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Note: This story appeared in the Fall 2019 November edition of CoSIDA 360 Magazine. To view the full magazine, click here. 


Want More Workplace Influence? Start with Campus Collaborations

Advice for cultivating campus relationships, growing your professional profile, and delivering on what your administrators and colleagues need and want.

by Barb Kowal – CoSIDA Director of Professional Development and External Affairs

In the collegiate athletics world ­—where there are many talented people — how will I distinguish myself? How can I show my value and what kinds of contributions do I need to make to raise my value in my office...in my athletic department...at my institution or conference? How can I get in front of issues on campus and be a decision-maker?

Many athletics communications professionals, those with lots of experience or those still in the early years of the profession, might be asking these questions.

Solid athletics communications skills and tools are a must, of course. But to raise your profile, you also need to manage how you are known, valued and trusted at your job. Who knows you? Trusts you? Values you?

One way to answer all these questions and enhance your reputation and personal brand is to get involved in campus work and collaborations outside your SID duties.

For advice on finding ways to showcase your talents outside of your daily duties, we turned to CoSIDA members who have developed these campus relationships and also solicited advice from athletic directors and senior-level campus administrators on building these important connections.

Speaking at the 2019 CALS Symposium (Collegiate Athletics Leadership Symposium) in October, Stanford University Director of Athletics Bernard Muir stated:

“If you don’t have relationships on campus, you must. You never know who you will need to rely on and when you need information and when they might need information. I tell my staff: show up where campus colleagues don’t expect you — at events outside of athletics, by supporting a campus initiative. This is an important part of building an integrated campus and not isolating athletics — or yourself as an athletics employee.”

That philosophy is echoed across the country.

“Strong campus partnerships are part of the culture that our Director of Athletics Dr. M. Grace Calhoun has instilled here at Penn,” notes Kevin Bonner, University of Pennsylvania Senior Associate AD. “She wants every member of the Penn team, regardless of position on the organizational chart, to build those bonds with colleagues on campus and form strong partnerships. 

“I serve on the University’s Senior Communications Advisory Group which includes the chief communications officers from many areas on campus. This informal quarterly meeting gives me regular touchpoints that help build relationships with those key colleagues. Those relationships are especially important when dealing with a crisis, as you can lean on those colleagues for support and advice. Previously when I was at La Salle, I also developed a strong relationship with the top university communications executives through both formal and informal meetings.”

Josh Manck, Texas A&M-Commerce Associate AD for Marketing and Communications agrees.

“Creating the relationships across campus at a very small college (1,100 students) and now at a regional university (12,000 students) revolves around making sure there is a two-way street,” said the D2SIDA President. 

“Too often, athletics administrators view relationships from the perspective of how other departments can help athletics. I like to make sure the other department also benefits. This includes sharing resources, providing recognition at events, collaborating on projects, etc. 

“They call athletics the front porch of the university and we also need to make sure we show off the rest of the house.”

 

Krystal Warren, currently Associate AD for Athletics Communication at Dayton with oversight of athletic communications, student-athlete community engagement, leadership & career development, has watched her career blossom by volunteering to serve on campus committees.

“As athletics communication professionals, we have skill sets that are extremely valuable in cross-campus collaborations. You would be surprised how much our campus partners love collaborating with individuals from the athletics department,” Warren said. 

“I’ve learned a lot and grown as a professional working with our University communications and development departments, and in turn, have provided valuable input for them as well. It’s a very symbiotic relationship. It helps to have a fresh perspective and diversity at the table too.”

Along the way, Warren has worked with various campus partners (housing and residence life, inclusion and diversity, hazing prevention, advancement, and health and wellness). 

“With each opportunity, I meet new people and learn something new. It’s validating to know how much value and recognition the athletics department provides for the university to enhance our overall reputation by telling the stories of our student-athletes.”

At NCAA Division III institution North Central College this past summer, SID Clark Teuscher delivered a “state of the athletic department” talk and slide presentation to the Board of Trustees. This was a first for his athletics department. It’s also an idea that is adoptable for every athletic program.

