Retreat Guidebook Winter 2019

WINTER 2007

• The fourteenth NSO Team is selected.

• Student Managing Director roles
reprised from 2002-2003.

• I-Reps and I-Team Conferences are
combined to better facilitate training
and foster unity and parity between the
two organizations.

• The first two-day orientation for
summer semester is held (minus high
school freshmen).

• The first morning secretary is hired for
NSO.

• Brother Jones moved under Clark
Gilbert, Managing Director of Student
Activities and Events area, a new
administrative position created in the
Student Services and Activities division.

• NSO is renamed Student Spirit Events.

• Pre-Campus Orientation and New
Student Guide are moved to Admissions,
Grad Fair to Alumni Relations, Junior
Days to Career and Academic Advising,

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and Spirit Week to Student Spirit Events.
Grad Night and Orientation remain with
Student Spirit Events.

SUMMER 2007

• The fifteenth Student Spirit Events
Team is selected.

• New Student Orientation has its name
changed to “Get Connected.”

• Traditions Trek is added to Get
Connected per Clark Gilbert. He
participated in the Traditions Trek at
Spirit Conference the semester prior
and asked that it be included in Get
Connected.

• I-Reps teach at campus tours and
I-Team Leaders teach at Traditions Treks.

• Devotional is added to Student Spirit
Events’ responsibilities. Devotional
Council created to help promote and
encourage student participation in
devotionals as well as provide volunteer
devotional ushering.

• The 7th float is built for the University.

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• The first custom I-Night wristbands are
printed and new I-Night staff buttons
created.

• I-Night staffing is manned by non-Get
Connected volunteers for the first time.
I-Team Leaders no longer required to
help during I-Night.

Fall 2007

• The sixteenth Student Spirit Events
Team is selected.

• The first Spirit Week sponsored by
Student Spirit Events is held. Events
included torch bearer nominations, torch
lighting, fireworks, Spirit Cup challenge,
Spirit Week luncheon, community service
project & lunch, essay contest, and spirit
rally.

• I-Team/I-Rep recruitment is completed
after only 3 interviews.

WINTER 2008

• The seventeenth Student Spirit Events
Team is selected.

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• Students and Brother Jones are asked
to be on the Devotional Council.

• The first New Student Talent Show is
held.

• The “Gather for Devotional” campaign
is approved.

• The second Spirit Week is held. It
included a snow-shoe spirit rally.

• Flame-shaped trophies added to the
Spirit Week Torchbearer process.

• Ryan Degraw is added to Student
Support staff.

• Judy Kay Drake is added to Student
Support staff (part-time).

• Clark Gilbert leaves BYU-Idaho to head
up the Deseret News Corporation.

• Brother Jones moved under Derek Fay,
the new Managing Director over Student
Activities and Student Spirit Events.

SPRING 2008

• The eighteenth Student Spirit Events
Team is selected.

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• Student Spirit Events creates two areas
within the department: 1) Get Connected
Area; and 2) University Events Area.
Student Area Directors are selected for
each grouping.

• The Get Connected website is created.

• The first Freshmen Academy Get
Connected is held.

• The “Arise & Shine Forth” video is
created by Jared Smart.

• Brother Degraw is added to the
Devotional Council (full-time
administrative council).

• Program managers are added to

Student Spirit Events.

• I-Night expands to the Library Quad.

• A new website is created for I-Night.

• Student Support gets new uniforms!
I-Night switches from T-shirts to polos
and board members switch from red to
green polos. Directors, Coordinators,
Program Managers and Staff now wear
the same polo.

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• A Communications Director is added
to Student Spirit Events Team.

• The third Spirit Week held.

• President attends Spirit Week luncheon
and says we are on the right track.

• The first Spirit Week Rodeo is held.

• The Graduation website is added to
the list of responsibilities for Student
Spirit Events.

• Get Connected participation is
changed to “expected.” Student
attendance increases to over 2,000 new
students.

• The number of Get Connected

volunteers hits an all-time high.

• Because of the large number of
volunteers, two Spirit Conferences are
held back-to-back at Sky Mountain
Lodge.

• The Jacobsons, owners of the Sky
Mountain Lodge and Quickwater
facilities, speak at and participate in both
Spirit Conferences.

