About the June Stewart Leadership Series
Ep 02 June Stewart Leadership Series Podcast, December 11, 2019
Podcast with Mary-Beth A. Cooper, PhD, DM, Springfield College President
with host
Trip Durham, 2D Consulting, LLC
Trip Durham
Mary-Beth A. Cooper, PhD, DM
Mary-Beth A. Cooper, PhD, DM, became the 13th President of Springfield College in August 2013. Under her leadership, Springfield, a NCAA Division III institution in Western Massachusetts, re-dedicated itself to the Humanics philosophy (spirit/mind/body) and mission of leadership and service.
Dr. Cooper is an advocate of the athletics communications profession, with a deep understanding of the importance that the SID position holds on campuses. Well-known for her national and regional volunteer leadership, she serves on a number of boards and committees, including these that are sports-related: the President’s Council of the NCAA, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation. She also is Chair of the NEWMAC Athletic Conference.
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Podcast Length: 17:45
Key takeaways from Dr. Cooper
1:40: How do you define leadership? Dr. Cooper does not use the word “leadership” in her answer. Says in the last year, 1300 books have been written on topic of leadership and that the most elusive topic out there might be defining what makes a good leader.
She talks extensively about power and influence and how they are action-oriented.
3:01: The topic of advocacy. Dr. Cooper tells us the best way to advocate is via your power and influence, helping a person or cause, and talks about her main focus - to advocate for students and student-athletes and how she and her staff do this.
4:01: Answers the question “How do you develop a trust among your staff as a leader?” In her answer, Dr. Cooper directly speaks about the sports information staffs she has worked with in her career as a college administrator at all NCAA levels.
4:15: Hear what she says about the role – and the job requirements – of an SID, about SID burnout, FLSA laws, pay, and what she as an administrator does to recognize the role of the SID and acknowledge the difficulties of the job while outling her expectations for the SID staff.
You’ll hear Dr. Cooper say the SIDs have “incredibly complicated jobs … the workload associated with an SID is really unthinkable … it is probably, work-load wise during seasons, the most complicated job on campus.”
“From my perspective, it’s recognizing that and if I have an SID working games late, my expectation is that they cannot be at the office at 8:30 am the next morning. There’s no way they cannot burn out if we expect them to work 80 hour week. You cannot even touch SIDs in the amount of hours they work. Having faculty and staff recognize that is part of it … it’s important to let them (SIDs) know they are valued, and I don’t think we do a good enough job of that from an administrator’s perspective.”
6:00: The concept of “Humanics” (spirit/mind/body) at Springfield College and how that translates to all campus staff and faculty members.
7:01: Dr. Cooper talks about the importance of storytelling, her Springfield College SID (Brian Magoffin, Assistant AD for Communications) and how Springfield relies heavily on the storytelling by Magoffin and media relations coordinator Brandon Eckles. “The very best SIDs are the best storytellers and you don’t see that if you just present data … It’s a very powerful position and we need to understand where they are as part of our team.”
8:17: How to develop a leadership style and how and when Cooper knows she is moving in the right direction on being the most effective leader she can be. She notes “The best leader shares all the positives and surrounds themselves with experts.”
9:30: Dr. Cooper's Team 1 leadership philosophy and how she works with her staff on developing their focus on behalf of the college as a whole.
11:00: The Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) issues in college athletics right now. Dr. Cooper is on a NCAA Division III NIL working group, and she discusses how she is advocating for D3 student-athletes, the complex collegiate model and issues that are coming forward with the NIL legislation upon us.
12:30: Listen to hear speak on why leadership is messy and why a leader should be humble.
13:20: Ideas on not getting mired in the day-to-day duties and how she coaches her leaders to get out of the day-to-day duties and prioritize their use of time. Dr. Cooper talks about how she prioritize her day, plans and makes a concerted effort to not get caught in the present – and how SIDs can do the same and set themselves apart from the competition.
Some of her takeaways: “Be the architect of your own future. Do not complain that you don’t have time for extra training and learning. A very good leader makes sure that people who work for them have an opportunity to advance, even if it means losing them.”
15:50: Speaks on the power of relationships. She gives advice on building a strong community, building relationships and partnerships and having the SID as part of this process.
About the June Stewart Leadership Series Podcast
CoSIDA debuted the June Stewart Leadership Series in the Fall of 2019 as part of our year-round professional development and continuing education program for our members.
This series adds to our existing professional development initiatives and is named in honor of the late June Stewart who served as CoSIDA's first female president during the 1990-91 academic year. Stewart was a longtime Vanderbilt University administrator and a pioneer for women in college athletics. The series was created in honor of Stewart's great leadership, her love and commitment to the profession and her legacy in giving back to CoSIDA.
This special June Stewart Series showcases noted speakers and experts who will address CoSIDA members on timely communications and leadership topics and issues.
Designed exclusively for CoSIDA members, this series of webinars and podcasts will offer perspectives on leadership and perspectives on managing and directing collegiate athletic communications.
Click here to read more about CoSIDA Hall of Famer
June Stewart.