live for Live Music has kept a running list of all concert cancellations due to COVID-19, which has hit music venues hard this year. These cancellations have not gone unnoticed by radio stations like WONC, who usually host competitions for concert tickets.
“If we’re doing a big-ticket giveaway, a lot of times we get a lot of people coming into us,” said DeWitz.” Right now, there aren’t really any concerts — the concert tickets we do have, they’re rescheduled and we don’t know when they’re ever going to happen.”
The position of “station manager“ has changed as well. “Typically, I try to make contact with them to see how they’re doing, how they’re enjoying themselves — and I’ve had to shy away from that,” DeWitz said. “I’m a pretty social person, and it’s been pretty tough for me.” He stated that he has mainly kept himself in his office while students are in the studios.
The station has faced a drop in staff numbers for the 2020 fall semester. DeWitz estimated that under normal conditions, there are about 40-50 students. This year there are 34, a few of whom are remote learning and are not coming into the station.
“We weren’t able to do any recruiting over the summer, and without having student activity fairs where we can talk to people about the radio station, we didn’t have that opportunity,” said DeWitz.
The responsibilities have changed for remote–learning students who work for WONC. DeWitz described how many of his students wanted to stay connected to WONC and have taken advantage of the situation. “Other students are taking the opportunity to sharpen their skills with making videos, audio–production pieces, or writing for our website,” he said.
Note: WONC provides on-air programming 24/7 at the FM frequency 89.1.
