Beyond the Classroom

Student Work Gallery: Fall 2024

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Sep 2024 19:06:36 +0000

Student Work Gallery: Fall 2024 Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 09/09/2024 - 13:06

Students across CMCI find ways to bring together their personal interests and academic pursuits. Since the college’s founding, we have regularly showcased this diverse collection of student work.

See more student projects or submit your work for gallery consideration →.

Lauren Arabia (StratComm’24)

Audrey Vanderpool, Owen Hartmann, Devon Walsh, Lexi Legeer, Mateo Perez-Lara, Lisa Fox (StratComm’24)

Javan Bair, journalism

Haley Mordini (MStratComm’21)

Alyssa Hill (MJour’24)

Since CMCI's founding, we have regularly showcased the impressive creative work of our students.

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Good taste

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Aug 2024 20:42:31 +0000

Good taste Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 08/26/2024 - 14:42

By Iris Serrano and Hannah Stewart (Comm’19)
Photos by Kimberly Coffin (CritMedia, StratComm’18)

From classroom to career

Alumni connections, networking opportunities and unique coursework give CMCI students access to incredible internships. A few recent examples:

Luis Licon (PolSci’24)

Licon hopes to work in environmental planning and law, so minors in both communication and environmental design were ideal supplements to his political science degree. This combination of studies helped him land internships not only in media, with KGNU, but also in politics for Colorado’s House of Representatives and Gov. Jared Polis’ communications team.

“I was able to talk and connect with representatives, even outside of politics, and it will always be one of the most memorable times I’ve had.”

Matthew Miranda (Comm, PolSci’24)

Miranda worked as a legislative intern for the Colorado House Democrats and also completed an internship for U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper.

“Communication helps you understand where to find information, and how to disseminate it. It also helps you write clearly and define the message you want to convey to clients. Those lessons from my classes really helped me during my internships.”

Madelyn Heath (Jour’23, MA’24)

Heath interned as a writer for her local newspaper, the Mason County News.

“We learn about the industry in class, but being immersed in a newsroom made me think about what else goes into a paper or a broadcast: Everybody has a purpose. The journalism world is very fast-moving. At CU, we take a variety of classes that make us really versatile in a newsroom.”

Alex Roller wasn’t sure an internship with Snarf’s Sandwiches would be her bread and butter. But when her professor encouraged her to apply for the competitive advertising position, she set aside her hesitation and threw her hat in the ring.

Today, Roller (StratComm’24) is a marketing coordinator with the sandwich company, which has stores in Colorado, Texas and Missouri. Her day-to-day with the in-house Snarf’s marketing team builds on the design, event planning and social media work she did as an intern.

“Everything that I’ve learned in my advertising courses has transferred over seamlessly,” Roller said. “The biggest thing I learned in school that I’ve carried over to my work is the importance of communication skills and how to reach your target audience.”

At CMCI, students land coveted internships thanks to the college’s unique curricular emphasis, the involvement of alumni in attending recruiting events and providing mentorship, and industry-active faculty who put their networks to work in helping students find opportunities. Roller credited Morgan Young, an assistant teaching professor, with putting the Snarf’s opportunity on her radar. As president of Young Ideas, Young has worked with clients such as Nissan, General Motors, Bank of America, NASCAR, Visa and Walmart.

“I wouldn’t have a job and be where I was if Morgan didn’t mention the internship,” Roller said. “My biggest piece of advice would be to just take new opportunities and run with them—it’ll benefit you in the long term.”

Roller’s story isn’t unique, said Brandi Bradshaw-Reyes, assistant director of advising, internships and student professional development. Most students enter college without a clear idea of their career paths, discovering what drives them as they take courses, meet people and complete internships. Bradshaw-Reyes said that’s something she tells students unsure of where to interview or whether to accept an internship offer.

“When you’re getting your first internship, it’s going to teach you what you like and what you don’t like,” she said. “I’ve had a lot of students who end up finding the role they want to work in once they graduate or are offered full-time roles.”

Plenty of those roles, of course, come from connections to alumni. Bradshaw- Reyes said alumni are regular participants at major events, like career fairs, as well as in the classroom.

“Navigating the job market as a new graduate is challenging. Having alumni serve as mentors is an amazing experience for students,” Bradshaw-Reyes said.

CMCI students benefit from connected faculty and alumni to secure internships. Four recent graduates share their experiences.

