From the President’s Desk – October 2015
CoSIDA Colleagues,
Welcome to October! The time of year where our thoughts start turning to winter sports while keeping up with
our fall sports that are in full swing.
It also means that the CoSIDA
2015-16 Academic All-America® program is about to get underway! The
nomination windows for men’s and women’s soccer are set to open on Tuesday, October 6, followed by football and women’s volleyball on Tuesday, October 13.
Each nomination period lasts one week with district voting closing on October 27 (m/w soccer) and November 3 (football/women’s volleyball).
A full schedule of nomination, voting and release deadlines is available
HERE on CoSIDA.com. Also available is a outline of the program, answering frequently asked questions about the AAA process and the new logos to be used this season. Please feel free to reach out to the CoSIDA staff, a board member or an Academic All-America® Committee member if you still have questions.
A key component to a smooth Academic All-America® nomination process is ensuring that your
CoSIDA membership dues have been paid for the 2015-16 year. The opportunity to renew membership without a late fee closed on September 14. Thank you to the 2,800 members who have signed up for this year!
For those who still need to update their membership dues, you can still sign up, but will be assessed a late fee of $30.00. Details here on purchasing a
MEMBERSHIP. If you are a first-time member or switched jobs to a new organization after Sept. 14, you won't be accessed the late fee.
New Dues Structure Will Be Implemented in July 2016
Speaking of membership dues, the CoSIDA Board of Directors recently approved a
new dues structure for 2016-17 that will include a small increase in dues and the addition of group membership options. CoSIDA continues to have the most affordable dues in the athletics industry while working to provide a variety of initiatives to benefit our members. The three-tiered group approach allows schools of all sizes to choose a price point that matches their school’s departmental structure. Price breaks for more members exist for those who fall somewhere in between the group options, and two of the group options include two free job postings. The ability remains to buy an individual active membership for schools with smaller staffs.
We want to put this information in front of you now as you begin to work on your budgets for the 2016-17 school year.
• Individual active membership - Will increase to $140, a $25 bump, with members extended all Academic All-America® nomination and voting rights. In the event a member changes jobs, the individual active membership is retained by the individual.
Three new group membership options will be available:
• Group of 3 ($420) – Three active memberships for $140 each with one or two additional membership available for $100 each
• Group of 6 ($840) – Six active memberships for $140 each with three additional memberships available for $100 each; Two free job postings
• Group of 10 ($1,400) – 10 active memberships for $140 each with additional active memberships available for $100 each; Two free job postings
Benefits for all groups – Members are extended all Academic All-America® nominating and voting rights; group membership can include graduate assistants, interns and undergraduate assistants; membership is retained by the school or conference if a member leaves
• Associate membership – Will increase to $195. Associate members will not have Academic All-America® voting rights
• Undergraduate student membership – Will increase to $50. Student members will receive a $50 convention registration discount,
but moving forward in July 2016 and beyond, will not have Academic All-America® voting rights. This membership option is only available to undergraduate students.
Graduate assistants and interns will require active membership in the future – beginning in July 2016 - and will retain the right to nominate and vote for Academic All-America®. Undergraduate student members who nominate and vote on Academic All-America ballots MUST be full dues-paying members at the individual rate of $140.
If you have any questions regarding the new membership dues structure for 2016-17, please contact Director of Membership Engagement Laurie Bollig (
lauriebollig@cosida.com).
Nominations Open For Numerous Awards
Another CoSIDA benefit is the opportunity to nominate former student-athletes for the Academic All-America® Hall of Fame and current student-athletes for the Haier Achievement Award.
• Academic All-America® Hall of Fame: The nomination period of the Class of 2016 nominations ends on November 6, 2015. If you have a nominee - any former Academic All-American is eligible - or a “veteran” student-athlete with a strong academic background from before the AAA program began, please submit their information for consideration. If you have a nominee in the system already, please update the nomination information. Nominees remain on the ballot for three years before having to be re-submitted. Find more information here:
AAA Hall of Fame.
• Haier Achievement Award: The Haier Achievement Award was introduced in 2014 to recognize student-athletes from colleges and universities for achievements beyond sport. The scholarship and awards program will honor eight student-athletes throughout the year for their off-field accomplishments such as community service, academic excellence, overcoming adversity or any of a myriad of qualities.
Nominations close on December 31, 2015 - however selections begin in mid-October and run through February 2016. The nomination form is simple and takes no more than five minutes to complete. Please consider nominating multiple athletes for this award. Once nominated, the athletes remain under consideration throughout the year; student-athletes do not have to be in-season to be nominated! Find all the information you need at
www.HaierAchievement.com.
And one last update: we are working on the launch of our new online community, CoSIDA Connects, and the first edition of CoSIDA 360, our new quarterly membership magazine. The online community will have a soft launch by the end of the calendar year while the member-focused publication is set to hit your mailbox the first week of February 2016.
As always please reach out to me (
jwillson@themw.com) or any member of the CoSIDA Board of Directors or staff if you have any thoughts or questions about CoSIDA.
Have a great Fall!
Judy Willson
2015-16 CoSIDA President
Associate Director of Communications, Mountain West Conference