The most recent CoSIDA Column was written by Blake Timm, Sports Information Director at Pacific (Ore.) who chairs CoSIDA's College Division Management Advisory Council. The column appears in the current December 2013 issue of NACDA's
Athletics Administration Magazine.
Timm writes about the work of the CDMAC leaders and the college division members at large over the last few years and highlights the strategic partnerships and initiatives by these athletic media relations professionals from Division II, III, NAIA, two-year schools and Canadian schools.
This December issue is available in a digital format and also is mailed to NACDA members; the
online magazine link can be found HERE.
Beginning with the 2009-10 academic year and with its new partnership with NACDA at that time, the CoSIDA leadership was invited to contribute to each issue of the
Athletics Administration Magazine. In October of 2009, CoSIDA President Justin Doherty penned the first "CoSIDA Column."
Each
Athletics Administration issue is sent to over 10,000 university and athletics administrators, with CoSIDA's voice, thoughts and expertise shared with these key constituents. The magazine is published each October, November, December, February, March, April, June and August.
See the CoSIDA Corner archives HERE.
While much of the spotlight in college athletics shines on the Division I schools, some of the most impactful changes in athletics communications have come from Division I’s larger numbered brothers.
More than half of CoSIDA’s nearly 3,000-plus members represent institutions at the Division II, Division III and NAIA, two-year and Canadian levels. While many of those schools lack in the resources that their Division I counterparts have, they have been the most proactive in affecting positive change in the way sports information directors do their business.
Over the last decade, CoSIDA has placed increased emphasis on involving non-Division I schools within the leadership in our organization. Beginning with the formation of a Division II leadership
group (DII-SIDA) in the early 2000s, each of what is traditionally called the “College Division” classifications has developed its own governing body to handle division-specific issues.
Five years ago, CoSIDA brought the leaders of each of these groups together to form the College Division Management Advisory Committee (CDMAC). The role of CDMAC is to help address issues that affect all College Division communications professionals, serving as liaisons between the divisional leadership groups and the CoSIDA Board.
Additionally, CDMAC also produces College Division-specific programming for the CoSIDA Convention and identifies up-and-coming leaders for the CoSIDA Board and recommends deserving members for our organization’s annual awards program.
College Division leadership has been very active in affecting change that has benefited not only every CoSIDA member, but for all of college athletics. This is especially true of DII-SIDA, who has been the trendsetter in leadership. DII-SIDA worked with the NCAA in 2010 to develop a best practices document for athletics communications offices, setting preferred standards for staffing, equipment and professional development.
Two years ago, DII-SIDA worked with the NCAA once again to secure funding for a major expansion of CoSIDA’s hallmark Capital One Academic All-America® program. The partnership expanded the program from University Division (Division I) and College Division (non-Division I) teams to a total of four teams for each sponsored sport.
The Division III leadership has picked up Division II’s mantle, with DIII-SIDA members coming together with NCAA staff, national Student-Athlete Advisory Committee members and conference commissioners last year to form the NCAA Division III/CoSIDA Strategic Communication Working Group. The first product of that committee, the “Guide to Strategic Athletics Communication on Campus,” was produced and sent to institutional administrators in August.
The second product of that committee is one that will change the format of the CoSIDA Convention in an exciting way this June, as CoSIDA joins its fellow organizations during NACDA & Affiliates Convention week for the second consecutive year. With the help and backing of the NCAA, an entire day of programming will be geared toward Division III sports information directors. The goal of the programming is to provide targeted information and skills that will benefit Division III members and attract more Division III members to our convention, and it is hoped that the other divisional groups will follow suit in developing programming specific to their members.
Both DII-SIDA and DIII-SIDA have developed key relationships with the NCAA statistics office, offering input on changes in statistical reporting procedures. The two organizations helped to develop the NCAA’s Statistics Advisory Committee, which advises on potential statistical changes and reviews challenges to certain NCAA statistical decisions.
Canadian sports information directors have also mobilized and become more involved in the leadership process. Thanks to the work of current CoSIDA First Vice President Eric McDowell, Jack Neumann and Paul Carson, more Canadian sports information directors are getting involved with CoSIDA and attending our Convention. Two members of Canada Interuniversity Sport’s sports information directors group currently sit on CDMAC, actively participating in the work of the group.
No discussion of the work within the College Division is complete, however, without singling out the work that NAIA-SIDA has done. NAIA-SIDA has held its own one-day workshop for years, taking place
the day before the CoSIDA Convention at the campus of a nearby member school. Last summer, the meeting was in the media room at Daytona International Speedway, which sits adjacent to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. The NAIA’s style of targeted programming is what Division III hopes to mirror in its first division-specific programming day.
Where NAIA-SIDA has been most successful in recent years, however, is in getting sports information directors involved at their association’s highest level. For the last three years, the NAIA-SIDA president has sat on the NAIA’s National Administrative Council, having an equal seat with athletics directors and commissioners.
Where CoSIDA members have talked about getting “their seat at the table,” NAIA-SIDA has truly succeeded.
Additionally, CoSIDA continues to work with NAIA President Jim Carr and other NAIA leaders in further developing athletics media relations offices within member schools and educating athletics directors on the important role sports information plays in the student-athlete experience.
As our business continues to change, you can be certain that CoSIDA’s College Division leadership will be at the forefront to respond to that change, helping advocate for best interest of those who maintain the public image of our college athletics programs.