Three instructors bring major-media experience
Mindy Kiger Cheval, Susan Moran and Victoria Sama join faculty

Mindy Kiger Cheval

Mindy Kiger Cheval
Mindy Kiger Cheval returned to the School of Journalism and Mass Communication this fall after taking a three-year break from teaching to be a dedicated and undistracted parent.

Kiger Cheval has played a variety of roles in the last decade, from a senior partner at a top New York City ad agency to an instructor of journalism to a stay-at-home mom. Now she said she's found just the right position as an instructor at the journalism school. This fall, she began an 18-month instructor appointment.

"Teaching is great because it allows you to keep a balance between work and home," Kiger Cheval said.

Kiger Cheval spent 14 years in New York City, 10 at Ogilvy & Mather. Then she taught at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication for four years until 2000, when she became a full-time mother.

She stopped teaching when she and her husband, Dave Cheval, traveled to Wuzhou, China, to adopt Caroline, then 15 months old and now 5. "It was a life-altering experience, adopting Caroline," Kiger Cheval said.

After the adoption, Kiger Cheval said that she and her husband decided to move to an area outside of Pittsburgh to be closer to her family. There they had a baby, Grace, now 2.

Kiger Cheval said concentrating on parenting was a lot of fun and beneficial for her daughters. After three years, she said she was ready to get back to work and back to Boulder.

"We missed Colorado and the weather, and I missed working," Kiger Cheval said.

She said she also missed the interaction with students and faculty involved with advertising and did not hesitate when an opportunity came along for her to teach at CU as an instructor.

"I love teaching because I find students to be fascinating," she said. "The students I see weekly offer a wealth of ideas and perspectives." Melinda.Kiger@Colorado.edu

– Leah Franklin

Susan Moran

Susan Moran
Teaching is an inspiration for Susan Moran. "Students renew my sense of wonder and keep my enthusiasm for journalism alive," Moran said.

Moran has been an adjunct instructor at the School since August 2002. In January, she will begin teaching three classes a semester on an 18-month contract. She has taught Public Affairs Reporting and Reporting 3/Newsgathering 2.

"My favorite part of teaching is witnessing students starting from scratch and seeing them progress in skill and in their level of passion," she said.

It is rewarding when students try hard and succeed, Moran said, and it is fun to be around their enthusiasm. She also said she appreciates being challenged by her students and likes discussing different perspectives and angles on possible stories.

Moran brings extensive journalism experience to the classroom. She has been working in the field for nearly 20 years.

She reported for the Center for Investigative Reporting, San Jose Business Journal, San Francisco Chronicle and, as a free-lance reporter, The Chicago Tribune, and Internet World Inc. and Wired magazines.

She held positions with Reuters as a correspondent in Tokyo, an editor and reporter in New York City and a technology correspondent in Palo Alto, Calif. Before coming to Boulder, she was a senior editor for Business 2.0 in San Francisco. Moran was a Ted Scripps Fellow at the School's Center of Environmental Journalism prior to teaching.

She earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1981 and a master's degree in Asian studies in 1986 from the University of California at Berkeley. She was an East Asian Fellowship recipient at Columbia University and, in 1989, graduated with a master's degree in journalism. Susan.Moran@Colorado.edu

– Leah Franklin

Vicky Sama

Vicky Sama
It's more of the same for veteran broadcast professional and instructor Vicky Sama ('02 MA), and for all concerned, that's a good thing.

"Teaching is my passion, and I'm glad that the J-School is giving me the opportunity to do more of what I truly enjoy," Sama said.

Sama will begin an 18-month appointment as a full-time instructor in January.

First appointed as an adjunct instructor at the School in 1998, Sama continued teaching as a master's student and had remained to teach as an adjunct.

Before Sama began teaching at the School, she worked for Cable News Network for 15 years. She said her roles there included senior producer for CNN International and writer and copy editor for Headline News. She also started CNN's Spanish-language newscast, then called "Telemundo-CNN." As the network's field producer, she said she traveled Latin America to cover guerrilla wars, cocaine cartels and violent presidential elections.

At the School, Sama has taught several courses, including News Team, TV Reporting, TV & Radio News Writing, Media Ethics and Critical Thinking and Writing.

She supervised CU students in 1999 as they reported on the shootings at Columbine High School near Littleton. In the following days, several of her students were hired to work on site for CNN. Later that year, Sama was named Teacher of the Year by the CU Journalism Board. She's said she's eager to teach more.

"During the past six years as an adjunct instructor, I have, on occasion, taught three classes in one semester," she said. "I feel prepared to take on the role of a full-time instructor."

Last summer, Sama was part of the Radio In the American Sector journalist exchange program in Germany.

She is an avid and competitive mountain and road cyclist, seen riding the halls of the Armory from time to time. Victoria.Sama@Colorado.edu

– Leah Franklin