Beyond the Classroom

Offering advice

Ellie Chase — Sat, 03 Oct 2026 20:13:17 +0000

Offering advice Ellie Chase Sat, 10/03/2026 - 14:13

Members of the Boulder creative community—such as Nancy Perales, left, a senior director at Comcast—visited creative services agency 11 Dollar Bill to help students build local professional connections. Photo by Hannah Howell.

Joe Arney

The job market is a special challenge right now—but advertising students at CMDI said they have an edge.

“Many of my professors still work in the industry,” said Michael Robinson (StComm’26). “And they’re willing to help find connections for you in their networks in Denver and Boulder—and beyond.”

Robinson, who completed an internship with Ad Council over the summer, was among more than a dozen students who spent a Saturday at the Boulder offices of creative services agency 11 Dollar Bill, where they had the chance to be mentored by industry pros who’ve done work for Nike, Verizon, Pepsi, LinkedIn and more.

Jolene Fisher, associate chair of the advertising, public relations and media department, as well as an associate professor, said it’s just one way students are encouraged to connect with professionals.

“You’re not building a network so someone will give you a job,” she said. “You’re building a network because through that network, you learn what you can do and what you want to do.”

One mentor said he most appreciates CMDI students’ curiosity and courage.

“One of the most important things you can do as a young professional is to say ‘I don’t know,’” said Christopher Chapman, co-founder of Denver-based Imaginology. “Do they come to a conversation prepared? Do they ask questions? I love to see that enthusiasm.”

A meeting with Chapman helped Ansley Edelbrock, a senior majoring in strategic communication, give her resume a refresh.

“It’s so meaningful to meet with people who remember what it’s like being a student, looking for connections who can help you,” she said. “It gives me confidence and demonstrates how CMDI is supporting me as I build that network of professionals.”

Those connections have never been more important, said John Polk, 11 Dollar Bill founder and CEO; twice each year, he invites CMDI students to his agency, which works with Netflix, CVS, Manchester United and other global brands.

“The industry is dramatically changing, especially due to A.I.,” Polk said. “What I’m looking to do through this event is find mentors at companies where these students could potentially apply, to give them a leg up.”

“Oftentimes, I see their work and wish we had made something like that.”

Mickey Citarella (Bus, Span'11)

Mona Hasan, creative director of Boulder-based Fortnight Collective, said the students she met “had a swagger about them, and personality in their work.”

“The Boulder creative community is a unique place—partly because of the professionals here, but also because of CU students, who help nurture that creativity,” she said.

The students’ creativity also impressed Mickey Citarella, partner and head of account services at Sterling-Rice Group.

“Oftentimes, I see their work and wish we had made something like that,” said Citarella (Bus, Span’11). “It’s provocative, fun, exciting—it’s creativity in the best way possible.”

Joe Arney covers research and general news for the college.

Strategic communication students get access to an impressive network of creative pros who’ve worked on the world’s biggest brands.

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Driven to succeed

Ellie Chase — Sat, 03 Oct 2026 19:58:19 +0000

Driven to succeed Ellie Chase Sat, 10/03/2026 - 13:58

Iris Serrano

Most students are still asleep as Carey Kronhart wakes up at 4:30 a.m. to catch a flight from Denver to yet another motorsports event. When he arrives, he’ll go straight to the racetrack and begin the work of a production assistant and runner for Fox Sports, where he supports live racing broadcasts.

Kronhart, a senior majoring in media production with a minor in sports media, said the nonstop pace of covering NASCAR and IndyCar is exactly what he wants.

Carey Kronhart on the track at the Grand Prix of Arlington, in Texas, as part of his work with Fox Sports. ‘I’m in a different place every week,’ he says. ‘It’s awesome.’ Photo courtesy Carey Kronhart.

“Being a student is slightly limiting, but I’m in a different place every week. It’s awesome,” he said. “In St. Petersburg (Florida), I don’t think there was a single day when I worked less than 15 hours, but it’s rewarding work.”

His path to racing has been nontraditional, even as it was auto-adjacent: Before transferring to ��ñ��, he worked as a car salesman, where he developed communication skills that prepared him to make the connections needed to break into the fast-paced sports media industry.

CMDI encouraged those connections through his classes, including those for the sports media minor, and events like the Sports Media Summit. There, he bonded with Michael Davies (Jour’94), a Fox Sports executive vice president,
over a love of motorsports.

