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This story is part of our December 2021 CoSIDA 360 package, to view more stories,
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From the Desk of CoSIDA Executive Director Doug Vance
The Disruption of Training the Next Generation
by Doug Vance – CoSIDA Executive Director @dvancecosida
I discovered an intriguing fact recently about my colleagues on the CoSIDA staff that also led me to a perspective about the future of CoSIDA and the profession.
They each worked during their undergraduate or post-graduate years for a future CoSIDA hall of famer. That elite sports information training ground for the foursome included Dave Young at Miami University (Will Roleson), Howie Davis at UMass (Barb Kowal as a graduate assistant), Paul Just at Western Kentucky (Laurie Bollig) and Mark Stillwell at Missouri State (Beau White).
They all credit those early work experiences as the primary reason that reinforced their interest in sports information. Conversely, the profession and CoSIDA were eventual beneficiaries because they all choose to pursue a career in athletic communications.
Although students often rank at the bottom of the athletic communications office hierarchy, they are primary of importance to the profession when considering its long-range future.
We might have reason for concern if the growing trend of student disinterest in the profession continues to grow.
What are we losing if this disruption of basic training for that next generation of SID’s continues? To calculate its impact, consider the early tutelage of those currently or in past CoSIDA leadership roles.
Over 95 percent of those now involved in governance of the organization, from the Executive Board, Cabinet chairs and the national staff have career roots that trace back to that student involvement in an SID office. Four of the organization’s last five presidents used a student experience as their training ground.
Without that SID office exposure while on a college campus, would they have taken a different career path?
That thought raises another concerning question about a prevailing dynamic in the athletic communications profession. What will be the impact on the quality of the sports information workforce if more college students bypass that campus work experience?
It’s easy to envision a depletion of quantity and quality of those who apply for vacancies over the course of time as a consequence of this reduction in student employment.
There is evidence, in fact, that dynamic is already unfolding. With some student positions left vacant during the pandemic now being filled, CoSIDA members have voiced disappointment in the lack of interest they are finding. As one leader in the profession recently suggested after searching for student help: “Student workers are becoming harder and harder to find. In the current environment, I will take anyone with a pulse.”
To be fair, exposure to the profession through a student work experience is not a prerequisite in finding quality in SID job candidates. The avenues that lead to a career in athletic communications are varied. Some of the best in the business have transitioned from related work backgrounds, such as newspaper and broadcast industries or simply from working in another area of athletics.
The student experience pathway, however, has traditionally represented the most common approach. To use a sports analogy, the athletics communications office has traditionally served as a minor league feeder system for the profession’s workforce.
“I would agree with the general lack of available students, and more importantly, students that want to put the time and effort that adequately prepares them for the profession,” said CoSIDA Executive Board member Dan Ruede (New Haven).
There are a variety of reasons this drain in interest has started to spread.
The aftershock of the pandemic is having a degree of influence on staffing decisions. While federal work study programs to employ students have often been relied upon to offset limited budgets, the minimum wage it offers can’t compete with what students can make working in a retail setting off campus. A reshaped media landscape also means students have more career avenues such as creative positions or in the broadcast industry.
Athletic communicators are also addressing the workload shortage by reshaping their hiring philosophy. Instead of an army of students, they are consolidating their dollars and relying more on graduate assistants, interns or creating a part-time position as an alternative.
There are examples of SID’s stepping out of their offices and directly into the classroom to find their student staff. J.D. Campbell, Senior Assistant Athletic Director for Communications and Special Projects at Indiana University has been teaching a class called College Sports Media Relations for six years and has used that opportunity to fuel interest in his communications office student work force.
He sends a clear message up front about priorities in his typical class of 50 students. Instead of buying a textbook, the pre-requisite requirement is purchasing a CoSIDA membership. As a result, he fuels interest in the job by exposing his students to learning opportunities and networking at the national level.
CoSIDA has developed programs and resources designed encourage student interest in the profession. The CoSIDA U Committee last year created an online educational approach with webinars and resources that targets those future athletic communicators. CoSIDA also will resume its convention grant program this year and sports information students are encouraged to apply.
The CoSIDA Job Seekers Committee coordinates a long-standing program that benefits those looking for employment opportunities in the profession.
Next year, CoSIDA’s new All-In membership dues structure will open the door for the first time for SID offices to include ALL their student workers, along with anyone else they choose in the department, in the institutional membership package at no additional cost.
If the traditional pathway to the profession continues to take this turn, it also points to an ongoing emphasis on CoSIDA as a much-needed support mechanism for those newcomers who accept jobs with limited or no background in an SID office.
“Today’s environment only strengthens our position in the business and what we do,” said CoSIDA Executive Board member Lenny Reich (Mount Union). “This puts even more emphasis on professional development and advocacy from CoSIDA.”
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