KHSU General Manager Announced
Humboldt State University President Rollin Richmond has announced the selection of a permanent General Manager for KHSU.The entire text of his letter to the KHSU Community follows here:
Dear KHSU Community,
I am pleased to announce that Mr. Edward Subkis will be the new General Manager of KHSU. He will start in his new post on February 1, 2010.
Mr. Subkis comes to KHSU with a wealth of experience. For the last 18 years he has served as the General Manager of WCQS-FM, a public radio station serving western North Carolina. Under his leadership the station went from running annual deficits to on-going fiscal stability. He also oversaw the acquisition of another station, planned and led two successful capital campaigns, and moved the conversion to digital radio and the initiation of a second digital program stream, all while leading WCQS to the second most listened to station in the Asheville area.
For the six years prior to his time in North Carolina, Mr. Subkis was general manager of WSFP-FM at the University of South Florida in Fort Myers. He has an additional nine years of experience directing programming, operations, and production at four other public radio stations. He has an M.A. degree in Radio and Television from Ohio University and a B.S. in Sociology/Psychology from James Madison University. He has also been an instructor of broadcasting and communication at several universities.
Mr. Subkis had very strong references and was the consensus top choice of the Search Committee. I thank the committee members for their service: Patrick Cleary, Committee Chair and Interim KHSU GM; Matt Knight, KHSU Volunteer and Programmer; Paul Mann, University Spokesman and KHSU Volunteer; Kimberley Pittman-Schulz, HSU Director of Planned Giving; Victoria Sama, HSU Faculty Member in Journalism and Mass Communication; Kevin Sanders, KHSU Engineer, and David Young, KHSU Community Advisory Group. They generated and vetted an exceptionally strong pool of candidates.
Thanks to the hard work and generosity of many people, KHSU is now positioned to excel. This turnaround would not have taken place without the KHSU membership who support public radio with their donations, the underwriters who appreciate public radio as well as the reach of KHSU as the most listened to radio station on the North Coast, the support from the University’s Development Office, and the good work of the KHSU staff and volunteers.
I am particularly grateful to Patrick Cleary for his leadership of KHSU through this transition and the improvements he has helped bring about over the last year and a half. He provided a new level of professionalism, fiscal responsibility and strategic thinking, and was instrumental in recruiting his successor. I know that many who care about KHSU share my gratitude for his good work.
I am also thankful for the good leadership of Vice President Rob Gunsalus who assumed responsibility for the oversight of KHSU in 2006. Rob was responsible for recruiting Patrick Clearly whose prior experience as a broadcaster and obvious caring for our community has allowed KHSU to prosper. Rob also played a critical role in attracting Mr. Subkis to KHSU.
Although there have been singular improvements at KHSU, the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead are substantial. Chief among them is the need to manage costs and increase support for the station, not only because the recession and longer term decline in public funding of higher education force us to do so, but also because the growing quality of KHSU’s service to the North Coast depends on both.
I am convinced that Ed Subkis will help us meet the challenges and seize the opportunities ahead, and I look forward to joining you in welcoming him and in supporting his leadership of KHSU.
Sincerely,
Rollin C. Richmond President