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What drives van lifers?

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Aug 2024 20:08:56 +0000

What drives van lifers? Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 08/26/2024 - 14:08

By Hannah Stewart (Comm’19)

After leaving several sticky notes on the windshield, Matt Solari finally met the dude who lived in the ambulance.

Solari, a media production major, was working with a team to document van life in ��«��Ƶ, and quickly ran into a problem: They didn’t know anyone who lived in a van. Their only lead was Solari’s neighbor, Alec Kolodziejczyk, who lived in the ambulance parked down the street.

Getting him to participate was the first breakthrough for the team after many leads fell short. But their perseverance was rewarded in the spring semester, when ��«��Ƶ Van Life was nominated in the short/long form nonfiction category of the 2024 Heartland Student Emmy Awards. Additionally, in the summer, the film was nominated for the Most Inspirational Film Award from the Oregon Documentary Film Festival.

“I was in the middle of a frantic day when I got a text from my professor saying, ‘Congratulations, you’ve been nominated for a regional Emmy Award,’ and I immediately called my parents to tell them about it,” he said. “This was the first time when I was really able to see a project through from start to end and have it turn out roughly like what I intended at the beginning.”

Solari produced the film for a course called Documentary and Beyond, co-taught by Ross Taylor, associate professor of journalism, and Pat Clark, assistant professor of critical media practices. By collaborating across disciplines, students were encouraged to see the documentary film process from both a journalist’s and a filmmaker’s perspective.

‘Really beautiful and well done’

“Their film taps into a trend many explore in Colorado, throughout the West and beyond. So, it’s a relatable experience that many can connect with,” Taylor said of Solari’s project. “And the cinematography in the film was really beautiful and well done.”

What Solari loved most about the course was having an entire semester to fully flesh out and produce a documentary. After a few rounds of speed-dating-like pitching, he recruited fellow CMCI students Wyatt Martinez, Braxton Fish and Carlos Franco to work with him and explore what draws people to van life.

“I’m interested in the human story and being able to bring someone’s to a larger audience,” Solari said. “Seeing this whole process as a journey changed my mind on what documentary is and how the film reveals itself as you’re making it.”

Solari cast a wide net looking for candidates, and found that some, like Kolodziejczyk—a PhD candidate in chemistry at CU ��«��Ƶ—see van life as more affordable. Others choose the lifestyle for the freedom and flexibility that comes with it.

But while searching for his subjects, Solari heard “no.” A lot. Even in the case of Kolodziejczyk, Solari had to sell the idea of bringing a film crew into his home.

“I got a lot of rejection—it was a very humbling process,” Solari said. “I talked to about 20 people who were interested, but didn’t have the time or didn’t take me seriously. It was all about celebrating the small victories—and when they started adding up, it gave me confidence to keep going.”

Oscar cred

The team’s next victory came when van lifer Deb Hoak joined the production. Hoak’s participation was particularly exciting for Solari, since she appeared briefly in the Oscar-winning film Nomadland. Now, she was on his set.

“I was really impressed with Matt, particularly his work ethic and how he would routinely try to reach out to people,” Taylor said. “He’s a good example of somebody who persevered through that initial difficulty of finding somebody, and succeeded. It takes time and some amount of doggedness and perseverance in storytelling, and this group embodied that.”

Solari and his team had help from both their peers and professors as they presented new iterations of their film. As a class, they brainstormed ways to film dynamic interviews in small spaces and helped them choose clips to streamline the story.

With one more year to complete his undergraduate degree, Solari is already working on his next big project—a film about environmental sustainability for his honors program. He’s spending the whole academic year following a local farmer to produce another film he’s proud of.

“As a filmmaker, you get fixated on a topic,” he said. “I’m really excited to work on it, and getting recognition with the Emmy nomination gives me a lot of fuel for future projects.”

Matt Solari earned a Student Emmy nomination for a film documenting van life in ��«��Ƶ. He’s continuing to explore documentary storytelling as a senior.

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Spilling the tea

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Aug 2024 19:48:16 +0000

Spilling the tea Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 08/26/2024 - 13:48

By Hannah Stewart (Comm’19)

Crossing the pond

The Consumer Insights course is new to the college, as is another London program led by information science faculty. During the Ethnography and Design of Making Data Strange course, eight students studied international data while visiting hot spots like Bletchley Park and Warner Bros. Studios.