“We made an impression with our Board of Trustees in how we are furthering the educational mission through athletic communications,” Teuscher said. “With our AD, I talked about the overall role and function of sports information, our core objectives, how we go about meeting them and if we are succeeding in advancing the mission of our university. We showed analytics, the engagement on our communications platforms, and how we’ve developed our student staff and helped them make careers out of communications.”

 

Teuscher discussed what might lie ahead for the North Central College athletic department as the trustees absorbed this new information.

“They loved the facts, data and analytics, but also the volume of what we did (website, social media channels, live coverage) and the award nominations that we are responsible for. My message about the CoSIDA Academic All-America® program played a large role in their excitement. Once they found out how much publicity was being generated by two employees and some students, there was real appreciation for what we are doing. The questions flowed as they asked, what else are you looking to do? What would you like to do that you’ve not been able to do?

“As a result, they are still talking about it and have a new interest in what we are doing. I’m confident that if we want to make structural changes, and if we need another level of support in athletics that they will be there. It definitely was a worthwhile experience. The personal connections carried a lot more weight and influence than handing in a board report.”

Creating Opportunities for Campus Collaborations

How do you create these opportunities with an already busy schedule? 

Each of the successful campus collaborators we talked to reframed their thinking about the SID role. Their message: do your core job as well as possible; delegate and prioritize; have honest conversations with supervisors about your desire to extend your role.

“For SIDs who are hesitant — please have the confidence to ask to get involved with campus activities, committees and meetings,” noted Texas A&M-Commerce Director of Athletics Tim McMurray. “Campus staffers at-large surely don’t know all you do. You have a tremendous skill set to offer. Ask yourself, and ask your supervisors, ‘what can I contribute beyond the traditional expectations for an SID?’”

Distinguishing yourself to your supervisors is essential in gaining support to branch out professionally.

“I’ve been lucky in that I have always been given a fair amount of leeway and trust to do a job,” Manck noted. “Having success on projects will foster even more trust from your boss. Having data to prove your ideas were successful and efficient is always useful.”

“As my AD Neil (Sullivan) says to us, ‘I am all for your development, but you have to do a great job with your communications responsibilities first, and then I will support you’ — that’s our starting point,” Warren noted. “I take pride in being an efficient, hard worker. I’ve learned to trust people more. All this opens up opportunities for me and for my staff.” 

Josh Booth is in his fourth year as the first full-time SID at Bethel College in a one-person office. He recently was promoted to Assistant AD. He and Director of Athletics Tony Hoops are the two athletic administrators for the NAIA program with 16 sports and over 300 student-athletes.

“Over the last few years, I’ve gained Tony’s confidence and trust. He knows I’ll represent athletics in a professional manner while making sure to be a voice for the department when collaborating with others across campus. Being in a conference room with many twice my age was intimidating at the start, but I honestly like going to these meetings. I like learning — being part of the solution to a campus conflict — and going to bat for our department. And, it never hurts to share with those other committee members how your football team is doing, or how your field hockey captain is applying for med school,” added Booth, who recently earned Bethel’s Gerry Sieber Service Award for outstanding promotion of the athletic department initiatives.

“I put a great deal of effort into making sure I follow up on inquiries I receive, like ideas for a new social media campaign,” he noted. “This ‘personal branding’ has resulted in me being placed on more campus committees and task forces than I care to list, but it also means I get to work toward the vision of a stronger campus and not just athletics.” 

Booth offers another take on volunteering for campus work.

“When there’s a cross-campus email asking for committee members interested in whatever topic they are launching, inquire about it! The great Wayne Gretzky quote is spot on: ‘You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.’ This type of action shows forward-thinking, being above yourself, and should impress your supervisors.”

The career trajectory of Denise Thompson, now Big Sky Conference Assistant Commissioner of Communications and External Relations, was aided by her campus collaborations while at Northern Arizona University.