“What made Carey stand out to me was that he knew exactly what he was interested in,” Davies said. “It made it very easy for me to find an opportunity for him in the operations side of TV and motorsports.”

Davies was impressed not only by Kronhart’s work ethic but also by the professionalism and curiosity he brought to work every day.

“He’s extremely polite and outgoing,” Davies said. “He listens and always has his radar up for different pieces of knowledge that he can use on his journey.”

As a production assistant and runner, Kronhart spent his first races learning the ins and outs of live television production. He describes himself as a jack-of-all-trades, helping out on set wherever he’s needed. His responsibilities range from moving equipment to distributing schedules and tearing down gear once the broadcast wraps.

The work came with a lot of pressure, but after impressing his supervisor during his first race, he was invited back for additional events.

As Kronhart’s professional opportunities and responsibilities grew, he faced the challenge of balancing them with a full course load back in Boulder. Cory Lopez, a lecturer who had Kronhart in a sports broadcasting class last spring, said he saw Kronhart use his experiences from the job to be a better student.

“Carey is just one of those guys who is going to do this for a very long time. He’s already in the middle of the grind and just loves it,” said Lopez, who also works in sports broadcasting and public relations. “He’s got real talent.”

Iris Serrano graduated from CMDI in 2026 with degrees in strategic communication and journalism. She covers student news and events for the college.

A CMDI senior lives for the fast lane—which is why he relishes the chance to do production work for NASCAR.

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Built for tomorrow

Ellie Chase — Sat, 03 Oct 2026 19:42:05 +0000

Built for tomorrow Ellie Chase Sat, 10/03/2026 - 13:42

As part of their capstone planning studio with Azza Kamal, students majoring in sustainable planning and urban design collaborated with the city of Boulder to reimagine a downtown site for affordable housing. Rendering by Rikki Gallegos, Paige Jaeger, Katie Ridgway and Tyler Tatman.

Allyson Maturey

Since architecture was first taught at the University of Colorado a century ago, an underlying principle has been discovering the best way to prepare professionals to shape the built environment in ways that supported the state’s growing population.

Now, as that population adapts to the climate crisis and intelligent machines, the built environment—and how students are taught to shape it—finds itself in need of an update.

Azza Kamal, an associate teaching professor of environmental design, regularly contributes to sustainability-focused initiatives on curriculum committees. Photo by Patrick Campbell

It’s one reason architecture has found a home within CMDI, where work on topics like sustainability fits the direction faculty have established for the discipline while reflecting the university’s strategic priorities.

“When our students can combine their design degrees with certificates, minors and microcredentials in sustainability and climate justice, they’ll be better equipped for the future,” said Azza Kamal, an associate teaching professor of environmental design.

The outcome is poised to directly benefit Colorado, which has a growing demand for experts who can find solutions to complex challenges such as affordable housing, wildfire risk, urban heat and homelessness.

“These issues require expertise in sustainability and environmental and social justice, and we need to prepare students for that kind of complex work,” said Kamal, who contributes to sustainability-focused initiatives on campus curriculum committees and regularly collaborates with the city of Boulder on urban design projects. “Their careers after graduation are not going to be linear. They’re going to work across disciplines to tackle these challenges.”

Kamal’s spring capstone studio encouraged students to apply theory in addressing real community challenges. Seniors collaborated with Boulder’s divisions of climate initiatives, comprehensive planning, and housing and human services to create affordable housing near the Twenty Ninth Street retail development.

That interdisciplinary approach resonates with alumni across the country. Adam Frampton (EnvDes’02), principal at New York-based Only If, credits his education with teaching him to think beyond the boundaries of architecture. Today, Frampton’s professional practice informs his mentorship and teachings as a design critic at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

“Architects have to think about the historical, social, political, aesthetic and environmental dimensions of every project,” Frampton said. “You need to know enough about many different fields to bring a building—or any part of the built environment—together.”

While conversations around sustainability often focus on carbon and energy efficiency, Tensho Takemori (EnvDes’88), a partner at Gehry Partners, said the next major frontier for architects is water.

Celebrating 100 Years of Architecture and Environmental Design Education at ��ñ��

Join us

“The larger discussion, especially in the western United States, is going to be centered around water access, use, conservation and recycling, which are going to shape the success of communities over the next 50 years,” Takemori said.

When it comes to educating the public about water conservation, Takemori said the partisan overtones and scientific complexity of the issue represent an opportunity for architects to make this challenge accessible.

