Hi! I have been the Director of the on-campus radio station, 90.3 WHPC – as a full-time non-classroom NCCFT member since 2016 – and now, I am ready to help lead the NCCFT into our very bright future.

I’m not happy with the current state of our union – none of us should be. 

The recent email chains, and leadership encouraging aggressive tactics, including demonstrations, angry email campaigns, and the distrust of the administration needs to stop. 

NCC’s future is bright –  enrollment is on the rise!  We are all Nassau Community College – we need to work together. 

The NCCFT cannot continue the way we have over the past term. 

Elect me to reinforce the fact that change is coming – giving a new, fresh voice to the Executive Committee – representing not only the non-classroom faculty and the Professional Faculty Unit (PFU), but ALL faculty – as we are all all ONE NCCFT – so we CAN work together to get closer to a fair contract and make the NCCFT & its membership stronger.

About Shawn

I always thought I was going to be a teacher… until 9th grade, when I fell in love with radio. I graduated from Plainview Old-Bethpage JFK High School, which is one of four high schools on Long Island that have a radio station – 88.5FM WPOB! One of my mentors, my teacher Adam Weinstock, gave a very shy kid the chance to learn and grow in various management positions at the station – and I never looked back. (We are still good friends today!)

I graduated from Hofstra University with a BA degree in Audio/Radio. During my time at 88.7 WRHU, my other mentor, Bruce Avery, the station’s faculty General Manager, encouraged me to constantly work harder and taught me how to be a great leader. I was the first student to be named Station Manager for two years in a row!

I had THREE internships – at 92.7 WLIR, Z100, and 106.1 BLI… and a 16-year “professional” radio career at radio stations including WBLI, WBAB, WKJY, WBZO, WMJC, WHLI, WLVG, WRCN, and WOR.

Throughout my professional career, I was also charged to be the Internship Coordinator – responsible for hiring, and teaching the students along the way – setting me up perfectly for working here at NCC.

In 2016, I applied for the newly opened position of Director at 90.3 WHPC – and happily accepted the opportunity to not only lead a radio station that was struggling to have student participants, but to join a union for the first time in my career.

I live in Levittown with my wife of 20+ years Jackie, who is the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs and Administration at Touro College of Pharmacy (TCOP) in NYC, and together we have 11-year-old twins in 6th grade, Stephanie and Tyler.

My NCC Career

When I arrived in June of 2016, the radio station had about three students and 75 community volunteers.
My wife said it best: I wasn’t working at a college radio station, I was working at a radio station that just happened to be located at a college!

I worked very hard to change the culture at the radio station, putting students first.

We updated the programming – playing less music from the 60’s and 70’s and more from the 00’s and 10’s – including other shows created and produced by NCC students.

We attended the incoming student orientations to let incoming students know about the opportunity to join.

We attended off-campus events like The Chocolate Expo at Old Bethpage Village Restoration and other street fairs to raise community awareness and grow our listenership and spent fundraising dollars to improve our appearance at these events, including the purchase of a 10×10′ tent, pull-up banners, tablecloths, and promo items to hand out with our logo (and thus, the NCC logo) on it.

And we created a new station mission: WHPC exists to provide professional broadcast training to qualified Nassau Community College students. Everything we do today revolves around this mission.

We now have 75+ students participating every semester, and roughly 55 community volunteers – some of which are former NCC students who loved the place so much, they decided to stay and help the next generation of students find their own success stories.

I also have many students who have held successful internships at radio stations on Long Island and New York City, and more than a dozen who are now working part-time or full-time in the media industry.

And we have won some awards…
WHPC was named the ONLY Community College radio station finalist for the “Best College Radio Station” Marconi Award (the radio equivalent to the Academy Awards!) in 2022 and 2019.

The station was named “Best Radio Station” in the Bethpage Best of Long Island awards in 2022 AND 2023.

Other awards include 2022 “Best Community College Radio Station”, and 2021 “Abraham & Borst Best Overall College Radio Station” from the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System.

LISTEN LIVE!
Listen on Audacy | iHeart | NCCradio.org | WHPC App

When it comes to the NCCFT…
I attended every mandatory meeting as a “New Faculty Member” and successfully earned my tenure in 2021.
I not only joined, but was the Chair of the Student Code of Conduct Committee for two years – and continue to serve on the committee today.


I am also supporting these other candidates:
Tracyann Ayala for NCCFT President
Dawn Smith for NCCFT Non-Classroom and Professional Faculty VP