Thanks to a partnership between CoSIDA and the NCAA, six athletics communications professionals will attend the 2017 CoSIDA Convention in Orlando.
After attending the 2016 CoSIDA Convention,
David Worlock and
Sahar Abdur-Rashid of the NCAA’s media coordination and statistics staff approached their colleagues in the Office of Inclusion and Leadership Development with the concept of using NCAA resources to fund convention attendance grants for two ethnic minorities and/or women each in Divisions I, II and III. Working with CoSIDA board members to identify individuals for the purpose of advocating for diversity within the sports information profession, six recipients from a pool of 31 applicants were selected. Each applicant had to submit an essay and have a letter of recommendation written on his or her behalf.
“Sahar and I spoke ahead of last year’s CoSIDA convention about how our staff could assist with inclusion efforts, and we’re thrilled that a year later the ideas born from that conversation have become reality for six individuals,” said Worlock, the NCAA’s director of media coordination and statistics. “We’re grateful for CoSIDA and our colleagues at the national office who were supportive of getting this grant off the ground, we are pleased with the number of quality candidates who expressed interest in this program, and we’re excited about the six people selected who have this terrific professional development opportunity.”
In addition to attending the convention, the NCAA grant allows for recipients to visit the NCAA national office and pairs them with a CoSIDA mentor for 2017-18.
“This is a very impactful opportunity and meaningful to us as an organization for six of our members to have this opportunity to attend the convention and we are thankful to the NCAA for partnering with CoSIDA in developing the concept,” CoSIDA executive director Doug Vance said. “Our grant program, along with the opportunities being offered through the NCAA partnership, are significant to CoSIDA. The leaders of our organization recognize we need to continue to address the issues of diversity and inclusion in our profession and pursue strategies that help us make this industry more appealing to everyone who has interest in pursuing a job college sports communications.”
The six NCAA/CoSIDA grant winners join 20 convention attendance grant recipients as well as two ethnic minority grant recipients – all chosen by CoSIDA as part of its convention attendance grant program. Through the newly developed Division III CoSIDA Student Program, the NCAA Division III governance staff will host six students who are interested in the athletics communications profession during the convention’s Divisional Day Monday, June 12.
Louise McCleary, the NCAA’s Director of Division III, said the selected students will participate in Division III Day, be exposed to the CoSIDA Convention, its members and the athletics communication profession. Grant recipients will attend welcome and debrief meetings and be assigned a mentor. The goal is to build the pipeline in an effort to ultimately diversify the Division III athletics communication landscape.
NCAA Inclusion CoSIDA Convention Grant Recipients
Division I
Monyae Williamson, Jacksonville
Alyssa Shannon, CSU Bakersfield
Division II
Kelly Thompson, Molloy
Nicole Watkins, Purdue Northwest
Division III
Max Nguyen, Edgewood
Rachel Vogel, SUNY Maritime
Learn more about the 2017 CoSIDA Convention