“Architects help society with the ability to navigate complexity, solve problems creatively and communicate solutions clearly,” Takemori said. “It’s our responsibility to communicate the value of those ideas in a way that’s understandable and compelling.”

Designers are also rethinking what they build through the practice of adaptive reuse and preservation. It’s a focus of Kamal’s teachings and work, which emphasize preserving and repurposing existing buildings. Both concepts reduce the need for new materials and extend the life of the built environment.

Frampton’s concept of “indeterminate buildings” is another forward-looking idea. He said architects should design structures that can remain flexible and accommodate uses that don’t exist yet.

“Rather than creating highly specialized buildings that quickly become obsolete, we should prioritize adaptability, allowing structures to withstand 100 to 500 years,” Frampton said.

Architecture and A.I.

Adaptability isn’t just for buildings—it’s for the tools used to create them. As artificial intelligence changes the way designs are created and communicated, faculty are encouraging students to responsibly use these tools. Kamal challenges her students to pair technical proficiency with strategic thinking.

“Technology alone has limited value,” Kamal said. “Students need to know how to translate that knowledge into adaptable designs, long-term strategies, and policies and actions that can be implemented.”

In Frampton’s classes, that means encouraging students to use A.I. critically while developing skills that cannot be automated, like hand drawing and physical model-making. He advocates curiosity, not panic.

“I’m not threatened by it,” Frampton said. “At the end of the day, architecture is a humanistic discipline, so I don’t think A.I. will replace architects.”

Allyson Maturey is a communications project manager for CMDI.

As architecture at the university hits a milestone, faculty and alumni reflect on what’s next for the discipline.

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Finding the Pathways

Ellie Chase — Sat, 03 Oct 2026 19:02:23 +0000

Finding the Pathways Ellie Chase Sat, 10/03/2026 - 13:02

Ellie Chase

As a sophomore, Jimmie Searfoss was juggling multiple jobs alongside a full course load. An aspiring journalist, he struggled to find time to attend networking events and build the connections that would prove essential for his career.

But Dave Martinez would not allow a hardworking student to miss out on potential opportunities.

Dave Martinez, left, and Phil DiStefano pose after accepting alumni awards at the spring event. Photo by Glenn Asakawa.

One fall evening, Martinez encouraged Searfoss (Jour’24) to delay his shift at Easton Training Center, a martial arts academy, and whisked him away to an event that would change his life.

Treating the guest list as a suggestion, Martinez guided Searfoss into a meeting of CMDI’s advisory board—home to plenty of accomplished journalists—and introduced him around. The connections Searfoss made helped him get a scholarship and an internship with 9News, where today he is a sports anchor.

“I would not be a professional journalist if it weren’t for Dave,” Searfoss said.

Searfoss’ story is not unusual: For more than three decades, Martinez has been devoted to ensuring students’ passions become their professions.

As coordinator of inclusive excellence and outreach for CMDI, Martinez works tirelessly to build community—particularly through Pathways to Excellence, which supports incoming first-year CMDI students as they find their home in the college.

“My favorite part of being at CU is the students,” Martinez said. “When students tell me about their plans after they graduate—the successful and amazing jobs they have—it means so much to me.”

In the spring, Martinez was recognized with the Robert L. Stearns Award, which honors faculty and staff for extraordinary achievement in teaching, service, work with students, research or off-campus contributions.

“I have never seen a staff or faculty member have a positive influence on students’ university experience to the extent that Dave Martinez has had,” said Paul S. Voakes, an emeritus professor of journalism and former dean of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Influence beyond Boulder

That influence extends well beyond graduation. When Kelsie Kerr (MediaSt, Film’23) moved to Los Angeles to take a job as a production coordinator, Martinez connected her to other LA Buffs to ease the transition from her rural hometown.

“I would not be a professional journalist if it weren’t for Dave.”

Jimmie Searfoss (Jour'24),
sports anchor, 9News

He was also one of the first people to call when her community was devastated by wildfires last year.

“His dedication to creating community continues far beyond the walls of the classroom,” Kerr said. “I am so grateful to have him in my life as not only a mentor, but also a friend.”

Pathways students enjoy a strong track record for first-year retention, graduating on time and finding career success. But the numbers are secondary for Martinez, whose focus and intention lie in helping CMDI students find their herd.

Leo Rivera IV still remembers the support he got from Martinez when he arrived in Boulder. That guidance has given him the confidence to go all-in on journalism, including becoming vice president of Sko Buffs Sports.

“Knowing I have someone in my corner gives me the confidence to achieve more,” Rivera, a senior, said. “That is the belief he instills.”