“We really wanted to make sure we were offering something truly new, with learning objectives that would be best served by being abroad—not just taking something in our existing curriculum and teaching it in a different location,” said Amy Voida, associate professor.

Those programs join CMCI’s long-standing International Strategic Communication course, which is held in Paris and Amsterdam. That course runs directly before Consumer Insights, allowing students to take both courses and gain additional experience abroad.

Britons drink more than a billion cups of tea every day—it’s the national beverage—but English youths aren’t sipping as much as their elders. Last June, 13 students from the Department of Advertising, Public Relations and Media Design set off across the globe to learn why.

“London is where account strategy was invented. It’s the hub of advertising for Europe and beyond,” said Morgan Young, an assistant teaching professor of advertising who is leading the study abroad program. “What we’re prioritizing here is learning from industry professionals.”

All students studying advertising strategy have to take the Consumer Insights course. In London, they tour advertising agencies, tea companies and, of course, cultural landmarks. The immersive three-week program culminates in the development of campaigns.

Getting firsthand experience

Junior London Selah said her favorite experience was visiting Mintel, a global market research firm.

“Listening to someone’s experience and seeing the day-to-day life of what it would be like to work in one of these agencies is really helpful,” she said.

Selah was an engineering student before switching her major to strategic communication at CMCI, which she said allowed her to challenge herself creatively while still using her analytical skills. The study abroad program gave her a better feel for the field while validating her decision to pursue a new professional path.

For senior Emily Iliff, the agency tours were exciting, but equally important was connecting with her peers.

“I’m very impressed by the students who attended, and it speaks a lot to CMCI and the APRD department itself,” she said. “There are people who are more creatively inclined, then there are people who are very keen with numbers. With our combined talents, we’ve become kind of a superpower.”

For Selah’s final project, she worked with a group to create a tea brand, including developing marketing plans and building engagement strategies targeting 18- to 28-year-olds. Visits to advertising and research agencies—including firms that work on brands like PG Tips and Yorkshire Tea—were instrumental in understanding how to create the right messaging and target their campaigns effectively.

“Visiting different agencies and getting real-world experiences has prepared me for what I might see when looking for jobs after graduation,” Selah said of her time in the United Kingdom. “I enjoyed being able to apply what I learned on an actual project.”

Why are young Londoners changing their cuppas for coffee? Thirteen advertising students crossed the pond to learn why—and to better understand the nuances in international advertising.

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Tuned to creativity

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 21:35:10 +0000

Tuned to creativity Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 08/14/2024 - 15:35

By Iris Serrano

As volunteers for the ��«��Ƶ-based KGNU community radio station, Juanita Hurtado and Jack Armstrong were trained to be compliant with federal broadcasting regulations.

Listen live

Play on TuneIn Play on Radio Garden

What they did not learn was how to run a station with total creative freedom.

It’s certainly a lesson they’ve learned since taking leadership roles at Radio 1190. In the past year, the station—formally known as KVCU 1190 AM—captured numerous awards for radio features, reporting and podcasting while growing the news team from a handful of volunteers to more than 30 regular participants.

A big part of the increase in student involvement came from Armstong’s experience as a senior strategic communication major in the public relations track.

“The biggest strategy for me has been learning about promotions and what makes them effective, so I went to classes and pitched Radio 1190,” Armstrong, the station’s news director, said.

Radio 1190 now offers news broadcasts each weekday during the academic year, along with daily student-curated music programming. The station also has expanded to include a revamped website featuring news, blogs and podcasts showcasing student-created visuals and music.

The station’s growth isn’t just in its numbers or programming. Iris Berkeley (Jour’01), whose career in media and communication has included radio production, hosting and DJing, was involved with 1190 as a student. Today, she is back as its operations manager and is impressed by the station’s commitment to diversity.

In the digital age, how do you get more students to listen to the radio? Ask the leaders behind Radio 1190’s rise.

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Finishing college on a high note

Anonymous — Tue, 28 May 2024 22:29:45 +0000

Finishing college on a high note Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 05/28/2024 - 16:29

By Hannah Stewart (Comm’19)

In high school, Zoey Georgeades was like any other student: She went to class, hung out with friends, was involved in extracurriculars like yearbook and loved jamming out to her favorite tunes. Except, unlike other students, some of her favorite tunes were her own. Georgeades (Jour’24) didn’t just rock out in her room—she was working with a producer and had plans to move to Los Angeles to start her singer-songwriter career.

