In a historic election, CMA members will be voting for the first time for Secretary and Treasurer. Congratulations to the following candidates who have filed for these two positions.   Mark your calendars for the Candidate Forum, slated for March 27, 6 p.m. EST, on Zoom. Candidates will answer questions developed by the Election Committee, followed by questions to each candidate individually. The Forum will be recorded and available on our Election Central page.   Read below for each candidate’s profile, platform, and background information. Here are the names of the 2024 CMA Board of Director candidates. Their goals and bios can be found further below.  Secretary Jim Rodenbush Treasurer Sacha DeVroomen Bellman

Jim Rodenbush is the director of student media at Indiana University and an instructor at The Media School at IU.
As director of student media, Rodenbush serves as the chief executive officer and chief editorial adviser for the Indiana Daily Student, Arbutus yearbook and Indiana University Student Television. He came to IU in the summer of 2018 and, since that time, the IDS has been awarded seven Pacemakers from the Associated Collegiate Press and twice been named as the College Media Outlet of the Year by the College Media Association.
In all, Rodenbush has 14 years of experience working with college media. Previously, he was student media adviser and corporate communications manager for The Rocky Mountain Collegian at Colorado State University, news adviser to Penn State’s The Daily Collegian and general manager of The Journal at Webster University.
Rodenbush teaches reporting, editing and writing classes at The Media School. He is a past president of WAUPM, former executive director of the Indiana Collegiate Press Association and a frequent speaker at national conferences on college media. He has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Webster University and a master’s degree in journalism from the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

Organizational Goals

CMA has been there for me and my students for more than a decade. It has done so in countless ways. There is the invaluable listserv, a go-to source for ideas, feedback and a seemingly unlimited network of fellow advisers. There are the conventions, and the speakers, and the sessions, and the awards, and the travel, and the critiques that have taught, supported and uplifted my students. I am especially grateful to CMA leadership for the advocacy and immediate, unwavering support it showed to me and my students when we dealt with an issue just this past fall.

What does any of this have to do with organizational goals? Frankly, I’m not sure. My motivation in seeking a board position is two-fold: to give back to the organization that has done so much for me and my students, and to help make sure the resources of CMA are made available to all people and all levels of college media.

Advising/Leadership Philosophy

My role as an adviser is to be of service to my students. That means I am available to them always and give support throughout their time in student media. No matter the issue, my job is to listen, suggest options, provide resources, offer institutional knowledge and otherwise help them do whatever is necessary to succeed.

Sacha DeVroomen Bellman is the business adviser for all student media at Miami University. She oversees seven student media organizations and also is adviser to the Miami chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. She has taught journalism at Miami since 2002 and has also been the editorial adviser to the newspaper and yearbook during that time.
Bellman started in student media while a student at the University of Kentucky working both at the Kentucky Kernel and the Kentuckian yearbook. Sacha is a graduate of Kentucky and Miami University and worked at news organizations around the Cincinnati area as a reporter, editor and designer.
She has the distinction of winning a Pacemaker as a newspaper editor at Kentucky and as an adviser to the yearbook at Miami.
Before serving as treasurer, Sacha edited the CMA newsletter for eight years and also served on the communications, new member and finance committees
Sacha is married to Tom and has two adult sons, Brett and Alex. In her spare time, she likes to read, do water fitness, golf and follow the Vegas Golden Knights.

Organizational Goals

I ask for you two give me two more years to continue my work to put CMA on track for a better future. Since becoming treasurer in 2022, the board has made some amazing strides in putting us in a place toward a healthier fiscal future. We have operated on a deficit as times have been tough since COVID, but we are slowly climbing our way back to prosperity. This has been a very tough financial time for many of us at our universities and non-profits like CMA are feeling the pressure as well. We are finding ways to trim the budget in larger and smaller ways.
I was involved in the decision to change management association and the process to pick a new one, which will save us $20,000 a year. I headed the effort to raise dues, which will net us about $5,000 more this year and at least $10,000 more next year.
Most recently, I was part of an effort in which we held ACP accountable for the fall convention financial report they sent us in January with errors. Our efforts led to getting at least $1,000 more than the ACP report said CMA should get, getting us closer to the amount we had budgeted for the Atlanta convention.
Because of the disorganization by our previous management company and dealing with the repercussions, I’m just now hitting my stride as treasurer and am moving forward toward my goals I shared with the board when selected less than two years ago. They were simple:
1. To strive to keep CMA in good financial standing through careful spending and considering other revenue streams and fundraising.
2. To continue to work on improving technology and web services for all members and to find a way to do it in the most economical way possible.
3. To be open and honest about CMA’s financials with the membership and to have an updated financial report available to both members and the board on a regular basis.
We are already making strides in some of these areas. But the work continues. Here are the projects I’m working on:
• Writing a grant to renew our Ingelhart First Amendment programs
• Raising funds through merchandise that will be sold at our conventions and online
• Restructuring the budget with the help of our executive director so we can see more clearly where all our money is going in a more itemized way
• Planning our biggest Day of Giving yet on the 70th anniversary of our organization, planned for Nov. 19

Advising/Leadership Philosophy

I used to work for a newspaper owned by Scripps-Howard, whose motto was: “Give light and the people will find their own way.”
An adviser should be that light. And students need to find their own way.
I have been an adviser for more than 20 years. First as advising both editorial and business sides for the student newspaper and yearbook. We had a $200,000 budget for the newspapers and sold lots of ads. It was easy then.
Since then, the economics and the students have changed and we’ve all had to adjust since the pandemic in 2020.
I am a firm believer of baby steps, of sharing ideas that can then percolate and be moved on by students in their own way, on their own timeline, a little at a time. I also believe in giving a push when needed and providing student with all the information they may not have, but should have.
It’s not uncommon for me to email students with a note saying “Thought you might like” or “Idea for a story?” or “Idea for advertiser?” or “see what this other university is doing…”
Thank goodness for the support of all the other CMA advisers across the country.
It’s tough for a Dutch, direct woman like me to hold back sometimes. But I have found that when you guide people, not only do they often do the right thing, they learn more from making those decisions
I allow my student business managers to figure out ways to fund their projects, launch parties and coverage of sports out of town. That means they buy into the process of selling ads or raising funds in other ways. And they are motivated because the payoffs benefit their staffs.
I love my job – training for students for their future careers and working toward sustaining student media for generations to come.