BYU’s Communications Department Labs—The Intersection of Knowledge and Experience
By: Susan Balcom Walton
Associate Chair, Student Media
Recently, BYU’s Department of Communications was reorganized to provide more focus on, and greater collaboration within, one of our most important assets—the four student labs housed within the Brimhall Building.
These labs include the Daily Universe, the Broadcast News Lab, the Advanced Advertising Lab and the Bradley Public Relations Agency. These labs produce award-winning media products that are read by and aired to audiences larger than many community newspapers and regional stations. They also serve world-class clients and create strategic messages and national campaigns. But most importantly, under the direction of our talented faculty and staff, the labs provide a continuous learning and improvement environment that enhances the quality of what we do and prepares students for the professional world. Our labs truly are the intersection of knowledge and experience for our students.
Scarcely a week goes by that I don’t encounter a former student who tells me how grateful he or she is to have had a BYU Communications Department lab experience. Our students’ employers and internship providers say the same—and they tell us that the lab experience gives our students a competitive advantage that’s easy to see and hard to beat.
We encourage you to get to know our student labs—whether for the first time or as an old friend. We think you’ll be pleased and proud of how far we’ve come. If you’d like a tour of the labs, just drop by the Communications Department office and we’ll be happy to arrange one. In addition, if you are an advertising or public relations professional looking for high-quality, creative and affordable resources, we invite you to consider the Advanced Advertising Lab and Bradley Public Relations Firm. An excellent value for the cost, these labs are seeking new clients and external funding to support pro-bono work that benefits society. Please contact Jeff Sheets, director, Advanced Advertising Lab, (801) 422-3524, and Jeff DuBois, director, Bradley Public Relations, (801) 422-4946, for more information.
To those of you who have contributed to the past success of our labs—whether as a student, faculty, staff, client, or volunteer—we thank you. If you are becoming involved for the first time, we welcome you. We look forward to working with you all as we continue to build the BYU Communications Department Legacy.