Ellie Chase is studying journalism at CMDI, with a minor in business. She covers students and student news at the college.

Dave Martinez, the college’s inclusive excellence director, was recognized with the Robert L. Stearns Award for his devotion to student success.

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Curtain Call

Ellie Chase — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 20:06:41 +0000

Curtain Call Ellie Chase Fri, 10/02/2026 - 14:06

Ryan Huff

Illustrations by Dana Heimes

Lori Call was back on the scene where her CU life began.

A delegation from the Sundance Film Festival was in town, seeking a new home to inspire the next generation of independent movie fans. When Call swung open the doors to Macky Auditorium, it was an awe-inspiring moment for the visitors—as well as a sort of homecoming for an alumna whose journalism classes were held in the basement of the century-old neo-Gothic gem.

“I watched their jaws drop, looking at this magnificent, historic auditorium,” said Call (Jour’94). “And I thought to myself, ‘Wow, I think we have a good shot at this.’”

You might not connect a journalism degree with the ability to sell Boulder to Sundance. But the skills Call learned at CU have been a key part of her success in the public affairs world, including her current role as the university’s associate vice chancellor for local government and community engagement.

“I learned so much in my journalism classes on how to communicate and interact,” she said. “Whether you are interviewing people or engaging the community, it’s really vital.”

A few months after the Macky tour—and tireless efforts from a unified bid from the city, university and business community—the country’s most prominent film festival announced it would relocate to Boulder starting in January 2027.

The city’s slowest month for visitors is about to get busy, with 100,000 attendees expected to descend on Boulder over 11 days. Locations across the city will serve as screening venues; on campus, films will be shown at the Roe Green Theatre, Muenzinger Auditorium and 2,036-seat Macky, the festival’s largest facility.

Those venues, and the work of advocates like Call, are helping Boulder get ready for its close-up.

“Being on a college campus, there’s an endless dream of very cool possibilities,” said Kim Kruchen, one of ��ñ��’s planning co-leads with the Office of Strategic Initiatives. “Imagine film directors speaking in our classes. Imagine all the volunteer opportunities. Our students have so many good experiences in the classroom to learn about business, cinema and other areas. And now they can apply that theory to a film festival.”

State-of-the-art renovations, including the addition of Dolby immersive sound systems, took place over the summer and will be available to the campus community year-round, providing one of the festival’s many lasting benefits.

“My hope is that Sundance’s presence elevates the arts in new ways,” Call said. “Imagine a student who’s mentored by a film expert, has access to experiential projects and then gets hired by them after they graduate.

“Sundance is bringing the absolute best of the world—and they want to share it with the next generation.”

When the Sundance Film Festival was looking for a new home, an alumna helped make the case for Boulder.

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Positive influence

Ellie Chase — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 18:47:42 +0000

Positive influence Ellie Chase Fri, 10/02/2026 - 12:47

Iris Serrano

Connor Houston remembers the first time he was recognized for a post he made on social media. He was in seventh grade and had just bought his first drone with his brother. They filmed a video of their neighborhood and uploaded it to YouTube; before he knew it, he was receiving compliments from neighborhood parents.

“Looking back on it, I can understand that what we were doing was much different than a lot of the other kids in our neighborhood,” said Houston (StComm’26). “It felt like we were famous for a brief moment.”

Since then, he has gained significant traction on social media for his content, with more than half a million likes on TikTok and partnerships with brands like Mountainsmith and Monster Brewing.

Influencers sometimes get a bad rap for spreading disinformation or promoting unattainable lifestyles. But Houston and other CMDI students say learning to influence in college teaches them the skills they’ll need in advertising, journalism, communication and more.

The work influencers do is more nuanced than what’s seen on the surface, said Erin Willis, an associate professor in the advertising, public relations and design department.

“We’re not just teaching students how to be influencers. We’re teaching them the skills that go into that and what companies are hiring for, like content creation and community management,” said Willis, whose research examines so-called “patient influencers”—those with diseases or disabilities whose messaging can influence others’ behaviors. “It’s ironic that we fear influencers, yet rely on them. That’s just the world we’re living in.”

Strategy, not slop

Willis prepares students in her capstone course to learn the difference between slop and strategy– thinking through content to ensure it reaches audiences and achieves goals. This is a skill that influencers like Tatum Merrill, who is majoring in strategic communication, can use to their advantage.

