WKAR, public TV and radio, has switched overseers at Michigan State University in East Lansing, as of Friday (July 1). It’s now part of the College of Communication Arts and Sciences, the school announced. Effective July 15, Gary Reid, g.m. of student station WDBM and a senior academic specialist with the college, will become WKAR’s acting director of broadcasting. Reid also just won the Michigan Association of Broadcasters’ 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award. He will replace DeAnne Hamilton, director of broadcasting services since 2003 and a member of the PBS Board. Hamilton “will lead several special projects, including one with the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities,” MSU’s statement said. Hamilton was away from the office on Friday and not available for comment.
WKAR previously was part of a separate entity, Michigan State University Broadcasting Services. Kirsten Khire, communications manager for the College of Communication Arts and Sciences, told Current that the pubcasting station has shared a building with the communications school since 1981. “The college has always had a strong commitment to public broadcasting, and always had an academic affiliation,” she said. “This just cements the relationship.”