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• Brother Jones presents at this Spirit
Conference and talks about the quiet
peace that came to him when watching
the “His Hands” video. He explains that
the feeling was similar to that which
he feels in the temple. This leads to a
conversation with the Jacobson’s about
their barn – its construction gave them
a similar feeling, where the spirit was
present.

• New Get Connected cards (similar to
I-Cards) are printed for Get Connected
Check-ins to be scanned. This
experiment fails miserably, but we
learned a lot from it.

• New I-Team housing boundary

software is created by IT for Student
Spirit Events use.

• The New Student Talent Show
showcased amazing talent and
is permanently added to the Get
Connected schedule.

• Brother Jones is invited to participate
on the Events Management Task
Force. The Task Force proposes a new

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scheduling structure and additional
responsibilities for the Events
Management organization.

FALL 2008

• The nineteenth Student Spirit Events
Team is selected.

• Boards are renamed “councils” to
correspond with Elder Ballard’s General
Conference address, “Counseling With
Our Councils.”

• Organization Charts are created for
Spirit Events Directors.

• The role of the Area Director is revised.

• Director’s Council is created.

• A Job Description template is created.

• A Planning Guide template is created.

• Director interviews are now modeled
after board interviews. The Spirit is now
more involved in the selection process.

• The first board interviews with newly
selected Directors are held prior to the
completion of Get Connected.

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• The inventory system and equipment
check-out process are created.

• Devotional Council launches the
I-Learn site to promote Devotional
Discussion Boards as a test pilot for Vice
President Henry J. Eyring.

• Door-to-door Devotional invitations are
initiated.

• Devotional ushering is revised to
zones.

• Ushers assist with Mothers Weekend by
conducting some sessions and ushering
at the Women of Excellence Fireside.

• Mothers Weekend is transferred from

Activities to Student Spirit Events per our
request. The name changed to Parents
Weekend.

• I-Night expands to the Romney and
Snow Buildings due to renovations at the
MC.

• The first half-day I-Night Volunteer
Training is held.

• Director and staff positions are revised

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at close of the semester: Staff absorbs
the Communications Council; the Get
Connected Events Area Director position
is eliminated; I-Reps, I-Night, and
I-Team volunteers now make up the Get
Connected Area; Showcase is transferred
to University Events.

• Individual budgets are established for
each Student Spirit Events Council.
Area Directors and Directors are now
responsible for budgeting.

• The proposal for the Spirit Week
Celebration is approved by President’s
Council. A yearly production is
scheduled to be held in the new BYU-
Idaho Center auditorium.

WINTER 2009

• The twentieth Student Spirit Events
Team is selected.

• The Date for Singled-Out Dating Game
for I-Night takes place. Students went on
dinner dates in campus elevators with a
menu, waitress, violinist, and more.

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• I-Reps and I-Team leaders begin cell
phone contacting. This helped bridge
the gap between I-Teams and I-Reps.

• The first ever Spirit Week Showcase
takes place.

• The Showcase Director and council are
eliminated and all other councils are
restructured.

• President’s Council discontinues the
Exemplary Womanhood Award, which
was a part of Mother’s Weekend, and
suggests that Student Support move in a
new direction.

• Newell Dayley and Jack Weyland are
approved as service missionaries to assist
with the newly approved Spirit Week
Celebration in the BYU-Idaho Center.

• President & Sister Clark report that
they love Student Spirit Events and
greatly appreciate the work being done
here.

• President Clark asks for a single-format
proposal for Get Connected in which the
program starts and ends on the same
days each semester (Friday/Saturday

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format).

• Brother Jones is added to the
auditorium and ushering task forces.
With these new responsibilities, he is to
evaluate which events should take place
in the BYU-Idaho Center auditorium,
what policies should be created for this
space, and how students can assist with
events.

SPRING 2009

• The twenty-first Student Spirit Events
Team is selected.

• Showcase is delegated to the I-Team
Council, which creates a new manager
position.

• Student Support works to strengthen
the Devotional Outreach Council and
establish building coordinators, as
devotional is broadcast to multiple
buildings on campus.

• 95 students apply to be devotional
ushers.

• Brother Jones is asked to be the Flags,

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Banners and Campus Promotions
committee chairman. With this
responsibility, he will explore light-
pole flags, indoor banners, and large
building signs for major institutional
events such as graduation, Spirit Week,
Get Connected, Parents Weekend, and
more.