“My courses in strategic writing and software applications have built my confidence in designing and writing more professionally,” said Merrill, who plans to graduate in the spring of 2027.

Being an influencer has given Merrill opportunities outside of partnerships and brand deals.

Her first viral video—about a funny interaction with a Starbucks barista—racked up 13.3 million views on TikTok. Despite getting substantial attention, Merrill said her lifestyle content is solely for fun. She’s more interested in working as an account executive or brand manager, which involves a set of strategic skills she’s developing as a student; over the summer, she completed an internship at the public relations agency Clyde, as part of the Heidi L. Wagner CMDI in D.C. program.

Angelica Kalika (MJour’12; PhD’19), an assistant teaching professor of journalism, said learning how these skills fit together helps students speed through early-career growing pains.

“Employers are hungry to find people who are hungry as well,” she said. “Becoming an influencer means becoming a business owner, essentially. And so there’s so much less that employers have to teach you to get you on board.”

A matter of trust

Kalika is teaching a new course this fall on influence journalism, which focuses on preparing students to become credible news influencers—whether they work in legacy media or at an emerging digital platform. The course includes lessons on media literacy, audience engagement and artificial intelligence.

“My courses in strategic writing and software applications are the two classes that have built my confidence in designing and writing more professionally.”

Tatum Merrill, strategic communication

“We have all been taught to trust in legacy media. So when something new comes along, we are going to be skeptical,” Kalika said. “Teaching Gen Z to become ethical news content creators—to counter the disinformation we see on digital platforms—represents a huge opportunity for the future of journalism and hyper-local news.”

Houston’s experience reflects many of the skills both Kalika and Willis want students to develop through CMDI: His studies and years of experience as an influencer led him to launch UV9 Studio, a full-service advertising agency, with his brother.

In other words, yes, the brothers are still making content together.

“I definitely learned the most from the relationships that I built with my professors,” Houston said. “I have confidence in my work because I asked for their guidance on assignments, and sought feedback when I turned in a project I was proud of.”

Iris Serrano graduated from CMDI in 2026 with degrees in strategic communication and journalism. She covers student news and events for the college.

Student influencers at CMDI are no stranger to large followings and brand deals, but they said the college prepares them to think beyond content creation through lessons in strategy and community management.

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Data plans

Regan Widergren — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 22:03:01 +0000

Data plans Regan Widergren Tue, 11/18/2025 - 15:03

Hannah Stewart

Photos by Kimberly Coffin and Patrick Campbell

When Josie Mahoney’s best friend died in high school, his parents asked for her help with
their son’s social media.

Of course, she said yes, but she didn’t know where to start. Should they delete his account, losing access to the photos he posted and was tagged in? Or archive it as a digital memorial?

“It was distressing,” said Mahoney (InfoSci’25). “I think a clinic would’ve been really great because at least there’s someone to talk to who knows what they’re doing.”

Now she’s one of those people: In her senior year, she joined CMDI’s Digital Legacy Clinic, led by Jed Brubaker, an associate professor of information science.

“The clinic is something you can’t bottle—there’s an energy there,” she said. “It’s the coolest class I’ve been a part of because of how it prepares us for the real world.”

Part of that is how the course is structured. Brubaker builds in collaborative, project-based assignments that mimic the workplaces Mahoney and her classmates will graduate into. But it also comes from the market need for a solution to what happens to our data when we die.

As an academic research collaborator at Facebook, Brubaker helped develop the platform’s memorial account practices, but saw a much larger problem than just social media—photos, videos, text messages, bank accounts and so on. Through a National Science Foundation CAREER Grant, he created a pro-bono, law school-style clinic to help people maintain their digital legacies.

“It felt like a really unique moment where my research, teaching missions and a desire to do public service perfectly overlapped,” he said.

‘Pre-mortem’ support

Many clients come to the Digital Legacy Clinic in search of what students call “pre-mortem” support—getting a handle on what to do with their data now, so their families don’t have as much stress later.

I appreciated the students’ compassion and that they’re thinking about ways to mitigate the overwhelm.”

Corinna Robbins

That was the case with Corinna Robbins.

“I wonder what will happen to all the digital detritus that feels meaningful to us, and I wonder how my family will handle mine, or how I should handle my parents’,” Robbins said. “My son is 16 right now. He may not be interested in my inner life at this moment, but I bet one
day he will be.”

Unlike her mother, who had a drawer or two full of family photos, Robbins said she had thousands of unorganized photos on about 25 hard drives. That alone felt daunting, but equally disappointing was losing a blog she kept as a young adult, filled with personal essays and photography.

