The following representatives of CMBAM member schools were elected to positions on the CMBAM board of directors this fall. Their terms will commence Jan. 1, 2024.

Programming Director-Elect

(Two-year term)

Jennifer Newton

California State University, Long Beach

Member Recognition & Awards Director

(Two-year term)

Allison Bennett Dyche

Appalachian State University

Student Director

(One-year terms)

Tyler Sprague

University of South Carolina

Kristina Agresta

California State University, Long Beach

Vice President of Membership

(Two-year term)

Julie Salter

University of Alabama

The following candidates are running for positions on the CMBAM board of directors. CMBAM members logged in to the website can access the ballot at https://www.cmbam.org/vote/. Voting is open until 2 p.m. Central Time on Monday, Nov. 20.

Candidate Forum

Programming Director-Elect

Jennifer Newton

California State University, Long Beach

Why do you wish to serve on the CMBAM Board of Directors?

CMBAM has been a vital resource since I joined student media in 2018. Without the support of the CMBAM members and the resources CMBAM provides, I would have been so lost. Not only has CMBAM provided me with valuable information and tools, it has also provided me with an amazing network of colleagues and friends. I want to serve on the CMBAM board so that I can give back to this amazing group and do my part to help move CMBAM forward.

What do you hope to accomplish during your term if elected for your selected position?

During my term, I hope to produce a successful in-person conference in a new and exciting location. Additionally, I hope to structure the programming for the rest of the year to focus on monthly themes and improve participation from schools across the nation.

Christa Reed

Colorado State University

Why do you wish to serve on the CMBAM Board of Directors?

Since joining the professional staff at Rocky Mountain Student Media (CSU) five years ago, I have seen the power of what an organization like CMBAM can do for student media programs and would be honored to serve on the board in the role of programming director elect. I believe I could help strengthen programming by introducing new and relevant media and sales programs that will benefit students, advisers and student media programs overall. Before coming to CSU, for ten years I worked in media at the national level as an editor-in-chief/sales director for a national parenting magazine and I have a good understanding of sales strategy, digital advertising, and ways to create new revenue streams. In addition, I also have years of experience planning and coordinating conferences and events. I love the challenge of creating an educational and memorable experience that inspires and excites members to not only learn new and relevant skills but then be able to implement those skills in real-time to achieve positive results. I believe my energy, enthusiasm and previous professional experience in the field of media and advertising qualifies me for consideration.

What do you hope to accomplish during your term if elected for your selected position?

• Work with the current programming director to learn more about how our programming is currently structured, and then offer feedback/input/ideas and recommendations.
• Offer a series of advertising sales and digital workshops that will present students/advisers with relevant information and tips for success. These would take place during the annual conference as well as ongoing offerings to our membership.
• Revise our sponsorship program for the annual conference with updated sponsorship levels and focus on bringing in more event sponsors to help offset costs so we can invite more high-profile keynote speakers and offer additional new programming opportunities.
• Help determine the best location for future conferences based on criteria set by the board. Once a location is selected, work with local businesses/vendors to solicit sponsors and create more opportunities for students/advisors to interact with those vendors/businesses.
• Launch a fun new activity during the annual conference where member schools would put together a gift basket representing their University and we would do a ‘shop-n-drop’ raffle for anyone that wants to win a gift basket. Funds generated through raffle ticket sales would go directly back to programming and the following year’s conference.

Member Recognition & Awards Director

Rob Steedley

Weber State University

Why do you wish to serve on the CMBAM Board of Directors?

I want to help in any way possible. I love the idea of collaborating with other colleagues in student media. I also felt so welcome when I cam to the convention and that lit a fire and passion in me to do all I can for CMBAM!

What do you hope to accomplish during your term if elected for your selected position?

To have the work of students be recognized nationally through this program. I love seeing students add feathers in their caps and feel recognized and seen in their positions in student media.

Allison Bennett Dyche

Appalachian State University

Why do you wish to serve on the CMBAM Board of Directors?

I would love to serve on the CMBAM Board of Directors because the organization is so important to student media operations and I would like to help spread that message. CMBAM is a key organization to helping student media operations of all sizes and types stay afloat and in business, and I believe we need to spread that message further. I first joined CMBAM when I was advising at Appalachian State back in 2014 or 2015, and I found the organization and the conference incredibly helpful to our operations. I continued the membership when I was advising at Virginia Commonwealth University, and recently rejoined again at Appalachian State.

Coming from the editorial side of the industry, I’ve had to learn everything about the business operations side on my own, and I found CMBAM and its members to be key to my education and success as a business adviser. I’m not alone in having to serve as both the editorial and business adviser, and I believe so many advisers simply don’t know about CMBAM or don’t know what the organization can offer to them, their students and their organizations.

I served on the CMA (College Media Advisers) board of directors for four years, in one of the Vice President roles. What I experienced there is that so many advisers need so much more help when it comes to the business side of their operations. CMBAM is so unique and there’s no other organization out there like it, and this is a need that I know CMBAM can easily fill. I would love the opportunity to help CMBAM grow and reach more people who really need the resources that the organization offers.