• The Parents Weekend Advisory Council
is created. Sister Sue Clark, wife of
President Kim. B. Clark accepts invitation
to be a member of this council.

• New templates are created for the Get
Connected guides.

• After meeting with Vice President
Garth Hall, Get Connected activities
are revised to align with the Disciple
Leader model (Personal Honor, Spirit of
Ricks, Disciple Preparation, Leadership
Development, and Inspired Learning &
Teaching).

• New events are added to Get
Connected lineup including Meet Your
I-Team, Getting Involved, and Get
Connected Expeditions where students

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participate in outdoor activities such as
hiking R-Mountain, Cress Creek, Mesa
Falls, etc.

• Academic Connections is changed to 7
breakout college meetings (included
General Advising/University Studies).

• The largest-ever I-Night to date is held
with 3,116 people in attendance. The
event also expanded to the Kirkham
Auditorium for the first time with the
addition of the Kirby Heyborne Comedy
Show and an acoustic concert.

• The largest-ever student volunteer
pool is recruited for Fall Get Connected
with 180 I-Team Leaders, 120 I-Reps, and
100+ I-Night staff.

• Get Connected attendance drops

significantly with the deletion of the
GS 111 class if students did not attend;
however, 1,800+ new students still
participated.

• 1,000+ students participate in the first-
ever Get Connected Expeditions on
Saturday after classes begin.

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• BYU-Hawaii orientation personnel are
asked by BYU-Hawaii President, Steven
Wheelwright, to observe our Get
Connected programs at BYU-Idaho.
They expressed how awestruck they
were about the student leaders and the
program and how they will take back
what they learned to BYU-Hawaii.
• Judy Kay Drake accepts a full-time
position with Financial Aid and leaves
Student Support.

FALL 2009

• The twenty-second Student Spirit
Events Team is selected.
• The first council interviews are held
right after Spirit Conference.
• The first Spirit Conference Mentor
interviews are held prior to Appreciation
Dinner.

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WINTER 2010

• The Student Spirit Events department
is dissolved. Brother Jones is asked to
lead a new department called “Get
Prepared,” which is geared to preparing
admitted students for their BYU-Idaho
experience. Get Connected stays with
the department, Grad Night goes
to Alumni, float goes to Activities,
Devotional Council (ushering) goes to
Event Services, Spirit Week to Activities,
and Parents Weekend to University
Relations (the last two programs were
permanently canceled by their respective
departments a few months later).

• The twenty-third Get Prepared Team is
selected.

• The first Winter Get Connected
Expeditions is held.

• The first comprehensive council (all
councils and programs) retreat is held.

• The first Disciple Leader Trainings
begin and are held on Tuesdays after
Devotional.

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• Brother Jones now reports to Kip
Harris, the Managing Director over
Enrollment Services.

• The I-Night Council is dissolved and
their duties are combined with the I-Reps
Council.

SPRING 2010

• The twenty-fourth Get Prepared Team
is selected.

• BYU-Hawaii comes back to BYU-Idaho
to observe Spirit Conference. They
report they have already modeled
their orientation after our program by
including H-Reps and H-Team Leaders.

• Meet the Faculty/Lunch session is
added to the Get Connected schedule.

• The last New Student/Parent Luau is
held when it is discontinued at President
Clark’s request.

• A texting program is added to the
department to communicate with
volunteers.

• I-Prepare Council (a pre-cursor to the

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Student Ambassadors program) is
launched to prepare incoming students
and their parents for their college
experience.

• Information Desks, Campus Operators,
and Lost & Found are added to the
department. They are later renamed
“Ask BYUI,” (a pre-cursor to the BYU-
Idaho Support Center).

• Lead Student and Student Coordinator
positions are created.

• The New Student Guide is transferred
back to Get Prepared.

• When Kevin Miyasaki is appointed as
Vice President of Student Services and
Activities, Kip Harris is moved to Dean
of Students. Brother Jones moved under
Rob Garrett.

• The Get Prepared initiative and
I-Prepare Council are disbanded.

• Get Prepared faces extreme adversity
as the future of our programs and
Brother Jones’ continued employment
are unknown. President Kim B. Clark

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is seeking potential elimination of the
entire department.