And then, COVID hit. With travel, and most aspects of life, severely limited because of lockdowns, she shifted gears and decided to give higher education “the good old college try.” Inspired by her love of music in concert with her background in yearbook—which sent her to the Colorado Student Media Association’s annual J-Day event—Georgeades decided to study journalism at the ��«��Ƶ. That, along with her minor in communication, gave her a fresh perspective on her passion of producing music.

“It’s been a very interesting time learning to be a musician and influencer while getting a degree,” she said. “My studies have pushed me to improve my communication in general, and that’s impacted my songwriting, making me very calculated.”

During her time in ��«��Ƶ, she served as the Panhellenic vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion, and joined student media organizations. As a staff writer, and later arts and entertainment editor, for The Bold, she has written a variety of stories covering the ��«��Ƶ music scene. Not only has she been able to connect with and interview musicians, she’s become more confident in herself.

“Hearing what they’ve had to say and go through has been really interesting,” Georgeades said. “Networking and getting comfortable to go alone to concerts to cover them has really broken me out of my shell, which is really important in both music and journalism.”

Her experiences in the classroom have been just as fulfilling—she said it’s been fascinating to learn about the rhetorical and philosophical sides of communication, which have pushed her to think more critically about the messages she puts out into the world and what it means to have integrity as both a musician and a journalist.

“As communication people, we should be the best, but often, we’re the worst,” Georgeades said.

“Word choice is everything. CMCI has taught me to be very clear and direct, and very open minded.”
Zoey Georgeades (Jour'24)

Her network has proven invaluable throughout her time in CMCI. She said Keyana Simone, faculty director of student media, and other professors have always been supportive and helpful sounding boards, giving her the confidence to pursue both music and journalism.

For Georgeades, music transcends language and it, like journalism, is ultimately a tool for bringing people together. She hopes as she moves forward in her career—which she plans to start this fall in Los Angeles—she will be able to create a community using these passions.

“Whether it’s through music journalism or music production, I’m excited to put my all into it,” she said.

Zoey Georgeades has blended her love of music with her love of journalism. At CMCI, she learned how these two passions influence each other, ultimately making her a better communicator

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Student Work Gallery: Summer 2024

Anonymous — Thu, 23 May 2024 20:23:59 +0000

Student Work Gallery: Summer 2024 Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 05/23/2024 - 14:23

Students across CMCI find ways to bring together their personal interests and academic pursuits. Since the college’s founding, we have showcased this diverse collection of student work.

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When it comes to field goals, journalism alum has only one: Get the story right

Anonymous — Wed, 15 May 2024 21:13:54 +0000

When it comes to field goals, journalism alum has only one: Get the story right Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 05/15/2024 - 15:13

By Joe Arney
Photos by Kimberly Coffin (CritMedia, StratComm’18)

Tips for aspiring reporters

When he worked in Lubbock, Texas, covering Texas Tech, Brent Schrotenboer admitted he didn’t appreciate how cool of a college town it was, and all the activities it had for residents.

That sort of thing can be hard to tell with your nose to the grindstone. Schrotenboer said his willingness to work hard is why he’s become a national reporter with USA Today, but admitted his tunnel vision prevented him from enjoying the stops he’s had on the way.

“It’s important to find balance, but you also gotta remember that the only way to get ahead is work really hard,” he said.

He shared a few other tips with students who want to work in journalism:

Network—now. Schrotenboer’s first two jobs in newspapers came from the network he started to build as a student. CU alumni and brothers Tracy and Troy Renck, now a Denver Post sports columnist, gave Schrotenboer leads on his first two jobs that kicked off his career in Louisiana and Yuma, Arizona. “From there, it was off to the races,” he said.
Read. And not just your subject area. Schrotenboer prefers books about history or novels to sports books: “Reading broadens your horizons, and it also makes you a better writer. Things kind of rub off by osmosis.”
Be original. So many news websites today just aggregate content, as opposed to landing actual scoops, “which comes from getting interviews, digging into documents and public records,” Schrotenboer said. “You don’t see enough original reporting out there.”

Any reporter who’s been in news long enough knows the heart-stopping, sweaty-palmed moment when a public figure holds up your story in a press conference and says something to the effect of, “Now, we need to talk about something that was in the paper this morning.”

