Kristoffer D. Boyle, Ph. D
Evaluation of how well the academic objectives of the proposal were met
The aim of this project was to provide student journalists with real-world experiences in
covering BYU sports teams on the road. We felt like we accomplished this aim as
experienced faculty and staff worked side by side with students to produce live remote
segments for ElevenNews and create multimedia content and articles for the Daily
Universe.
Evaluation of the mentoring environment
We felt that there was a unique skill level that came from covering the team on the road,
reporting from an unfamiliar environment and facing the challenge of creating and
packaging reports under deadline away from the newsroom. If our students ran into
technology problems (i.e. the loss of wireless internet), they didn’t enjoy the same luxury
they do at home because they aren’t familiar with the resources on the road. It required
them to plan ahead and on occasion, make snap decisions under pressure. There was
just no other way to create this experience for the students without actually going on the
road.
We were pleased with the varied experiences this project was able to provide our
students. They reported from the press box and while sitting courtside. They interviewed
fans in the stands and family of team members in their homes. They created content in
pressrooms, hotel rooms, airports, and even in the vans going to and leaving the
venues. All of this was done with a faculty member mentoring and assisting them.
Faculty members accompanied the students on every trip, offering guidance as the
students planned and executed their coverage of the teams.
Finally, in each trip, students were able to eat meals and converse one on one with real
world professionals, share experiences and get advice for their careers.
List of Trips, participating students, and content they produced
BYU Men’s Basketball Team vs. Portland/Gonzaga (Portland, OR, and Spokane, WA. -February 26-28, 2015)
Students: Brandon Crow, Riley Lewis, Madison Nield, Trent Howard, Natalie Gibbs,
Alex Johnson, and Bryan Peterson
Faculty/Staff: Steve Fidel, Othello Richards
Sampling of the Content
“Gonzaga’s ‘Tent City’ anticipates big game against BYU” – Daily Universe (Feb. 28)
http://universe.byu.edu/2015/02/28/gonzagas-tent-city-anticipates-big-game-againstbyu/
“BYU win over Portland sweetened by Haws’ record” – Daily Universe (Feb. 26)
“BYU upsets No. 3 Ranked Gonzaga” – ElevenNews (March 2)
Additional content can be found in the archives of the Daily Universe (universe.byu.edu)
and ElevenNews (elevennews.byu.edu).
BYU Men’s and Women’s Basketball in the WCC Tournament (Las Vegas, NV- March 5-10, 2015)
Students: Alex Clark, Mason Nordfelt, Tori Crane, Clara Goodwin, Reggie Lewis, Mitch
Marshall, Rachel Libby
Faculty/Staff: Kris Boyle, Dale Green
Sampling of the Content
“Tournament Photo Diary: Your unofficial guide to the Las Vegas Strip” (March 7)
http://universe.byu.edu/2015/03/07/tournament-photo-diary-your-unofficial-guide-to-thelas-
vegas-strip/
“Cougars can’t keep up with Zags in tournament championship loss” – Daily Universe
(March 10)
http://universe.byu.edu/2015/03/10/cougars-cant-keep-up-with-zags-in-tournamentchampionship-
loss/
“Eaton named tournament MVP as BYU women cruise to WCC Championship title” –
Daily Universe (March 10)
http://universe.byu.edu/2015/03/10/byu-womens-basketball-cruises-to-wccchampionship-
title/
“CoogTube” – ElevenNews (March 6)
Additional content can be found in the archives of the Daily Universe (universe.byu.edu)
and ElevenNews (elevennews.byu.edu).
BYU Men’s Basketball Team versus Ole Miss, NCAA Tournament First Round (Dayton, OH – March 17, 2015)
Students: Sterling Randle, Elliott Miller, Alan Miller, Skyler Street
Faculty: Chad Curtis
Sampling of the Content
“BYU basketball loses to Ole Miss in First Four game” – Daily Universe (March 17)
“Full Broadcast” – ElevenNews (March 18)
Additional content can be found in the archives of the Daily Universe (universe.byu.edu)
and ElevenNews (elevennews.byu.edu).