• Bro. Jones starts sharing Tender
Mercies from the department with
Vice President Miyasaki, who in turn
shared them with President Kim B.
Clark. Overtime this ends up changing
perceptions about the department.

FALL 2010

• The Get Prepared department is
renamed Student Support and is moved
to the Dean of Students Area. Brother
Jones once again moved under Kip
Harris.

• The twenty-fifth Student Support Team
is selected.

• Get Connected Councils are
restructured with the formation of
the Events Council and Recruitment
Council. Get Connected Recruitment
is completed early, so Mentor Groups
assembled two months prior to Spirit
Conference. Groups get together and
bond prior to Spirit Conference.

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• The campus tours volunteer
organization called Student
Ambassadors is transferred from
Admissions to Student Support.
Ambassadors and the I-Prepare Council
concepts are merged and the Get
Prepared initiative is restarted.

• Visit Days are added to programming
as Ambassadors host prospective and
admitted students, along with their
parents, on campus.

• Student Associations and Student
Representative Council (SRC) are moved
under Student Support. The Student
Associations student director position is
created.

• The University’s Get Involved website is
transferred to Student Support.

• The first-ever department Christmas
Social is held.

WINTER 2011

• The twenty-sixth Student Support
Team is selected.

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• An All-Council Retreat is held with Get
Connected, Recruitment Council,
Student Ambassadors, SRC, and Student
Associations.

• Student Support’s first sponsorship of
Cultural Night with the Student
Associations takes place.

• Student Support Coordination Council
is created for the Office Staff and
Directors.

• The Admitted Student Checklist is
created.

• The first SRC Elections under Student
Support are held.

• The New Student Guide receives its
first major overhaul since it was created
in 2002.

• The Ask BYUI website is in the process
of being created.

SPRING 2011

• The twenty-seventh Student Support
Team is selected.

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• The Parents Website is in the process
of being created.

• Student Support holds a 10+1 Year
Reunion for past directors and office
staff.

FALL 2011

• The twenty-eighth Student Support
Team is selected.

• Kim Clinger is hired as the full-time
First Year Experience Coordinator over
Get Connected, Recruitment, and
Student Ambassadors. Kim serves as a
student director on the first NSO Team.

• Joanna Relken is hired as the full-time
Student Support Coordinator over
the Ask BYUI area, SRC, and Student
Associations.

• Brother Solorzano is hired as a part-
time Student Support Staff member.

• Student Ambassadors starts keeping
weekly reports on how they are helping
students.

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• With the incoming Student Body
Officers, a new SRC structure is
developed and implemented.

• Student Ambassadors start a weekly
reporting process which captures the
progress that they are making with
incoming students.

• Student concerns transfer from SRC to
Ask BYUI.

• All future Get Connected events
changed to a two-day model rather than
three.

• The practice of sharing tender mercies
with the administration led to the
following report from Kevin Miyasaki,
the Student Services and Activities
Vice President. He indicated he has
being sharing Student Support’s tender
mercies with President Kim B. Clark
who in turn told Vice President Miyasaki
that he has being sharing them with the
Board of Education, including President
Thomas S. Monson. Several examples
from our tender mercies and business
practices were also highlighted in

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President Clark’s Alumni broadcast this
semester.

• Pathway and Online new students are
transferred from the Build program to
Student Ambassadors at the request of
Online Learning.

• Plans are made for Ask BYUI to oversee
Live Chats as part of the website. Each
web page in the University site will
feature Live Chat prompts.

• Approval is given to proceed with a
Student Success Conference starting in
spring 2012.

• “I Heard the Bells of Christmas Day”
video is created, the first of several
videos by the department telling the
story behind the carol.

WINTER 2012

• The twenty-ninth Student Support
Team is selected.

• Recruitment Council changes their
name to “Involvement Council” and
receives yellow polos.

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• Two student coordinator positions are
created for Student Associations to work
with the Student Associations Director
and help manage the various Student
Associations.

• The Area Director role is revised to
redirect focus from programs to helping
directors lift and build those who serve
on their councils and volunteer in their
programs.

• Office staff positions are modified.
Student Program Assistant positions
are created and they report to full-
time Coordinators. The Student Office
Assistant positions remain and report to
Brother Jones.