With help from the students, she learned about different cloud solutions to organize her photo collection, as well as the Wayback Machine, an online archive where she was able to recover most of her blog.

“It was lovely to be reconnected with those artifacts of my younger, former self,” Robbins said. “I appreciated the students’ compassion and that they’re thinking about ways to mitigate the overwhelm.”

Students in the Digital Legacy Clinic provide client support while researching how different platforms treat user data after death.

‘A measly number’

Part of the clinic’s effort is dedicated to fieldwork, in which students review platforms’ policies for specifics on user accounts and data after death. They’ve found that only 13% of platforms offer functional support, “a measly number for something that will happen to 100% of us,” Brubaker said.

The rest of their time is spent on client cases and building out the clinic’s functionality. Jack Manning (CTD’24), an information science master’s student, built a chatbot to push students’ boundaries, ensuring they encounter a range of situations and build their confidence for working with clients who may be grieving.

“These are undergraduate students, not mental health professionals,” he said. “And there’s potential for harm in those sensitive communications.”

Manning, like Mahoney, joined the clinic in the fall and repeated the class last spring. While the first semester was spent developing the framework and assessing clients’ needs, the second focused on creating a knowledge base and onboarding system—like the chatbot—to benefit future students.

As part of her portfolio project last fall, Mahoney focused on leadership and outreach—so on top of helping clients, she also developed a mini knowledge base with resources to train future students to be sensitive in working with the public.

“Now I can say I was a team leader, a project manager and in charge of the timeline and what we were doing,” she said.

Students said that real-world emphasis shows up in other ways, too.

“I’ve learned how to work with people on different teams and bounce ideas off each other,” said Oliver Kochenderfer (InfoSci’25). “I’ve gotten so much teamwork experience, and it’s been cool to have a teacher who acts as a manager guiding us toward one big goal.”

Brubaker said it’s important to remember that although college is a time of exploration and experience, one of its main responsibilities is preparing students for life after graduation.

“I hope the clinic remains a place that has a public impact while also being a place for both my students and me to learn,” he said. “I love taking humanistic or social science issues and thinking about how to implement that in the code. We’re human-touch first. More than a solution, people need to be heard.”

Learn more about the clinic

The Digital Literacy Clinic

Hannah Stewart graduated from CMDI in 2019 with a degree in communication. She covers student news for the college.

Photographer Kimberly Coffin graduated from CMDI in 2018 with degrees in media production and strategic communication.

When Jed Brubaker established the Digital Legacy Clinic—to help people make a plan for their data after their deaths—he saw it as a perfect blend of teaching and public service.

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Playing to win

Regan Widergren — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 00:43:36 +0000

Playing to win Regan Widergren Mon, 11/17/2025 - 17:43

Iris Serrano

As the growing sports media industry seeks people with data, communication and social media skills, CMDI has created different pathways to prepare students for rewarding careers.

Photos by Kimberly Coffin and Jack Moody.

When Kathryn Castanoli worked in a backstage production role during Super Bowl LIX, it wasn’t just a dream come true—it was a glimpse of a career that once seemed out of reach.

“I almost gave up trying to get into the sports media industry,” said Castanoli, a junior studying strategic communication. “But coming to CMDI—a college of entrepreneurs, artists, go-getters and leaders—really inspired me to keep pursuing my dream.”

Castanoli is just one of a growing number of CMDI students breaking into sports media. Although journalism has long been a path of study for students interested in this specialty, the changing nature of both sports and media as industries means different skills are needed.

“Sports media has become a convergence of different fields,” said Rick Stevens, associate dean of undergraduate education and associate professor of media studies. “Our majors are particularly well positioned to take a piece of the puzzle and help students understand more cohesively what sports media is.”

Students get a close look at those connections in Prime Time: Public Performance and Leadership, a course Stevens created last year. Guest lectures from prominent alumni like Kordell Stewart (Comm’16), Joel Klatt (Econ’07) and Brent Schrotenboer (Jour’96) round out class discussions led by CMDI faculty, with occasional appearances from Coach Prime.

The course counts toward the sports media minor—the largest in the college. But it’s more than just classroom learning. With a new global seminar, media outlets like Sko Buffs Sports, and conferences and networking events, students have numerous opportunities to develop the skills needed to break into the industry.

Lila Nuttle, a sophomore studying journalism, is already putting those skills into practice. An aspiring sports writer, she is a reporter for the CU Independent and has produced content for Sko Buffs Sports, which gives her on-the-field reporting experience.