Earlier this spring, it’s a moment Brent Schrotenboer (Jour’96) endured while watching one of Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders’ press conferences. That week, Schrotenboer, an investigative sports reporter with USA Today, published a piece examining Sanders’ unique recruiting strategy and reporting that the coach had made zero visits to prospective players.

“It’s sort of a moment of truth, when he brings up your story in front of everybody,” Schrotenboer said. “Because if there’s a single inaccurate thing in there, I’m about to hear about it—like, maybe he went on a visit that I couldn’t find a record of, and that the school didn’t even know about. But he didn’t dispute any of it, so it was sort of a sigh of relief.”

Instead, Coach Prime explained his strategy on how he attracts scholarship athletes—a story Schrotenboer said he tried to get for a week before finally publishing.

Chasing what’s new

His coverage of Coach Prime and the Buffs is not critical, he said, but open minded. “There’s nothing wrong with trying new things and zigging while everybody else is zagging. With the recruiting thing—the jury’s out as to whether it will work, but it’s very different, and I like that he’s trying new things and trying to exploit the transfer portal, NIL and so on.”

Last season was like an extended homecoming for Schrotenboer, who said he attended almost all 12 Buffaloes games as he covered a coach who generated as many headlines for his sheer popularity as his willingness to innovate on and off the field.

But landing the “Coach Prime beat” has nothing to do with having attended the ��«��Ƶ. Instead, he said, it was about working hard and never turning down an opportunity—which is how he got his first job, as the sports editor of a small paper in Natchitoches, Louisiana.

“I was a big baseball fan, and thought I could travel with a team and cover all 162 games a year,” Schrotenboer said. “But my career took a few different turns as I was offered opportunities in college football and more investigative work. A lot of people coming out of college have this fixed idea of what they want to do, some pro team they want to cover, but it almost never works out that way.

“I’m so happy with where my career turned out. But it’s not where I had ever imagined myself, so I think it’s important to always say, yes, and to be open minded.”

Brent Schrotenboer (Jour’96), investigative reporter, USA Today

Leading amid industry challenges

That’s not just advice for starting out, either. As the news industry has contracted, Schrotenboer has had to embrace some storytelling techniques more familiar to a younger generation, like writing an article from viral videos on social media. A feature he wrote on the Prime Time: Public Performance and Leadership class was cobbled together entirely from videos created by Sanders and the influencers on his team; in April, he took a turn delivering a lecture as part of the course.

Being open to new techniques was something Schrotenboer learned in college, as email became a thing—though the only place he could check it was Norlin Library—and he started asking professors for their thoughts on the future of print news in a digital world.

“The current climate—yeah, it’s tough out there. But there are still people doing great work,” he said. “A lot of people are trying hard and fighting the fight for journalism.”

The old dog may have a few new tricks, but above all, Schrotenboer prizes traditional journalism values like fairness, objectivity and accuracy—all of which come into play when he’s covering his alma mater.

“My job is to hold the institution accountable, which in turn makes the institution better,” he said. “When I’m in the press box at a game, I’m not hoping CU scores a touchdown, I’m worrying about getting my story right and writing something people want to read.”

That kind of perspective was something he was happy to share while speaking in the Prime Time course. Although he graduated before CMCI was formed, he called the course “a smart play to take advantage of this cultural moment CU is having” and said a broad education that encompasses journalism, media studies, communication and related disciplines is very valuable for professionals.

In fact, while he had inspirations as a journalism student—including Douglas Looney (Jour’63), formerly of Sports Illustrated, who taught sports writing at CU ��«��Ƶ—some of the classes that left the deepest impression were in areas like law and anthropology.

“I grew up in a small town in Michigan, a first-generation college student, and it was eye-opening to come to a big university and take classes in things like Black history and culture, nuclear warfare, and stuff like that,” he said. “All this stuff was like forbidden fruit to me. I grew up in a small town, but I never lived there again. CU changed everything for me.”

The way reporters do the job is changing, but the foundational pillars of accuracy, objectivity and fairness never will. It’s why Brent Schrotenboer has been so successful.

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In design, finding creative excellence outside her comfort zone

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 04:16:17 +0000

In design, finding creative excellence outside her comfort zone Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/25/2024 - 22:16

By Joe Arney

Kate Chambers didn’t enroll in a graduate-level design program to make other people’s ideas look pretty. In fact, she was tired of her role coming so late in the process, when her work could add only style, not solutions.