“We had monthly external communication meetings with other campus entities. This group included athletics, the alumni association, university communications, university marketing, and the campus TV station. The meetings allowed everyone to share what they were doing and to pitch ideas to the group for ways to highlight things going on in different areas. It led to all of us wanting to help each other and respond to emails faster. 

“The relationships I formed led me to being asked to serve on several hiring committees for the university marketing team, which I absolutely loved,” Thompson said. “It was great to see how campus entities work and what they are looking for in candidates. I was able to participate because I planned things out the same as I would an interview request. I utilized my calendar and made sure that it was always up-to-date to be able to manage my schedule.”

What can I offer for campus collaborations as an assistant or young professional?

Bonner admits it’s tougher for assistant SIDs or those with limited experience to extend themselves on campus, but offers a suggestion. 

“It was more difficult as an assistant SID to build relationships with the top communications colleagues on campus,” Bonner said. “My advice to rising professionals would be to find those people on campus in communications roles who are also rising in their career and form relationships with them.”

“Everyone has time to work in the context of the university at large,” said Manck. “The most common complaint I’ve heard in almost 15 years of working in college athletics is that the athletic department is “siloed.” Starting those relationships happens when you are visible at campus-wide events, strike up conversations, or invite people to lunch. You can do that at any level. Building those relationships and liking the people you work with results in fruitful projects, which are noticed by the next group who wants to work with you.”

Buy-in from your supervisor or AD is a key component for SIDs looking to get involved in campus outreach.

Adam Schemm, the Senior Associate AD-External Relations at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, oversees the athletic communications team and encourages all staff members to get involved in campus and community outreach.

“Our senior staff encourages campus and community work, whether it be serving on a campus branding committee, collaborating with our university’s social media team, attending professional development events in Milwaukee, working with our local business communications groups,” Schemm said. “I tell our SIDs, if you have a concept or an idea, let’s talk about it. We will give them ideas, articles to read, events to go to, encourage them to move out of their comfort zone. Student workers and interns can also have these conversations. We all share our stories, and are developing a trust and an openness with university departments.”

 

Sean Cartell, associate media relations director at the University of Texas, has served on the UT Staff Council the past two years. As the Council’s professional development chair, he was administering grants a year ago. This year, due to that work, he was elected as secretary of the organization and serves as one of four officers.

“With the other three officers, I meet once a month with university leaders from major departments and the president’s office,” noted Cartell, who handles media relations for women’s basketball and golf, oversees the rowing SID and also manages the Longhorns media relations student staff. “I’ve always been future focused on opportunities, and know that my athletics job performance is my top priority. First, do your job well. Then when you ask about other opportunities, your requests have a better chance to be met with support. 

“I find that we all deal with similar issues, regardless of where we work on campus. Being on Staff Council helps me look at things more globally, see how athletics fits into the university at large, and allows me to educate and inform others on campus about what we are doing for our student-athletes. It’s cleared up many misconceptions and helps align our messaging with the university’s branding and messaging.”

Cartell’s opportunity developed due to the way he approached his daily responsibilities.

“Sean is well respected and has great interaction with everyone. His high level of work and his willingness to go the extra mile for student-athletes, coaches and staff showed us we need to be committed to help him grow professionally in the areas that he wants,” said Kathy Harston, UT Senior Associate AD for Sports Programs. “As he does that, he is able to be a great influence in spreading the word about our athletic program to those around campus who might not necessarily have a vested interest or understand everything that we are doing for our student-athletes.”

Whether you’re an experienced athletic communicator or a young assistant SID, you can offer your time, expertise and influence on campus and not remain isolated in an “athletic department silo.” 

People may think this is not within their control, but as we’ve heard from administrators and SIDs, it’s completely within your control.