Our professors are always telling us it’s not only what you do in class, or what grade you get, but your portfolio and actually getting experience.”

Lila Nuttle

"These organizations offer a really great way to jump in and get that experience, while also providing a good community.”

There’s more to sports media than what you can see from the sidelines. Priscilla Hopper (InfoSci’22; MS’23) works as a senior reporting and data analyst at Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Avalanche, Nuggets and other Denver-area sports franchises.

“There’s an expectation that if you’re working in sports media, you’re going to be on the field, in action,” said Hopper, also a lecturer of information science. “But there’s a whole other side to it, and every year, half of my students want to steal my job,”

Her ability to quickly analyze data and make them digestible for those without technical backgrounds gave her an advantage when interviewing for her role at KSE.

“I graduated able to interpret, adapt and analyze,” Hopper said. “That’s pretty much the entire basis of information science, and my degrees meant I was ready to be
catapulted into any role.”

Michael Burns, an assistant teaching professor of communication, also understands what it’s like to have a nontraditional job in the sports industry. He has worked behind the scenes at eight Olympic Games for NBC’s Today show, and now serves as faculty director for Communication, Culture and Sport, a global seminar that takes place in the United Kingdom.

“There is an army of people who are doing all the research and logistics and planning, which enables and empowers the journalists, the PR folks and the camera people to do their jobs,” Burns said.

CMDI’s alumni network also plays a critical role in launching student careers. Michael Davies (Jour’94), an executive vice president at FOX Sports, said there’s no one way to make it in the industry.

“Everybody has their own origin story—some of them come from networking, some come from internships,” he said. “One thing that’s consistent and is required is passion for the sports business and focus.”

Davies graduated at a time when there were fewer paths to a career in sports media. He regularly visits the college to meet students, and is impressed with CMDI’s approach to preparing the next generation for the evolving industry.

“The school’s only 10 years old, it’s still new, it’s still innovative, and I think that it’s a very exciting time to go to CMDI,” he said.

Game on

CMDI is preparing for the return of its annual Sports Media Summit in the spring semester. This multiday event is intended for students who are curious about the industry, as well as alumni and community members looking to expand their networks and transition into this fast-growing field.

Follow CMDI on social media and keep an eye on colorado.edu/cmdi for updates.

Iris Serrano is studying strategic communication and journalism at CMDI. She covers student news and events for the college.

Photographer Kimberly Coffin graduated from CMDI in 2018 with degrees in media production and strategic communication.

Photographer Jack Moody graduated from CMDI in 2024 with a degree in strategic communication.

Through relevant courses, networking opportunities and student-led organizations, CMDI is helping students turn their passions into careers in sports media.

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Fall 2025

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Student Work Gallery: Fall 2025

Regan Widergren — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 21:11:50 +0000

Student Work Gallery: Fall 2025 Regan Widergren Tue, 11/11/2025 - 14:11

Creativity is the through line uniting each of the college’s majors, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the work of our students. Whether it’s a class assignment, work done for a club, an internship or a passion project, our students’ talents remain a source of pride and inspiration for the college. Here are a few standouts from the fall.

Dylan Thomas Doyle (MInfoSci’24; PhD’25)

Kinsey Anger (EnvDes’25)

Hannah Howell, media production

Emme Clymer, journalism

Skylar Berman, psychology; journalism minor

Amy Mahoney, business; journalism minor

Eric Durigan (EnvDes’25)

Campbell Tsung, Jess Sastra, Georgia Cook, Morgan Braun-Jenson (all StratComm’25)

Samantha Russo, strategic communication

Aramis Loma-Guzman, journalism

��ñ�� the cover: ‘Eerie beauty’

Leif Lomo didn’t intend to stop at this abandoned factory at Valmont Butte, in Boulder—he was actually looking for another ruined location to photograph when he stumbled on this building. He got this photo after climbing to the top of one of its smokestacks.

“What gripped me was the texture. It almost had a personality—the corrugated roofing, the decaying wood, the shadows, the small bits of graffiti,” said Lomo, who’s studying media production. “It struck me as a very human image—people took stuff out of the earth to make things here. Then, it was forgotten. Now, it’s both a canvas and a place where people who don’t have housing live.”

Lomo made this image as part of his Digital Photographic Practices class, which covered the New Topographics movement—when landscape photography shifted from pastoral beauty to documenting the human alteration of those landscapes. “In that course, I found a reason to explore and show some of the eerie beauty I found in the world,” he said.