M.A. in Strategic Communication Design

This 12-month, in-person program is ideal for career changers looking to move into the design industry, as well as those in the field seeking advancement opportunities. Taught by industry-active faculty with storied careers in product, UX, graphic and brand design.

Learn more Start application

“I felt I was seen as an order taker—‘Here’s my idea, now go make it pretty,’” said Chambers (Anth, Soc’18), a master’s student in the strategic communication design program at the ��«��Ƶ’s College of Media, Communication and Information. “And no matter how much learning I did on my own, I kept running into that roadblock.”

So, perhaps no one was more surprised than she was a few months into the program, when she found herself venting to her dad about how she didn’t feel she’d done any great designs yet.

“He said to me, ‘Well, maybe it’s not so much about teaching you to make things pretty as it is about changing your thinking about design,’” Chambers said. “That was the lightbulb going off for me. The technical skills are the things I learned on YouTube tutorials and in my associate’s program. In a master’s program, you want to learn the high-level thinking—not just be told which buttons to press.”

Chambers may have been slow to see it, but her hard work in the program is paying dividends. This spring, she took top honors in the local student competitions of the American Advertising Awards, earning Best of Show and a gold award for a campaign promoting a live auction at Denver’s Threyda Gallery, along with a silver award for a poster that was part of the same campaign. The awards are presented by the American Advertising Federation of Colorado; her work now advances to the regional competition.

She said the strength of her entry was a direct result of her classes, which forced her to experiment with new ideas instead of falling back on what had served her in her career, which includes both freelance and nonprofit design work. In fact, as one of the more experienced students in her class, Chambers admitted she brought “a bit of an ego” to the program, which she will complete in August.

An assignment in a design fundamentals course—which became part of her winning entry—came out just like she hoped, with the simple aesthetic that she enjoys, but it didn’t get the reception she hoped for from her professor.

“She said to me, ‘I can tell this was easy for you. You didn’t need to take my class to do this kind of work,’” Chambers said. “And, she was right. I didn’t come here to be the best, I came here to grow and learn—this is my time to try things I couldn’t do before.”

But it was hard to put into practice. Chambers found herself frustrated when, in trying new approaches to projects, “I just wound up with a lot of stuff that was horrible.” Working with her professor, Parisa Tashakori, she identified one concept with potential that she presented in class, “and people were like, ‘Wow, that’s cool.’ They kept pushing to try other things that made it even better. I never would have made this if Parisa didn’t push me to do it.”

The master’s program is run as a cohort, with students moving through courses as a group. That familiarity encourages a network of ambitious professionals while helping classmates trust one another and seek feedback and insights from their peers.

Chambers, Tashakori said, was an important voice in that room.

“Kate brought a lot of design knowledge to our program, and each time she showed her work in class, everyone would talk about how great it was,” said Tashakori, a teaching assistant professor and director of the strategic communication design program. “And it was good—but our job is to challenge you to be as creative as possible.

“Kate gave me that permission to push her, to have her challenge herself, and I see a very bright future for her, because she puts all of her love, passion and effort into every project she works on.”

Chambers called Tashakori a major influence, but also said she’s also benefited from other faculty and the extensive industry experience they bring to class.

“A lot of our projects are vague on purpose,” Chambers said. “The prompts are very broad, so you can interpret them how you want and bring what you want to the table. My professors have always left a lot of room for me to be creative.”

Alongside creativity is an emphasis on critical thinking, which trains students to approach problems like an entrepreneur who is comfortable rapidly prototyping and iterating to develop the best solutions.

“They teach you a design-thinking mindset, so you look at the problem from different angles and understand the problem space before getting to a solution,” she said. “Instead of being told to design a flyer, we’re told to design a solution to a particular problem. At the end of day, maybe a flyer is the solution, or maybe it’s to build an app. It’s up to you.”

It’s great training for someone who eventually aspires to open her own design shop—a future she feels more confident in thanks to her education and her impressive haul at the AAF awards.

“A lot of really good work gets entered in the awards, which brought to light that I had grown a lot,” she said. “I’m really hard on myself and my work, so it was a really nice moment to celebrate, to look back and appreciate that I couldn’t have made this a year ago.”