• The SharePoint Office Staff position is
created. Files and processes begin
moving to SharePoint.

• The Communications area expands
and begins working on video production.

• Student Ambassador program begins
serving Online and Pathway students.

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• Magnetic Name Tags are created for all
council members.

SPRING 2012

• The thirtieth Student Support Team is
selected.

• Brother Solorzano is promoted from
part-time staff to full-time coordinator.

• Student Ambassadors break a record
by having 15 Visit Days in one day.

• Student Ambassadors begin using
SharePoint to track new student and Visit
Day students.

• Ask BYUI implements the use of the
Team Dynamix ticketing system for all
phone calls, emails, and live chat.

• Ask BYUI starts a new shift work
schedule with three shifts with a student
coordinator supervising each shift.

• The first hearing impaired student is
placed as the President of the
American Sign Language (ASL) Student
Association.

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• Associations extend their reach to
involve students from diverse
backgrounds, including RM’s.

• SRC introduces and implements the
“Bright Ideas” concept where students
can submit their bright ideas for
consideration.

• Student Leadership Forum sets a
record for participation with 220 students
in attendance.

FALL 2012

• The thirty-first Student Support Team is
selected.

• Brother Solorzano is made the advisor
over the Involvement Council.

• The Involvement Council starts using
SharePoint for the volunteer placement
process.

• The Student Ambassador Council is
split into two councils: the Campus
Ambassador Council and the Student
Ambassador Council.

• The SRC President and Vice President

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now run and get elected together as a
team rather than the top 3 candidates
with the most votes forming a
Presidency. This reduces SRC officers
by one and funds the additional
Ambassador scholarship.

• Get Connected for fall 2012 hosts 2,500
new students and breaks the record
for I-Night with 4,400 students in
attendance.

• Student Support moves offices from
the North Rigby wing to the South Rigby
wing after Thanksgiving, into its newly
remodeled space that included two
computer rooms, two conference rooms,
two storage rooms, and one meeting/
interview room. The off-campus storage
unit is no longer needed and supplies
are moved into Rigby 248.

• Ask BYUI changes the term of service
for lead students from two semesters to
one semester.

• The Veterans Association collaborates

with ROTC to hold a “Remembering
9/11” event with an American flag

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remembrance field. More than 500
flags were purchased and placed at the
Amphitheater and a brief ceremony
was held. The event was approved by
President Clark to be an annual event on
campus.

• A new Student Association presidency
structure is introduced to include a
President and two Vice Presidents with
specific roles: communications and
programming.

• With the SRC president overseeing
Student Voice, a new program where
students complete surveys to provide
feedback to the administration, the SRC
structure changes to help communicate
the feedback of students to President’s
Council and Administration. Research
and Bright Ideas are moved under the
Vice President.

• SRC indexes the University Report Card
for the first time on behalf of the
Improving the Quality of Student
Services Council and presents the results
in SharePoint.

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• The “O Holy Night” video is created
for the Christmas Social with Wyatt
McGregor, the Student Associations
Director, singing the solo.

WINTER 2013

• The thirty-second Student Support
Team is selected.

• The Pathway Ambassador program is
proposed. We began work to pilot 16
cohorts in California, Mexico, and Peru.

• The Learning Model session during
Get Connected is moved to the Living
and Learning at BYU-Idaho session. It
features break out discussions about
the learning model, student living, and
personal honor.

• Student Ambassadors Visit Day hosted
29 student tour groups in one Visit Day.

• The New Student Mailer is created to
replace the New Student Guide.

• The New Student Checklist is updated

to a fully online version with video
segments.

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• Involvement Council revamps the
interview process.

• Ask BYUI statistics and Team Dynamix
usage is presented in Managing
Directors, Presidents Council, and
University Council. President Clark
approves and encourages other service
areas to implement the use of Team
Dynamix.

• Ask BYUI begins area visits with other
student services areas on campus
to increase communication and
collaboration. They also start distributing
Ask BYUI magnets and highlighters.

• Student Associations participate in the
“World Fair” at The Crossroads by
submitting traditional recipes and
performing during lunch time throughout
the week to increase awareness of
culture and Student Associations.