Creativity is the through line uniting each of the college’s majors, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the work of our students.

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Fall 2025

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Grounded in reality

Amanda J. McManus — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 21:34:20 +0000

Grounded in reality Amanda J. McManus Fri, 09/26/2025 - 15:34

Hannah Stewart

Illustrations by Dana Leafdale

Two small wheels clattering against the tile floor. Again.

To a young Mary Miller, that sound meant her father, a Delta pilot, was off to work. And while she’d miss her father while he was away, growing up around airports helped Miller fall in love with aviation, too. “I soloed for the first time on my 16th birthday,” she recalled with a laugh. “I always tell people I flew a plane by myself before I drove a car by myself.”

Her passion for flying became a driving force behind her senior thesis, a combined research and design project. Miller (EnvDes’25) conducted fieldwork, interviews and policy analysis to better understand airport infrastructure and sustainability. She then created designs for what regional and municipal airports might look like in a future when they are used less frequently—a shift that is likely to happen in her Minnesota home.

As a hardworking and involved student—she was a member of multiple organizations and held a number of jobs on campus—Miller never got the chance to fly in Colorado. But lessons learned in Boulder—as well as in Medellín, Colombia, where the environmental design department hosts an annual studio—convinced her she needed to conduct her research in the literal airfield.

“You have to ground yourself in a site because no two are the exact same,” she said. “While I was in Colombia, I learned that different areas have their own histories and needs, so it’s important to always consider that.”

In the six-week studio, faculty lead students like Miller in completing local development projects alongside community members and peers from other universities.

“It was definitely one of the best experiences I had as a student,” she said. “It was impactful to work with the community there and realize how much we had changed each others’ lives.”

In all her projects, Miller’s mission is to create impact. Her honors thesis was a chance to do so in an industry she loves.

For her thesis project, Mary Miller created designs of different use cases for small airports to balance their use with their natural surroundings. Used with permission.

“Her passions for aviation and environmental protection come together in her thesis work, where she critically investigates the vast areas of land occupied by airports and explores how they can be reimagined,” said Jota Samper, an associate professor in environmental design and director of the Medellín studio. “Her thesis is, in many ways, a love letter to airports, nature and the people who work in those spaces.”

Initially, Miller studied how to make airports more sustainable, and connected with Zannah Mae Matson, her advisor and an assistant professor of landscape architecture who researches infrastructure. But the project shifted to include the damage airports do to the environment.

Nationwide, regional and municipal airports occupy approximately 1.5 million acres of land. As a pilot, Miller understands that clearing land improves safety, but as a landscape architect, she’s aware of the impact airports have on native plants and animals.

As she interviewed airport managers, Miller learned about the financial, policy, ecology and safety challenges they face. She also identified four ecological systems common to the Minnesota airports she visited: fields, forests, water and wetlands.

Using those habitats as a starting point, she proposed four designs to help those managers rehabilitate the landscape. For example, a busy airport near fields may need more cutting or mowing, while a manager of a quieter airport could allow more native flora and fauna to flourish.

“Instead of immediately proposing to decommission airports, she’s suggesting something that could be done alongside functioning ones, which is a really nuanced view,” Matson said.

Miller’s dedication and thoroughness paid off: She earned top honors for her project and presented her research at this year’s Environmental Design Research Association conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

She’s still figuring out the next move for her career, but hopes to keep this project in the air. She credited her education with giving her perspective on her future.

“My environmental design education proved what a huge range design can offer, and how it can apply to anything, like communication or journalism,” Miller said. “There are so many directions my degree could take me in.”

“Her thesis is, in many ways, a love letter to airports, nature and the people who work in those spaces.”

Jota Samper
Associate Professor
Environmental Design

Hannah Stewart graduated from CMDI in 2019 with a degree in communication.

A recent graduate’s love of flight helped her senior thesis reach new heights.

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Fall 2025

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Beyond the Classroom

Offering advice

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Driven to succeed

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Built for tomorrow

Architecture and A.I.

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Finding the Pathways

Influence beyond Boulder

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Curtain Call

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Positive influence

Strategy, not slop

A matter of trust

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Data plans

‘Pre-mortem’ support

‘A measly number’

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Playing to win

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Student Work Gallery: Fall 2025

��ñ���� the cover: ‘Eerie beauty’

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Grounded in reality

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��ñ�� the cover: ‘Eerie beauty’