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2017-18 CoSIDA Board of Directors
One college athletic year ends and another one begins.
Such is the never-ending cycle of work life in every communications office across the country. Introducing a new year means welcoming a new roster, a new schedule, new and eager student-athletes, perhaps new communications strategies, and renewed hope for successful seasons. We are all anxious for the fresh challenges, new opportunities and stirring moments in the months ahead.
That work cycle is also a force in play for your national organization and its body of leadership. For both our staff and everyone engaged in a volunteer role working on behalf of CoSIDA, there are also a bevy of challenges, opportunities and new concepts that await all of us in 2017-18.
And, without question, we have hope for a productive and successful year.
Your CoSIDA Board of Directors will have its first conference call in August with an ambitious meeting agenda guiding us toward the months ahead. We have carry-over projects to finalize and new initiatives to attack. And, like the evolving seasons of the teams we represent, new issues and new concepts will materialize for us to address as the year goes forward.
All of those projects and initiatives are and will be grounded within the reassuring blueprint of our newly adopted mission statement:
In the spirit of transparency, we felt it was important our membership is informed and engaged in helping fill that blank canvas in front of us. Thus, we’d like to share a brief summary of a few of the key projects and challenges and a few of the opportunities that will be the focus of attention for the 2017-18 CoSIDA Board of Directors. Beyond these specific programs or initiatives, CoSIDA’s leadership group had serious discussion in Orlando and later in Indianapolis during NCAA meetings, regarding the changing landscape of the profession and how we can help better inform and prepare our members for the future. Clearly, that’s a topic that will continue to be a regular part of board meeting discussions as we move into a new year.
THE NUMBERS – First, a few statistics that speak of our relevance in the profession. We continue to be a healthy organization as reflected in our membership total (over 3,000 members for the third consecutive year) and our convention attendance (948, our largest number since 2001).
NEW MEMBERSHIP PORTAL – We are at the doorstep in transitioning new membership software into the launch stage which we feel is critical toward our growth and potential as a national organization. The new membership portal elevates us administratively on many levels and should prove impactful in helping us better track your membership involvement and provide us with some important research data we can utilize in helping us understand the many demographic questions about CoSIDA. It should also prove to help smooth the process across the board in terms of purchasing or renewing memberships, nominating deserving candidates for honors and registering for CoSIDA events.
A NEW AWARDS SOFTWARE CONCEPT – The immediate and highest profile benefit of our new awards software that we will unveil this year is the creation of a new and improved Academic All-America® program nomination and voting process. Without question, we had a goal of enhancing and streamlining the core elements of the AAA program and the news awards software will help us achieve that vision. It will also come into play for all of our special awards throughout the year.
ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA® CORE PROGRAM/ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA® HALL OF FAME – Once again CoSIDA will honor more than 4,000 student-athletes – accepting nearly 18,000 nominations – as the home of the Academic All-America® program. CoSIDA will also be accepting nominations starting July 31 for the prestigious Academic All-America® Hall of Fame, which culminates at the 2018 CoSIDA Convention in Washington, D.C. with the induction ceremony and presentation of the Dick Enberg Award.
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION COMMITMENT – Last year’s CoSIDA Board of Directors approved the creation of a new Diversity and Inclusion Committee. It is one of several critical steps in addressing CoSIDA’s commitment to growing a membership culture that welcomes and encourages engagement and involvement of everyone regardless of national origin, color, religion, sexual orientation or functional diversity. Those first steps included adding two minority-specific convention grants and partnering with the NCAA for six others and a convention programming partnership with MOAA. Moving forward, the Diversity and Inclusion Committee will address issues related to defining CoSIDA diversity goals and strategies that will help attract greater diversity and inclusion into the profession.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT – Professional development will continue to serve as the cornerstone in the list of values offered through CoSIDA membership. Both the Continuing Education Committee and Convention Programming Committee will undertake the challenge of developing new and creative educational opportunities that address the evolving growth of the communications profession.
CoSIDA WEBSITE AND NEW ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA® WEBSITE – The CoSIDA staff is in the early stages of planning a redesign of CoSIDA.com during the year ahead and making it a more efficient resource of information. In addition, CoSIDA is also now exploring the concept of a stand-alone website for its Academic All-America® program with a goal of having it launched during the year ahead.
YOUNG PROFESSIONALS COMMITTEE – In addition to recognizing the need for growth in diversity, the CoSIDA Board of Directors also sees a critical need to engaging young professionals in our association. Thus, the creation of the Young Professional Committee was finalized in Orlando and will provide the needed guidance in helping CoSIDA reach out and develop our future leaders.
YEAR OF THE STUDENT INITIATIVE – A concept introduced in CoSIDA Board of Directors discussions last year, this initiative will be in the hands of the CoSIDA U Committee. From a big picture perspective, CoSIDA wants to find creative ways to cultivate its future members and connect with student assistants who play important roles in communication offices around the country.
MEMBERSHIP RECOGNITION WEEK – Mark November 6-12 on your calendars as CoSIDA celebrates the second installment of Membership Recognition Week. The initiative was created as an advocacy tool designed to bring both recognition to the profession and as a reminder to external and internal stakeholders of the valuable contributions made by those who labor in athletic communications.
$60 for 60 – In recognition of CoSIDA’s 60
th anniversary, the organization launched a donation concept during the 2017 convention geared at providing members with the opportunity to honor someone who was significant in their career opportunities while donating to support the Phil Langan Graduate Internship Grant. Already, more than 30 donations have been submitted with the program continuing through the 2018 Convention.
MENTORSHIP – Entering its third year with more than 150 pairings of involvement, the CoSIDA Mentorship Program will once again match veterans in the profession with those in the early stages of their career.
As you can see, we are looking forward to another productive year serving our membership. If there is anything the Board of Directors or CoSIDA staff can do to help assist and advocate for you better, please let us know. Best wishes as we begin the 2017-18 school year!
Rob Carolla Doug Vance
CoSIDA President, 2017-18 CoSIDA Executive Director