Hamilton residents Judy Tomasetti (left) and Winifred Howard (right) pose with MCCC president Patricia Donohue (center). Tomasetti and Howard were honored at the college’s Employee Award Ceremony.
Two Hamilton residents were honored at Mercer County Community College’s 2013 Employee Recognition Ceremony.
Winifred “Win” Howard, program manager for WWFM JazzOn2 and producer/engineer for the Classical Network, was honored with the college’s Community Service Award. Switchboard operator Judy Tomasetti was the recipient of the Human Relations Award.
In presenting the award to Howard, MCCC president Patricia C. Donohue praised Howard’s contributions as an advisor and mentor to community volunteers who host shows on JazzOn2, as well as to student interns learning radio production. Howard was also applauded for joining fellow organizers in starting the Bring Back Trenton Campaign, an initiative to promote the arts and music in Trenton.
Howard, who has worked at WWFM since 1997, carries out a variety of functions for both stations, producing Dress Circle and Living Well for the station and overseeing a varied schedule of programming for JazzOn2.
Her career in radio started in the 1990s, when Howard volunteered at MCCC’s station as a student. She graduated from MCCC in 1998 with an Associate of Applied Science in TV and Radio.
Howard is especially proud of her work with JazzOn2, which emphasizes community building in addition to music. She airs public affairs programming including Latino USA, 51% (featuring discussions from a woman’s perspective), Details (featuring items of local, regional and national interest), and Living Well.
The station can be heard on HD radios, via the Internet and through smart phone apps such as iTunes and TuneIn Radio.
Judy Tomasetti’s “A” grades for customer service led to her selection for the Employee Relations Award. In presenting the award, Dr. Donohue noted that Tomasetti “provides assistance to students, staff and the community in an untiring, courteous, polite and professional manner regardless of adversity. She always welcomes everyone with a smile.”
Previously a stay-at-home mom, Tomasetti’s started working at MCCC in 1992 as a part-time cafeteria cashier on the West Windsor campus.
When she applied for a full-time job as a switchboard operator several years later, the college still relied on one main phone number and the operators were front and center in answering questions and transferring callers to departments throughout the college.
In 2010, the college underwent major renovations and opened its Welcome Center. The phone system also changed, with phone extensions replaced by direct phone numbers for most employees. Tomasetti’s department was a big part of the change, relocating to a desk in the new center, along with Security.
Since then, the operators have taken on an even larger customer service role, greeting visitors upon entering the building, many of whom are on campus for the first time.
Originally from South Philadelphia, Tomasetti moved to Hamilton in 1973, where she raised three children with her husband of 43 years.
More information is online at mccc.edu.
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