• The focus of Cultural Night shifts to a
Cultural Celebration where Associations
displays more traditional and spiritual
aspects of their culture with students.

• SRC is assigned to coordinate and

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promote Student Q&A’s with President
Clark for campus, online, and pathway
students.

• SRC’s Student Voice is assigned the
Exit Survey completed by graduates of
BYU-Idaho to index for specific service
areas to receive and analyze feedback
from students.

• Flow charts are created and office
trainings with certification processes
begin.

• Sister Relken leaves Student Support
to be a first-time mom.

SPRING 2013

• The thirty-third Student Support Team
is selected.

• Nathan Watson is hired to replace
Sister Relken as a full-time Student
Support Coordinator.

• The “Coach Yost/Goals” and “Tender

Mercies” videos are created

• Handbooks for Involvement Reps are

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created.

• Student Support is selected to have a
student participate in President’s
Advisory Council (donors group) visit for
the first time.

FALL 2013

• The thirty-fourth Student Support Team
is selected.

• President’s Council assists with Move-in
Day by staffing key services on campus
and at housing (on and off-campus).
This has been a great addition to Get
Connected.

• The Communications Council is
created.

• 500 flags are setup by Student Support
and a flag/banner display is set up for
Constitution Day on September 17. A
smaller number of flags are set up on
other holidays that fall on a school day.

• Feedback is launched via Ask BYUI.
The Communications area helps get the
Feedback button on all BYUI web pages.

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Campus tours are added back to Get
Connected.

• The Get Connected BBQ lunch is
changed to a sandwich sack lunch so
that students can participate in the tour.

• The Visit Day opening session is
modified to include Elder Bednar’s video,
“In the Midst of a Miracle.”

• The “Silent Night” video is created for
the Christmas Social.

• Student Support sponsored the first-
ever President’s Webcast to new
students and parents. The Webcast
included a pre-reception and live
and online audience. The concept of
Stewardship areas is introduced.

• An elections survey is given approval to
go out to all students. The results
overwhelmingly supported changing
from elected student body officers to an
interview process. The title of the SRC
President is changed to “SRC Director.”
The SRC Vice President position is
eliminated and replaced by coordinator
positions. The term of service is reduced

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from two semesters to one, making the
service time consistent with all other
major student organizations on campus.

WINTER 2014

• The thirty-fifth Student Support Team is
selected.

• Brother Solorzano is promoted to an
administrative position after a long wait!

• Move-in Day assistance is expanded
beyond President’s Council to include
other full-time employees.

• Student Voice and Involvement starts
blitzing (going door-to-door) together
to help students create their BYUI
experience and minister one by one to
students.

• The first SRC Director is selected.

• Campus Tours are changed to Saturday
morning and a breakfast is added to Get
Connected.

• The Living and Learning session is
modified to include President Clark’s
Stewardship address.

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SPRING 2014

• The thirty-Sixth Student Support Team
is selected.

• Ask BYUI merges with the Pathway
Online Support Center to create a new
department called BYU-Idaho Support
Center (BSC). Ryan Degraw stays with
The BSC.

• Student Support is given the charge to
take Student Support programs to online
students and be the organization that
teaches principles of stewardship and
discipleship to online students.

• The Online Ambassadors Council is
created.

• The Online Student Support Council is
created.

• Online Get Connected pilot is initiated.

• Move-in Day Guides, a new volunteer

arm, is launched for Move-in Day and
overseen by Brother Jones and the Area
Director.

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• Involvement Council is moved under
Brother Watson and Involvement Reps
are divided into three distinct groups:
Interview Reps, Placement Reps, and
Finding Reps.

• I-Night separates from Get Connected
and is moved under Communications
Council.

• Communications Council launches a
new volunteer arm, Communication
Reps, to assist with marketing and social
media.

• Marketing and Social Media staff
positions are hired in Communications.

• Brandie Miguel is transferred from the
now-defunct Online Services department
to Student Support.

• Student Support is selected to have a
student participate in President’s
Advisory Council visit for the second
time.

• After years of proposing a leadership
conference, similar to Spirit Conference,
Brother Jones receives approval from
Kip Harris to sponsor a Disciple-Leader

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Conference and organizing council to
take place before being moved under
Derek Fay.

• Student Support is realigned again
with Student Activities.

