By PATIENCE COLLIER, Assistant News Editor

A few weeks from the end of spring quarter, Chris Hull was asked to resign after years serving as the general manager for Central Washington University’s radio station, The ‘Burg 88.1.

Keith Champagne, associate dean of student development, said he could not comment on the situation, because it was a personnel issue. Hull could also not be reached for comment. Most staff members were unable or unwilling to comment on the resignation, or the reason why Central asked him to step down.

Chris Pearce, interim operations and programming assistant, was an exception. He said the decision had to do with professional differences in the proper direction of the radio station. Pearce said he believed many students agreed with the decision to ask Hull to resign, but disliked the way that the decision was carried out.

“I felt bad for him,” Pearce said. “I’ve worked underneath him for over three years now, and I can say that I had my critiques. However, I have enough compassion for the man that for him as a person, I really did feel bad for him.”

The radio station was able to hire Jillian Ingram as an interim general manager, but the transition has not been an easy one, due to the abrupt nature of Hull’s departure.

“It was very untimely,” Pearce said. “It was only two weeks before the end of the quarter.”

Ingram said there may be changes coming in the Burg’s future, but for now, she would like to focus on getting settled and understanding what’s going on in the station.

“I’m trying to familiarize myself with the organizational system in here, and really just get a handle on what’s going on,” Ingram said. “We have our FCC license renewal coming up in February, we have some positions we’re going to be hiring for in the IT Department, and the hiring process at the University can be complicated.”

Ingram also said that in the future, the Burg will be moving towards a greater focus on students, rather than a staff-run approach.

“We’re going to try to step up our student focus, to give students who work and volunteer here at the Burg more tangible experience,” Ingram said.

The major decisions may be left until the open positions at the Burg have been filled, Ingram said. She said deciding a new direction for the Burg would be something that should be decided by a team, rather than by an individual. She also added that she had some ideas to bring to the table if she was hired permanently.

“I believe strongly in a community-based media center. I’d like to get students thinking about the causes they are interested in,” Ingram said.

She added that one of the greater priorities moving forward was to make sure that students get the career experience that they would be seeking at the Burg.

“I just think we can really provide a good experience for people in different areas,” Ingram said.