WXIN (FM) - Organization and History

Organization and History

WXIN is a student organization, officially recognized by Rhode Island College, and funded by Student Community Government, Inc. The organization has been broadcasting as Rhode Island College's sole radio station consistently since 1979. The station began as a carrier-current station on camps, operating as "WRIC" on 580 AM, and began broadcasting on 88.1 FM and later 90.7 FM in the late 1980s.

Since the early 1990s, the station's management also cooperated with WELH in Providence, where veteran WXIN DJs were given radio shows on certain nights and weekends. The agreement ended in early 2007, however, when Brown University Student Radio bought out Rhode Island College Radio's air time. Over the length of the agreement, WELH operated as Rhode Island College Radio's second official station whenever WXIN DJs were given air time.

Students make up the entirety of the executive and subsidiary boards. In addition, the station has both a faculty adviser (as required per student government regulations) and a professional adviser. Students make up the majority of the general membership, which include DJs, talk hosts, promotions staff, and production staff. WXIN occasionally permits alumni members, along with RIC faculty and staff to participate in on-air programming to fill in gaps in the schedule, though air time is given on a priority basis to enrolled students.

WXIN also employs a Technology Consultant and Engineer on retainer, for assistance in supporting and maintaining technology and broadcasting equipment in the station. The station additionally employs a webmaster/web designer for the purpose of designing and updating the station's website, which has won multiple awards for its design and content.

WXIN's five member executive board is elected annually in April, including the positions of General Manager (President), Program Director (Vice President), Business Director (Treasurer), Sales Manager (Secretary), and Production Director. The executive board then hires a subsidiary board which includes four music directors, two promotions directors, a traffic director, and a news/sports/talk radio director.

Although Rhode Island College has a Mass Media Communications program, WXIN is not associated with or funded by the Communications Department, and no classes are offered in conjunction with the station. Many communications students, however, are members of the organization, and a faculty member from the department, Philip Palombo, serves as professional adviser to the station.

In early 2008, WXIN launched NIXM, an Internet-only radio station, to take the place of WELH. For more than a decade, veteran WXIN DJs were permitted to utilize WELH on weekends through an agreement with the Wheeler School, however Brown University bought out the agreement and took over the weekend hosting duties of WELH in 2006. In 2010, WXIN brought up-and-coming Roc Nation artist J. Cole to RIC as part of a new annual concert series. On May 6, 2011, WXIN brought T-Pain to the campus. The student-run organization was also named "Organization of the Year" at RIC for an unprecedented third time.

WXIN is located in the Ducey Student Media Center in the Student Union Plaza along with The Anchor, Rhode Island College's weekly newspaper, and Anchor TV, Rhode Island College's on-campus television station. The station currently uses the tagline "Your Station, Your Music." Veteran DJs and popular shows are often simulcast on Anchor TV Channel 3 on campus and the television station's uStream.