What do you hope to accomplish during your term if elected for your selected position?

If elected, I would like to build upon the success of Julie Salter and continue to find ways to celebrate and recognize the members of CMBAM. I love that CMBAM’s competition is expansive enough to include work created by non-newspaper outlets, with categories like Best Audio Ad or Underwriting Spot and Best Video or Underwriting Spot. I would like to poll student media outlets to find out if there are other award categories that should be considered in the future, to further expand CMBAM’s reach and to ensure it is serving student media organizations of all types. I would also like to look at categories in competitions entered by collegiate student media outlets — like ACP, CMA, SPJ, BEA, CBI and others — to see if there are any potential awards we could consider starting for CMBAM.

I would also like to find other ways to recognize members throughout the year, and to further support our membership. Perhaps something similar to the Meet a Member Monday initiative, but asking members to share good news, small wins, and the like. And then those can be promoted through the listserv, as well as on CMBAM social media and the website.

Creating a calendar of competitions relevant to CMBAM advisers would also be helpful. There are so many competitions out there that collegiate student media work may be entered into, that having a calendar of deadlines for these national competitions could be incredibly helpful for advisers and students alike to submit their work for more accolades.

I also want to say that I absolutely LOVE that the list of past winners on the CMBAM website also includes some of the winning entries from student media outlets. Having those examples available online is so incredibly helpful as a resource for student media outlets that are looking to improve their operations. I would love to build upon that and include other winning entries to be linked on the website in the future, as it’s so important for training students to see the successes from their counterparts at other institutions.

Student Director

(2 openings)

Tyler Sprague

University of South Carolina

Why do you wish to serve on the CMBAM Board of Directors?

In my Fall 2022 nomination for Student Director, I stated, “Even though my time being a part of CMBAM has been brief, I have quickly become very passionate about how CMBAM can influence and improve students’ lives and careers.” At that point, my brief experience with CMBAM consisted of a single weekend of programming and networking, and while I could not quite effectively articulate why, I was utterly enthralled with and committed to CMBAM. After a full year of serving as the CMBAM Student Director, I think I can finally provide answers to last year’s feelings. I’ve spent a year observing, learning, planning, and engaging with the current CMBAM board of directors, and through this, I’ve seen precisely why I felt the way I did after last year’s conference. Simply put, CMBAM works. I’ve made lifelong connections, learned valuable skills (both personal and career skills), and gained media industry insights that I would not have gotten anywhere else or with any other organization. And I can say that with certainty as I have also learned about other college media organizations in this position and have seen exactly what they do not have that CMBAM does. With all of this in mind, I want to take all that I have learned and experienced on the board of directors and apply it to this upcoming year. With my understanding of the organization, programming content, and membership process, I can enact real growth and create valuable experiences for the CMBAM membership.

What do you hope to accomplish during your term if elected for your selected position?

I genuinely wish that I could fill this response with “I hope to continue…”, but the reality is that I did not meet many of the goals that I set for 2023. But, as I mentioned in my previous response, I did spend the year learning, observing, and planning. I believe I can directly apply the experience I have obtained this last year to fully realize my goals. Building upon my goals from last year, I want to increase student involvement in programming, direct engagement, and committee roles. I want to promote student participation in the currently established committees and construct an entirely student-run committee. One of the most significant projects to achieve this goal is to fully establish the student Slack channel as a legitimate, active platform for students to connect, ask questions, and share ideas. In addition to this, I would like to assist the programming committee in creating valuable, relevant content specifically for students. We made great strides towards this last year and had many successful webinars, workshops, and online content published for members. I’d like to keep up this effort while adding more student-focused programming.

Ethan Batchelor

Appalachian State University

Why do you wish to serve on the CMBAM Board of Directors?

It was a pleasure meeting the people of CMBAM at the past convention. I would like to engage more with this organization and represent The Appalachian.

What do you hope to accomplish during your term if elected for your selected position?

I would like to engage and collaborate with students on projects and discussions that can help sustain student media. I talked to many people at the fall 2023 convention, but there was still so much more to frequent, in-depth discussions can help benefit everyone.

Kristina Agresta

California State University, Long Beach

Why do you wish to serve on the CMBAM Board of Directors?

I hope to be one of the student directors for CMBAM because I wouldn’t be where I am today without the organization and want to empower more students like myself. I’ve presented at the past two conferences and made friends I continue to talk with throughout the year and I hope that by being a board member I can encourage more of our students to take an active role in CMBAM.

What do you hope to accomplish during your term if elected for your selected position?

If elected, I hope to help bring more schools into our organization and continue encouraging students to connect all throughout the year, not just during our conferences. Growing our membership can bring more funds, more resources and more connections to CMBAM. If elected, my priority would be giving students more opportunities to network with professionals and make meaningful connections with their peers.

Vice President of Membership

Julie Salter

University of Alabama

Why do you wish to serve on the CMBAM Board of Directors?

Being engaged with this organization has helped me grow and develop my program. I want to engage more schools and members to CMBAM.

What do you hope to accomplish during your term if elected for your selected position?

Continue the work Sarah has started and rebuild our membership.