our mandate
CFRU aims to provide comprehensive media training and production opportunities to the University of Guelph campus and surrounding community. We encourage access to media and communications technologies to groups and individuals who would otherwise have little access through mainstream media outlets. By doing so, we hope to reflect the diversity of the campus and wider community. We engage, inform and entertain our listeners, we empower and teach our volunteers, and we support all of the great people improving life on campus and in the Guelph community. We raise awareness of student initiatives, community activities, events, and concerns. We provide a venue for the sharing of ideas and perspectives. CFRU will not broadcast materials intending to subject any group or individual to hatred or contempt on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, gender and gender representation, age, real or perceived socio-economic status, mental or physical ability, sexual orientation, citizenship status, or source of income, unless necessary to provide context within a larger issue.
cfru’s history
Since 1980, CFRU has offered Guelph a volunteer-driven alternative to mainstream and public radio. We broadcast over 70 weekly shows programmed and hosted by local students and community members about the things that they care about. We broadcast on the FM dial, through cable television, and over the internet. We broadcast North to Fergus, east to Rockwood, west to Kitchener-Waterloo, and south to the 401. Funded through student levies, grants, and community fundraising, CFRU is a non-profit organization. We do not advertise for or work with large corporations, and we offer our limited advertising time exclusively to local businesses.
You can check out our Wikipedia Page for some more information on CFRU’s history
volunteer now
We invite people of all backgrounds to volunteer with us – no experience is required, and training in all aspects of the radio station is freely provided.
The varied interests, activities, and backgrounds of our diverse group of volunteers form the basis of CFRU’s programming and allow CFRU to be an integral campus and community hub and source of information. We encourage our volunteers to explore many of the on and off air opportunities that are available – volunteers who are not interested in on-air programming are invited to help out with promotions, design, production work, tech maintenance, and music library organization. In addition, there is an Annual General Meeting when members or volunteers can join our Board of Directors and help to shape the future of our organization.
ADVERTISE WITH US!
Want to advertise on CFRU? We support local businesses in Guelph and surrounding areas at an unbelievably low cost. Email our Community Outreach Coordinator for advertising rates.
accessing studios
Our studios are available to community members and UofG students, with priority given to those creating content for broadcast on CFRU’s media outlets.
SOCIAL MEDIA LAB
Our Social Media Lab is available for use by anyone during our regular office hours, Monday to Friday, 10am-4pm, and can be booked here: https://www.cfru.ca/SMlab/
AUDIO PRODUCTION STUDIOS
In order to use one of our two audio production studios, students and community members are required to first attend General Orientation with Jenny (volunteer@cfru.ca) and a Studio Training Session with Bryan (tech@cfru.ca). This allows us to add contact information into our system, provides an introduction to the opportunities and standards of conduct in our spaces, and ensures a basic technical understanding of how the equipment can be used responsibly and with consideration for all other users. Exceptions may be made for some special projects, at the discretion of CFRU staff. For example, if a student wants to book some time in a studio with an active volunteer or staff overseeing, they can potentially do so (based on availability of support). They can do this by emailing tech@cfru.ca and requesting supervised access.
staff profiles
emily aimola
Administrative Coordinator (she/her/they) 519 824 4120 x53502
admin@cfru.ca
Emily started volunteering with CFRU in 2022 and started working as the Admin Coodinator in 2024. She is an avid fantasy reader, boreal forest hiker, and a best friend to dogs everywhere. Recommend your favourite book, game, movie or music to her anytime!
christopher currie
Programming Director (He/Him/They) 519 824 4120 x53502
cfru.programming@gmail.com schedule
Christopher has been a staff member at CFRU since 2010; before that, he worked at CFRC Radio in Kingston. Formerly the station’s Volunteer Coordinator, he’s now working as Programming Director. Contact Christopher if you have ideas or input for our Programming Committee, or if you’re a new volunteer looking to start broadcasting.
odesia howlett
Marketing & Outreach Director (She/Her/They)
Odesia (she/her) has spent several years living and building community in the city of Guelph. You may have seen her around at Silence, Guelph Pride, ARCH, The Ontarion, with her drumming group as part of OPIRG Guelph, and all over downtown over the past few years. As the Outreach & Marketing Director, she’s responsible for building rapport in the community to promote events and festival. If you’re vocal in the community and support CFRU, get in touch!
jenny mitchell
Volunteer & Mobile Studio Coordinator (she/her/they)
volunteer@cfru.ca schedule
Jenny Mitchell is a local musician, artist, mother, and school bus driver. She has been performing in bands in Guelph since she was fifteen, with her acts the Barmitzvah Brothers, Jenny Omnichord, and Bird City, and has performed in many other bands including Richard Laviolette (the Oil Spills, the Glitter Bombs), the Burning Hell, The Crying Out Loud Choir, Andrew Vincent, Blimp Rock, Pauly and the Blowbots and more. She has a giant golden bus and a cat. She works as CFRU’s Volunteer and Mobile Studio Coordinator, recruiting, training, helping and celebrating volunteers at the station, and developing and coordinating “mobile studio projects” to get more and different voices on our airwaves. This includes initiatives such as “The Mobile Community Radio Show”, “Bridging the Social Distance”, the Campus Friends Radio Show, the Mini Interview Project, and tons of awesome projects in schools and senior centres.
If you’re excited at the idea of volunteering at CFRU, contact Jenny at volunteer@cfru.ca !
alexandra rimmington
Music Director (She/Her/They) 519.824.4120 ext 56919
Alex has worked as the Music Director at CFRU since 2010. She oversees the music department, listening to and processing all of the music that comes into the station.
If you are looking to send your music to CFRU, check out the instructions in the “submitting your music!” section.
If you’d like to receive her weekly charts/new releases emails, let her know.
bryan webb
Operations Coordinator (He/Him/They)
Bryan likes to make and fix things. He has worked at CFRU since 2010, in both the Programming and Tech Departments. As Operations Coordinator, he’s responsible for keeping our equipment running, training volunteers to use the hardware and software needed to produce programming, and generally making media technology more approachable and accessible to everyone. He also leads workshops in music production software (Ableton Live, Pro Tools), and has developed CFRU’s multi-camera live-streaming video capabilities. If you’re interested in any of these aspects of the station, or would like to learn about and help with technical maintenance at CFRU, get in touch anytime!
submitting your music!
If you are looking to send your music to CFRU, please ensure that:
01
Your submission is an EP or album with at least 3 different songs.
02
You include artist and album info, track listings, and your contact info!
03
Send digital submissions (zip files or download links) to music@cfru.ca. High quality mp3s are preferred.
Please Note We are no longer accepting physical submissions except in rare circumstances.
For tracking, please contact us by email.
Board of Directors
The CFRU Board of Directors is comprised of both University of Guelph students and faculty as well as community members. Not all board members are necessarily active volunteers at CFRU; some just love the station and want to help out however they can!
Learn more about the board!
Feedback
Want to submit feedback to the station as a listener or a volunteer? Submit Feedback Here!