By NICK BUDD
Hays Post

A student media organization at Fort Hays State University is experiencing some growing pains after cutting more than 30 student workers Monday. According to Executive Producer Todd Elsen, Tiger Media Network informed the students of their release due to “budgetary reasons.”

“It was basically because of over-staffing, and we were forced to reduce,” said Elsen, who was named the organization’s first executive producer before the 2014-15 academic year. “I had to make that decision to streamline the workings of (TMN) to make it through the year.”

According to Elsen, most of the student workers worked approximately 20 hours a week during the school year as writers, graphic designers, copy editors and in other roles associated with the convergent-media model. The students were given the opportunity to reapply for six positions that are remaining.

“This is part of the growing pains of TMN,” Elsen said. “It’s about finding what level we can function at. Unfortunately, the level we were functioning at was not beneficial financially to keep TMN going. As an educator, I hate making a decision like this.”

Tiger Media Network functions under a board of directors, chaired by FHSU Provost Chris Crawford, who said the staffing decision, along with plenty of others, is due to the fact that TMN is just beginning.

“(TMN) is still a work in progress, and that’s been especially true this year with the new building,” Crawford said. “I think there is always room for improvement under the model that we are working under.”

Tiger Media Network was created in 2013 in an attempt to converge the various student media entities — broadcasting, video production, print — on campus into one network.