FALL 2014

• The thirty-seventh Student Support
Team is selected.

• Francisco Solorzano and the
communications arm of Student Support
are moved out of the department to
create a Student Services and Activities
communications arm (later renamed
Student Life Communications or SLC).

• Online Student Support council is
changed to Online Student Commons.

• The Online Get Connected Council is
put on hold.

• State flags, New Founding Fathers

banners, and the Constitution and
Declaration of Independence banners
are added to the Constitution Day
display.

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• The first Disciple-Leader Conference
held with 276 students in attendance.

• Guest presenters besides Student Life
personnel are invited to participate in
weekly Disciple-Leader Trainings (DLT).
Fenton Broadhead, the Academic
Vice President, and Henry Eyring,
Advancement Vice President, both
participate this semester.

• The New Student Checklist is approved
to become an authenticated self-help
tool for new students. Student Support
begins meeting with departments to
construct the new checklist.

• Online Student Commons and student
staff give a powerful presentation
introducing a panel of online students to
the Executive Committee regarding the
online student experience.

• I-Night is placed back under the Get
Connected Council.

• BYU-Hawaii contacts us about student
government as they are seeking to follow
our model used for SRC.

• On October 1st, Brother Jones

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celebrates his 15th Anniversary of
employment at BYU-Idaho and the
creation of the Student Support
department.

WINTER 2015

• The thirty-eighth Student Support
Team is selected.

• The second Disciple-Leader
Conference is held with 485 students in
attendance. Brother Baron and President
Clark present at the Conference.

• After his presentation, President Clark
seeks out Brother Jones and Sister
Miguel to compliment them on how
great the Disciple-Leader Conference is.

• A new full-time employee is hired to
oversee Get Connected. Sister Clinger’s
job is divided and moves to focus solely
on the Student Ambassador program.

• President Miyasaki asks that we switch
to a paid model rather than volunteer
model for the outreach portion of the

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Ambassador program. The paid program
is set to begin in the spring.

• Visit Day Tours remains a volunteer
Ambassador program.

• At devotional, Elder Nelson announces
a new President for BYU-Idaho. Clark
Gilbert, Brother Jones’ former supervisor,
will begin presiding over the University in
the spring.

• Student Associations doubles
attendance for the Associations Fireside
with 225 people in attendance.

• Student Associations doubles
attendance at the World Cup event with
300 people present.

• Student Associations sets a new
attendance record for the Kick-Off event
with 830 people present.

• SRC sets a new attendance record for
the Student Q&A with 161 people
present.

• SRC proposes and assembles a
scrapbook for President & Sister Clark.

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• Online Student Commons is asked to
discontinue the Online Student
Graduation Reception on campus.

SPRING 2015

• The thirty-ninth Student Support Team
is selected.

• Sister Melodi Johnson is hired as a new
full-time Coordinator to oversee Get
Connected.

• The first paid Student Ambassadors
staff are hired to oversee outreach to
newly admitted students (campus and
online).

• The Visit Day Ambassadors Council is
created. Plans for tour certification are
proposed and approved along with a
Visit Day handbook.

• The revised New Student Checklist is
approved as an official IT project.

• Student Support is approved to have a

Customer Relations Management (CRM)
system replace SharePoint for our office
management software. Ray Babcock

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from Church IT works on developing
Student Support’s CRM.

• Student Support is asked to plant
flowers at the temple and on campus.
After the work was finished students
were told they were the best group
that grounds had ever worked with and
were asked to assist in the future. One
grounds supervisor said, “Your group
completely changed my attitude about
the students here!”

• The third Disciple-Leader Conference
held with 470 students in attendance.
The workshops were presented by
faculty and administration, which
replaced the Spirit Activity, and were
highly rated by students.

• Disciple-Leader Council adds a
volunteer arm called “Logistics Staff” to
the organization and had 32 mentors.

• Online Student commons deliver
record-breaking communications to
online students this semester. The
number of outbound messages doubled
and the number of outbound messages

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to online students that did not apply to
them was reduced by half.

• First online student volunteers with
Student Support. This leads to initiative
to develop online involvement and
participation opportunities.

• The last Online Student Commons
Council serves this semester. These
responsibilities move to paid staff.

• SRC sets a new attendance record for
the Student Q&A with President Gilbert
with 220 in attendance.