Before winning a statewide best in show award, Kate Chambers was among the more experienced students in her master’s cohort. Her success, she said, came from professors who pushed her to try new things.

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Culture shift

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 17:46:22 +0000

Culture shift Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 03/06/2024 - 10:46

By Hannah Stewart (Comm’19)
Photos from Get CUltured event by Jack Moody

Over the course of their time in the College of Media, Communication and Information, strategic communication students learn to adapt, think on their feet and creatively approach problem solving.

This was especially true of the seniors completing this year’s Bateman Competition Capstone class in the Department of Advertising, Public Relations and Media Design.

Each year, students participate in the national competition—organized by the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA)—by taking on a real life client and then planning and carrying out a campaign.

“The benefit of Bateman is the execution. It’s a small class, and having two semesters really allows students to sit with the client problem, get to know the client, plan, get feedback and work with professional advisors,” said Erin Willis, an associate professor in the APRD department who’s running the course.

Unlike other capstones, which are frequently one semester long and focus more on the planning and strategic elements of a campaign, the Bateman course includes a second semester for students to execute their plan. At the conclusion of the term, student teams in the class compile a pitchbook, submitted to the national board, in which they evaluate the campaign.

The 2024 client was Culturs magazine, a digital and print magazine and ambassador program that seeks to highlight stories of people at the intersection of multiple identities. Rather than create a campaign to increase magazine subscriptions or ambassador enrollment, the CMCI teams—named CU Connect and Get CUlturd—decided to focus on spreading Culturs’ mission to the rest of campus.

“It’s a magazine, but it’s so much more. They curate cultural experiences,” Willis said. “The way the teams wanted to respond to the brief is awesome for the client and for the campus long term. It just might not be the traditional way other schools have responded.”

Each team had access not only to Willis—who has experience in public relations and marketing communications—but also local professionals. Adjunct PR professor Bailey DeCamillis mentored the CU Connect team while Jane Dvorak, president of JKD & Co., mentored Get CUlturd. Both teams also benefited from the expertise of Jeffrey Spivock, a senior vice president at communications and PR agency Weber Shandwick.

Their expertise was invaluable to the students, especially given they were tasked with creating campaigns for a client whose mission is to promote diversity and inclusion, and whose brand is largely grounded in tangible products. Both teams concluded that Culturs was most valuable as a tool that could be used to talk about culture on campus.

“We’re hoping everyone understands that CU has its own culture and it’s important to bring our cultures to the university,” said Isabel Pitalue, of Get CUlturd. “So, we really wanted to spread the message rather than the magazine. If you feel misrepresented and you see articles about your culture, it can make you feel more empowered.”

Similarly, CU Connect appreciated how Culturs emphasizes the importance of global community while featuring stories about individual people’s experiences.

In order to prompt these conversations, both teams have used a mix of social media, tabling on campus and events to connect with students.

One such event Get CUlturd organized was a Panhellenic event to highlight the diversity within CU Greek life. They also collaborated with the ��«��Ƶ chapter of PRSSA to host a seminar series featuring experts in marketing, journalism and sports media.

Meanwhile, using the student surveys, the CU Connect found students were most interested in learning about culture through music and food. As such, much of their campaign centers around promoting new cultural experiences through food with discounts offered at restaurants such as Centro Mexican Kitchen, Pasta Jay’s, Blofish Sushi and Sushi Hana. But they’ve been most excited about their Culturs Coalition, which has brought together over 15 student affinity groups on campus.

“I think it has the most potential to stay on campus, because we had people ask us, ‘Are you going to put someone in charge of this?’ and ‘How can we make this last?’” said Brianna Centeno, of CU Connect.“Knowing that you have this magazine that’s catered toward you, as a person of color or someone with many cultural experiences, is a really good resource for the coalition.”

The campaigns officially ended March 5. The teams are compiling their observations, findings and reflections into a report to submit to the competition’s board for review.

“The teams have absolutely blown my expectations away. The things they think about and have managed to execute have been awesome,” Willis said. “I want to win, but ultimately, this brief is about culture, diversity and the in between. The two plans that have been rolling across campus have been so good for CU ��«��Ƶ. I’m so proud of them.”

The Get CUltured team achieved an honorable mention for this year's competition. This marks the second year in a row that CU students have been recognized for their campaigns.

Strategic communication students participating in the Bateman Competition this year brought a unique perspective to a challenging assignment.

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