Community Advisory Board

• Help WAER connect with and better serve the Central New York community?
• Offer feedback on programming and outreach?
• Play a role in supporting WAER’s long-term mission?

If so, we’d love to hear from you!
Email your interest to our Interim General Manager Joe Lee at jblee01@syr.edu.

WAER’s Community Advisory Board (C.A.B.) is a volunteer group of interested listeners, University community members, and members of the broader CNY community that meet 2 times per year to make recommendations to the WAER staff and Syracuse University Board of Trustees. All meetings are open to the public. Board members offer reflections on WAER programming and audience engagement, while helping us learn about and connect with our broader community

The board is advisory in nature and does not oversee WAER’s daily management or operations. We hope the board members help us reflect and connect with the community, in support of our missions: to enlighten, entertain and engage our audience, and to provide professional development opportunities to student and community volunteers. The board also offers feedback on current programming and other station initiatives. Regular meetings are held during fall and spring at times convenient for the majority of board members and are generally held at WAER, 795 Ostrom Ave, Syracuse, NY 13244.

WAER Syracuse will hold its next Community Advisory Board meeting in the fall of 2025. Return here for details and listen on-air to 88.3 FM WAER for an announcement. The public is welcome to attend meetings.

WAER Community Advisory Board Meeting Notes – 10 Jul 24:

• Introduced WAER Content & Operations Director Anthony Barney and Development & Membership Director Tracy Caryl to the board.
• Relayed notes from station meeting at NPR headquarters, in which NPR announced more robust editorial guidelines to ensure content balance and audience trust. NPR also shared importance of raising digital audience size and engagement.
• Announced rebranding of WAER as Syracuse Public Media, to reflect increased attention to content delivered via more than just radio, to include more web content, more social media content, more podcast content.
• Discussed desire for board members to increase engagement by being part of community events, representing the station; also making suggestions for WAER to present information about the station at institutions and organizations in our area.
• Created action committees: Community Engagement to come up with ways to meet audience; Content and Reach to find new ways to distribute content and gain audience; Development, to brainstorm ways to raise funds outside of the normal membership model.
• Agreed upon board member terms of 2 or 3 years
  

Current CAB Members

Corporation for Public Broadcasting Community Advisory Board requirements:

In accordance with the Communications Act Section 396(k)(8), WAER must establish and maintain a Community Advisory Board.

"(A) Funds may not be distributed pursuant to this subpart to any public broadcast station (other than any station which is owned and operated by a State, a political or special purpose subdivision of a State, or a public agency) unless such station establishes a community advisory board. Any such station shall undertake good faith efforts to assure that: (i) its advisory board meets at regular intervals; (ii) the members of its advisory board regularly attend the meetings of the advisory board; and (iii) the composition of its advisory board are reasonably representative of the diverse needs and interests of the communities served by such station.

"(B) The board shall be permitted to review the programming goals established by the station, the service provided by the station, and the significant policy decisions rendered by the station. The board may also be delegated any other responsibilities, as determined by the governing body of the station. The board shall advise the governing body of the station with respect to whether the programming and other policies of such station are meeting the specialized educational and cultural needs of the communities served by the station, and may make such recommendations as it considers appropriate to meet such needs.

"(C) The role of the board shall be solely advisory in nature, except to the extent other responsibilities are delegated to the board by the governing body of the station. In no case shall the board have any authority to exercise any control over the daily management or operation of the station.

"(D) In the case of any public broadcast station (other than any station which is owned and operated by a State, a political or special purpose subdivision of a State, or a public agency) in existence on the effective date of this paragraph, such station shall comply with the requirements of this paragraph with respect to the establishment of a community advisory board not later than 180 days after such effective date.

"(E) The provision of subparagraph (A) prohibiting the distribution of funds to any public broadcast station (other than any station which is owned and operated by a State, a political or special purpose subdivision of a State, or a public agency) unless such station establishes a community advisory board shall be the exclusive remedy for the enforcement of the provisions of this paragraph."