According to sources that spoke on the condition of anonymity, one of the reasons that CN8 did not renew the contract of weather person Robyn Stevens was because she did not complete enough coursework to become a meteorologist.
According to the CN8 web site, Stevens attended Ohio State University where she double-majored in journalism and meteorology. It could not be confirmed by CN8 if she graduated from OSU, which is one of only 20-universities in the country that offers a meteorology degree.
Though one does not have to be a meteorologist to do the weather for television – there are several weather people in this market who are not meteorologists - sources said it was an issue when Stevens' contract was up in early December.
A few weather casters in town who didn't major in meteorology in college, such as Karen Rogers of WPVI, Sue Serio of WTXF and Karen Thomas of WTXF have taken correspondence meteorology courses from Mississippi State University.
Stevens, whose last day on the air at CN8 was December 9, was out of town and could not be reached for comment.
She was with CN8 since 2000, and worked for KYW and New Jersey cable before.
According to the American Meteorological Society, "A meteorologist is an individual with specialized education who uses scientific principles to explain, understand, observe or forecast the earth's atmospheric phenomena and/or how the atmosphere affects the earth and life on the planet. This specialized education would be a bachelor's or higher degree in meteorology, or atmospheric science, consistent with the requirements set forth in "The Bachelor's Degree in Meteorology or Atmospheric Science," Bulletin American Meteorological Society, 1987, Vol. 68, No. 12, p. 1570.