More on the importance of Campus Collaborations
 

Kevin Bonner
University of Pennsylvania
Senior Associate Athletic Director/Governance & Administration

"There are definitely creative ways you can work these campus relationships into your day-to-day by using lunches or inviting these colleagues to a game where you can help educate them on your duties. Then you can use any down time pre-game or half-time to advance any conversations with these colleagues. When a crisis occurs, or a new campus initiative takes place, you will be thankful you made time with these communications colleagues on campus as it will be imperative to use their expertise and connections to protect and enhance the brand of your department.”




Josh Booth
Bethel College
Assistant Athletics Director/Sports Information Director

"As a “junior member” or as an assistant SID, you must think of yourself as an asset and think about how to sell yourself to your supervisor and your campus. First, spruce up your wardrobe a bit if needed. Know there are assistants in other departments trying to grow. Go make contacts with those people; start up conversations by grabbing a coffee. The inner-workings or backstories as to why certain areas of campus do certain things in a 10-minute conversation can be incredible. These conversations also help get people in your corner, which I can say has paid off immensely during my time at Bethel.”



Ryan Bradley
University of Alabama
Associate Vice President, Marketing and Brand Strategy

"At Alabama, we have a Campus Communicators Network that meets 8-10 times per year for 90 minutes. It’s a time of networking, and we might invite speakers and do workshops during that time. One hundred people might gather, with (Associate AD for Communications) Jessica Paré bringing four or five members of her staff. This adds value to their SID experience and they connect to others on campus, sharing strategies and talking through issues together. If you don’t have a campus communicators network, then I suggest you start one. You have the influence to do so and you’ll gain influence in doing so.”



Denise Thompson
Big Sky Conference
Assistant Commissioner/Communications and External Affairs

"There’s always time to do those things you really want to do. If there are opportunities to collaborate with campus partners, speak with your supervisor and explain to them your passion to want to participate. They can help you balance your schedule to be make time for these opportunities. It may require you to come in a little earlier to work on those days or stay later, but the reward is worth it. I learned so many social media techniques from the social media team on campus, and I use them today. Brainstorming with other creative minds in person is better than any YouTube tutorial.”




Sean Cartell
University of Texas
Associate Media Relations Director

"I’ve come to realize that not all leaders in an organization have the biggest titles and largest salaries. Leaders can be anywhere in your organization — those who lead by example and those who actively inspire others to achieve goals. Find an opportunity to be a leader by being the best version of you that you can be. First, take care of your core responsibilities at the highest level. Then, don’t be hesitant to approach your supervisor and ask about opportunities to serve on campus and extend your role. Opportunities for professional growth don’t find you; you have to seek them out.”




Krystal Warren
University of Dayton
Associate AD for Athletics Communication/Student-Athlete Community Engagement, Leadership & Career Development

"My advice is to get out of your comfort zone and try something new, regardless of your level of experience or your job title. Go to campus events to get to know people outside of athletics. Raise your hand to join a committee or work on an advancement campaign. It’s important to know your value and know how to communicate what you can bring to the table. In addition, it’s really important to understand the mission and values of your institution.”




Tim McMurray
Texas A&M University-Commerce
Director of Athletics

"We don’t want our athletic department or our athletic staff to operate in a glass house. We pride ourselves on our campus relationships with the president’s office, academic affairs and accounting, and (Assistant AD for Communications & Marketing) Josh (Manck) has helped us streamline our relationships with campus marketing and communications, photography and the radio station.

Don’t be afraid to tell the story of all that you really do in athletic media relations, and bring your ideas and successes in front of others on campus. I started my career in media relations, and I got involved in campus activities by going to alumni happy hours, volunteering to lay out alumni donor guides, things like that.”


Clark Teuscher
North Central College
Sports Information Director

"We should not assume colleagues cross-campus have a frame of reference for what we do. There is something in our backgrounds, expertise and experiences that someone across campus hasn’t seen before. It’s a matter of stepping out of your comfort zone — still addressing the core responsibilities of your job — and asking questions about the expectations and time commitment and what they are looking for from you. 

My experience tells me it’s not as much a time commitment as you might think. Make clear your availability. If you are willing to meet people half way, they will work with you.”

 

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