KPSU Strike Policy

KPSU STRIKE POLICY REVISED SUMMER 2007

All KPSU announcers are under contract with the understanding that their eligible or active announcer status can be terminated; or, that their program can be rescheduled at any time, at the discretion of the KPSU Staff. The KPSU staff strives to educate announcers in order for them to avoid receiving strikes by dealing with strike offenses on an individual basis and by having meetings with DJ’s who are in danger of reaching their third strike.

The KPSU Staff strictly follows FCC regulations and KPSU station operating policies. Given the educational nature of KPSU, under most circumstances, announcers will be allowed two warnings by KPSU Staff. These warnings are referred to as “strikes”. Strikes will be submitted online by KPSU staff, the respective announcer will be contacted via e-mail or phone call, and a strike form signed with the authorization of the KPSU Station Manager and the KPSU Staff Member giving the strike will be placed in their mailbox as well as in KPSU’s Strike File. The announcer is subject to be terminated immediately upon the written notification of a third strike by the KPSU Staff. The announcer will then be notified of their mandate via the KPSU Third Strike Mandate form. At the end of Spring and Fall term, one strike will be expunged from each announcers record in order to avoid unfair punishment for long-time DJ's.

The announcer has the opportunity to appeal their strike either by scheduling a formal appeal hearing with the KPSU Station Manager, or informally by contacting the KPSU Station Manager via e-mail. By having the announcer sign their copy of the strike, the announcer is allowed to schedule a formal appeal hearing with the KPSU Station Manager within two weeks from the date that the strike was issued. To informally appeal a strike, the announcer must contact the KSPU Station Manager within one week of issuance. The KPSU Station Manager has the right to suspend an announcer until the appeal process is complete.

Any KPSU member who has violated the PSU Student Conduct Code, committed theft or destruction of any PSU or KPSU property, or threatened the safety of others will immediately be terminated by the Station Manager in writing. This termination does not require the process of strikes. Any announcer who misses an air shift without making prior arrangements or without an acceptable reason, may be immediately and permanently terminated as an announcer. This termination does not require the process of strikes. Any announcer may be suspended by the Station Manager at any time for violations of FCC or KPSU Handbook rules.

A common list of strike-able offenses for contracted DJ's are:
• Having an unexcused absence from a General Meeting
• Failing to complete ten volunteer hours per term
• Having a community member fail to bring in underwriting for KPSU Underwriting strikes are given monthly)
• Jeopardizing the saftey and security of KPSU and its community (example: leaving doors unlocked, leaving equipment unattended, ect.)
• Failing to arrive an hour before a DJ's show
• Failing to complete program logs
• Failure to comply with FCC or KBPS regulations
• Improperly Checking out equipment
• Failure to submit a playlist.

It is possible that in unusual or extenuating circumstances, DJ's can receive strikes for miscellaneous infractions. All miscellaneous infractions will be voted on by staff members, and a decision will be made whether or not to award a strike.

The strike process works like this:

FIRST STRIKE
1) DJ Commits a strikeable offense
2) E-mail and/or phone call is given to Announcer to notify them of the strike. An official strike form signed by KPSU Station Manager and one additional KPSU Staff member will be placed in the announcer’s box. A copy of this form will be also kept for KPSU’s Strike File.
3) Strike form is signed by the announcer and returned to KPSU Station Manager to be filed. By signing the strike form, the announcer reserves the right to schedule an appeals hearing with the KPSU Station manager.

IF ANNOUNCER WISHES TO APPEAL STRIKE
1) Announcer must contact Station Manager within two weeks of the date that the strike was issued. Strikes may be appealed with no appeals hearing by the KSPU Station Manager and/or the KPSU staff member that issued the strike.
2) If an appeal hearing is necessary, it will occur via a meeting with the KPSU Station Manager.

SECOND STRIKE
Same procedure as the First Strike, but instead of having the announcer be informed of their strike via e-mail or phone, a KPSU Staff member will meet with the announcer in person to discuss what steps need to be taken to stay in good standing with KPSU.

IF ANNOUNCER WISHES TO APPEAL STRIKE
1) Announcer must contact Station Manager within two weeks of the date that the strike was issued. Strikes may be appealed with no appeals hearing by the KSPU Station Manager and/or the KPSU staff member that issued the strike.
2) If an appeal hearing is necessary, it will occur via a meeting with the KPSU Station Manager.

THIRD STRIKE
1) Announcer commits a strikeable offense
2) E-mail and/or phone call is given to Announcer to notify them of their third strike, and a Third Strike Form signed by KPSU Station Manager and an additional KPSU Staff is placed in their box. A copy of this form will be kept for KPSU’s Strike File.
3) Third Strike form is signed by the announcer and returned to KPSU Station Manager to be filed. By signing the strike form, the announcer reserves the right to schedule an appeals hearing with the KPSU Station manager.
KPSU Staff holds a meeting to determine the appropriate mandate for the announcer that has received a third strike. After the KPSU Staff reaches a consensus, any range of mandate may be issued to the announcer. Such sanctions are but not limited to: specific volunteer duties, announcer suspension, announcer termination, or other misc. sanctions. The mandate determined by the KPSU staff is recorded and kept on file at KPSU and is titled as the KPSU Sanction Form. The KPSU Announcer will receive a copy of this form, which is signed by the KPSU Station Manager.

IF ANNOUNCER WISHES TO APPEAL STRIKE
1) Must contact Station Manager within two weeks of the date of the strike was given. Strikes may be appealed by the KSPU Station Manager and/or the KPSU staff that issued the strike.

2) If an appeal hearing is necessary, it will occur via meeting with the KPSU Station Manager.
IF ANNOUNCER WISHES TO APPEAL SANCTION
An appeals hearing is scheduled with the KPSU station manager no later than two weeks after the KPSU Sanction Form is given to the KPSU Announcer.