Press Releases

October 25, 2001
Love of Music Leads to Learning Opportunity at Major Record Label

Windham, NY Native Nicole Courtenay's Experience Confirms Career Choice

Contact:
Patricia Conway
(631) 287 8313
Fax: (631) 283 4081

Nicole Courtenay of Windham, NY, a Communications major at Southampton College of Long Island University in Southampton, NY, spent the summer working at Virgin Records America through a cooperative program sponsored by the College.

For the past two years, Courtenay, whose concentration is radio broadcasting, has been the music director and assistant station manager at the Southampton College student-run radio station, WLIU. As WLIU's music director, Courtenay deals with recording company promotion directors, all seeking air time for their artists. Through those business connections, Courtenay found her 2001 summer Co-op with Virgin Records. Having worked the college-end of radio promotions, Courtenay thought it logical to experience the corporate end, working for Virgin's college promotions division.

While at Virgin, her responsibilities were calling college music directors, promoting new releases and new artists, and explaining terms under which Virgin would send new music to stations for play time. Occasionally she crossed over to assist in video promotions and general promotions.

"Even when I was doing grunt work like copying or faxing I knew I loved this business and this Co-op," Courtenay said. "The whole experience just confirmed for me that this is where I want my career to go."

Southampton College's Cooperative Education and internship programs provide students of all academic disciplines with the opportunity to apply their classroom knowledge and training in a real world setting. Students are placed in scientific laboratories, businesses or industries, community and government agencies, or artists' studios within this country and abroad.

Southampton College, located on the eastern end of Long Island minutes from the Atlantic Ocean, places strong emphasis on experiential education and offers several intense programs that stress the value of on-the-job, hands-on experience. In addition to its cooperative and internship programs, the College offers SEAmester, where students travel and study aboard a 130-foot schooner, exchange programs with universities in other countries, and the Friends World Program, a full four-year experiential education program with eight regional centers around the world.