• Fall Get Connected is approved to
change the Academic Connections
meeting which transitions away from
Academic Advising to the college deans.

FALL 2015

• The fortieth Student Support Team is
selected.

• The first new student class photo is

taken at the BYUI stadium during Get
Connected.

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• Brother Jones is asked to review the
old Heber J. Grant program and come
up with a plan to bless at-risk students
as well as all students, both campus
and online. The Peer Mentors and Peer
Instruction programs are proposed and
presented to President Miyasaki and
President Gilbert.

• The First-Year Mentor and Heber J.
Grant Mentor developmental councils
are approved.

• The Church approves the image of
Christ for use in the Disciple-Leader
Conference marketing materials after a
six month request.

• Largest Disciple-Leader Conference
held with 868 attendees.

• Student Associations Council and the
Student Representative Council are
moved out of Student Support. The
Associations are moved to Activities
and SRC is moved back to the Dean of
Students. This allows Student Support to
focus on President Gilbert’s new

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initiatives: Peer Mentoring and a college
success course for new students.

• Disciple-Leader Conference
responsibilities are transferred to Melodi
Johnson

• Brandie Miguel is assigned to oversee
Online Get Connected and Online Peer
Mentoring.

WINTER 2016

• The forty-first Student Support Team is
selected.

• The fifth Disciple-Leader Conference is
held with 824 in attendance. Additional
time is freed up to allow participants to
attend one more breakout presentation
session than previous conferences.

• The Mentor Connections concept is
approved for Heber J. Grant and First-
Year Peer Mentors and is set to launch in
Fall 2016.

• A new authenticated version of the

New Student Checklist launches in
March for the fall 2016 starting class.

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• A Peer Instruction student team is
hired to start working on a first-year
course.

• BYUI launches pilot LinkedIn and
Facebook groups for online students
based on geographic location and online
major.

SPRING 2016

• The forty-second Student Support
Team is selected.

• Mentor Connections begins Peer
Mentor recruitment for First-Year
Mentors and Heber J. Grant.

• Heber J. Grant mentees are invited to
participate in the program.

• The Personal Development Council
(pre-cursor to Student Workshops &
Skills Mentoring…LLB) is created to
explore student-led workshops.

• Peer instruction finalizes course

curriculum and President Gilbert
authorizes a pilot course to launch in the
fall.

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• The first peer instructors are
interviewed and trained.

• The proposal to pilot Online Get
Connected for new online students is
approved.

• The sixth Disciple-Leader Conference
is held with 629 in attendance.

• A new workshop called “Defending the
Family” is added to the Disciple-Leader
Conference.

• Due to the New Student Checklist, the
number of attendees participating in
Visit Day Tours increases significantly.

• Kimball Benson is hired to replace Kim
Clinger as the new coordinator over
the Mentor Connections area as she is
engaged, getting married and moving to
Utah.

• A new Involvement Night process and
structure is created to allow each
council to interview and select their own
volunteers.

• New emails and videos from President
& Sister Gilbert are created and

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distributed to new students and parents
to promote the New Student Checklist
and Get Connected.

FALL 2016

• The forty-third Student Support Team
is selected.
• The seventh Disciple-Leader
Conference is held with 727 in
attendance.
• The First-Year Mentoring program is
launched using I-Team Leaders to serve
as mentors to their new students for the
entire semester.
• The Heber J. Grant (HJG) Mentoring
program is launched for at-risk students
using an opt-in model for mentees
to participate with over 200 mentees
enrolling.
• HJG mentors begin meeting with
students weekly to set goals and monitor
progress.

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• HJG Mentoring conducts a mid-
semester social for mentors and their
mentees.

• First-Year Mentors plan and conduct
group activities.

• Two new All-Mentor Forums are held
with guest speakers Jill Evans from
Advising and Reed Stoddard from the
Counseling Center.

• Online Get Connected is held up by
Student Life Communications and does
not go live.

• Online Student Support involved in a
University level task force to investigate
the pilot of Online Student Gathering
and regional student associations (non-
cultural).

• Online Student Support gets involved
in University-level BYUI Online Student
Transitions Task Force.

• Online Student Support pilots the
Online Student Advisory Council with
positive interest and support from online
students.

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