by Chaise Pfanstiel–Nick Buth. You have probably heard the name before if you’ve been around Morningside at all. Buth is presently sports information director, but he didn’t start there.
Buth was a mass communication major at Morningside, along with majors in photography and graphic design. Following graduation, he was employed in IT elsewhere for a couple years before taking a job at Morningside’s IT help desk. This required Buth to be efficient in classroom audio visual technology.
During this time, Nick was taking photos on the side as well, which allowed him to work with longtime SID Dave Rebstock. Unfortunately, Rebstock passed away unexpectedly, leaving a lot of questions on how things were done, at which point Buth was approached to help sort out some of those unknowns and get the replacement started.
From there, it became a long part-time split between IT and sports information, and eventually he moved into the university’s engagement office full time and then took over the sports information’s director position.
As the sports information director, his responsibilities are endless. The day-to-day operations Buth is responsible for include numerous behind-the-scenes responsibilities at athletic events, from statistics, video streams, and finding scoreboard operators and public address announcers. He is also responsible for Morningside’s radio contract with the local IHeartRadio account representatives and the contractor we use for play-by-play talent.
There are many different aspects to this job, leaving a lot of room for favorite and least favorite parts. Buth says the best part of his job is working with students, interns/work study students. Watching the students learn and get comfortable with new skills, figure out new ways to do things, and overall apply what they have or are learning and gain practical experiences is extremely fulfilling.
Being able to tell the stories and celebrate the successes of all our student-athletes is what keeps Buth thriving. His least favorite part about being the sports information director is the number of late nights after long days, especially during the overlap between fall and winter, and winter and spring sports.
Buth plans to stay at Morningside for the next few years to continue his responsibilities. He is hoping within the next couple years to implement a new system for how he does things and hopes to continue to pass his knowledge onto other staff and students.
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