BYU Men’s and Women’s Basketball in the WCC Tournament (Las Vegas, NV – March 4-8, 2016)
Students: Kristen Kerr, Sydney Jorgensen, Reggie Lewis, Kenny Hutchins, Brandon
Henson, and Erin O’Sullivan
Faculty/Staff: Dale Green
“BYU women’s basketball upset by San Francisco in WCC finals” – Daily Universe
(March 8)
http://universe.byu.edu/2016/03/08/byu-womens-basketball-upset-by-san-francisco-inwcc-
finals/
BYU basketball in the WCC tournament: ROC-ing out in Vegas” Daily Universe (March
7)
http://universe.byu.edu/2016/03/07/byu-basketball-in-the-wcc-tournament-roc-ing-out-invegas/
Additional content can be found in the archives of the Daily Universe
(universe.byu.edu) and ElevenNews (elevennews.byu.edu).
BYU football versus Arizona – Cactus Kickoff Classic (Glendale, AZ – Sept. 3, 2016)
Students: Alex Clark, Nate Cunningham, and Ari Davis
Faculty/Staff: Kris Boyle
Sampling of the Content
“Photo Gallery: First half of BYU vs. Arizona” – Daily Universe (Sept. 3)
“BYU Football: Cougars open Sitake era with thrilling win against Arizona” – Daily
Universe (Sept. 3)
BYU football: Cougars open Sitake era with thrilling win against Arizona
“Universe Podcast: Reactions to BYU football’s season opener” – Daily Universe (Sept.
4)
http://universe.byu.edu/2016/09/04/universe-podcast-reactions-to-byu-footballs-seasonopener/
Additional content can be found in the archives of the Daily Universe
(universe.byu.edu).
BYU Football versus Boise State (Boise, ID – Oct. 20, 2016)
Students: Conner Rushton, Ari Davis, Ryan Turner, Mercedes Erikson, Taylor Decker,
and Tyler Shaw
Faculty/Staff: Othello Richards
Sampling of the Content
“BYU falls to No. 14 Boise State despite forcing five turnovers” – Daily Universe (Oct.
21)
http://universe.byu.edu/2016/10/21/byu-falls-to-no-14-boise-state-despite-forcing-fiveturnovers/
“BYU football vs. Boise State in pictures” – Daily Universe (Oct. 24)
“Injuries may be to blame for BYU’s recent loss” – ElevenNews (Oct. 25)
Additional content can be found in the archives of the Daily Universe (universe.byu.edu)
and ElevenNews (elevennews.byu.edu).
BYU Men’s Basketball versus USC – (Los Angeles, CA – Dec. 3, 2016)
Students: Nathan Cunningham, Ari Davis
Faculty/Staff: Steve Fidel
Sampling of the Content
“BYU basketball falls to USC in Hoopall LA” – Daily Universe (Dec. 3)
Additional content can be found in the archives of the Daily Universe (universe.byu.edu)
Description of the results/findings of the project
We found that this project provided our students with many opportunities they would not
have had within the walls of a classroom. They were able to experience life as a sports
reporter on the road. They LOVED being able to mingle with professionals from all
spectrums of sports media, including reporters from BYUtv, KSL, Deseret News, and
ESPN. These professionals were equally impressed with our students. In fact, one of
them (Sydney Jorgensen) was invited by an official with BYU athletics attending this
year’s WCC tournament to submit an application and resume. Sydney was able to
secure an internship with BYU Athletics as a direct result of her work at tournament. I
believe she is still working with athletics.
For the faculty, we enjoyed getting to know our students outside the classroom and
found great satisfaction in the content they were able to produce on these trips. We
were able to mentor them in “real-world” environments and were approached by several
professionals at these events, who complimented us on our students’ work and
professionalism. So this served as a great tool in exposing these professionals to our
program and the caliber of our students. Overall, it was a great success and would be
worth doing again in the future.
Description of how the budget was spent
– Portland/Gonzaga Trip (hotel, van rental, food): $3,271.23
– WCC Tournament 2015 (hotel, van rental, food): $3,831.41
– NCAA 1st Round Tournament (hotel, airfare, food) $4,228.63
– WCC Tournament 2016 (hotel, van rental, food): $2,439.44
– Glendale Trip (hotel, car rental, food): $1,005.09
– Boise Trip (hotel, van rental, food) $1,279.40
– Los Angeles Trip (hotel, airfare, food): $1,317.40
So by my calculations, we will be returning $2,627.40