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This story is part of our February 2022 CoSIDA 360 package, to view more stories, click here.
 

COVER STORY

Embracing a New Vision

A letter to the membership, from CoSIDA Third VP Kevin Trainor

by Kevin Trainor – University of Arkansas, Senior Associate AD - Public Relations, Former Student-Athlete Engagement // CoSIDA Third Vice President  @kthogs

As I boarded the plane to Indianapolis for the NCAA Convention last month, thoughts flooded my mind. The week ahead would be historic for intercollegiate athletics and I would be privileged to have a front row seat.

As CoSIDA’s third vice president I was afforded the opportunity to attend the convention to meet with my fellow officers, the CoSIDA staff and dozens of influential leaders in college athletics. Just a few heated skybridges away from where we were meeting, members of all NCAA divisions came together and voted overwhelmingly to drastically overhaul the NCAA Constitution. The bold move enabled its membership to work together to start over and build the NCAA again, from the ground up, in a way that will best serve the organization today.

As I watched this process play out, I was struck by the similarities in the types of challenges faced by the NCAA and CoSIDA at a similar pivotal moment in the history of both organizations.

Today, CoSIDA is in front of the NCAA in preparing its organization for the future. In just the past two years, CoSIDA has taken proactive steps to overhaul the governance structure, which provides for expanding leadership at all divisions, and adopt an “All In” membership model. The changes allow CoSIDA to be nimbler and opens the door for the addition of members and other athletics professionals not commonly associated with sports information. These were important steps. However, there still is still significant work to be done.
 

This past November, our organization worked alongside Jennifer Cross and Athlete Viewpoint to issue a branding survey designed to gauge the current perceptions of CoSIDA and its members, both within and outside the organization, including all levels throughout intercollegiate athletics. The questions delved into a variety of topics attempting to gauge opinions and perceptions of a diverse group of individuals.

In addition, we engaged Trip Durham (2D Consulting, LLC) to conduct 30 in depth interviews with past CoSIDA presidents, senior administrators, allies in the sports industry and prospective members from the creative space. In Indianapolis, CoSIDA officers and staff heard from 14 friends of CoSIDA, including athletics directors from Division I, II and III, and representatives of the NCAA and MOAA. 

While the thoughtful and deliberate process gathered both qualitative and quantitative information, all of the data has pointed to a similar issue. As with any measure of perceptions and opinions, there is a myriad of feedback. However, the cumulative data — including from those who have been a part of CoSIDA for many years, new members, potential members and other stakeholders — failed to show the comprehensive brand strength that one would anticipate in an organization that has been serving our industry for 65 years. Although the CoSIDA brand is universally recognized, it does not appear to be serving our profession today as effectively as it has in the past.

I am certain that, like me, many of you will initially bristle when settling in with that thought.

The thought of fundamental change may seem as if we would be turning our backs on the tradition of our organization or somehow discounting the work that has been done to this point. In reality, the opposite is true. The thoughtful analysis of our organization and our willingness to pursue change for the best interests of CoSIDA and our membership is definitively linking us with the visionary leadership of the past.

This is not the first time CoSIDA has arrived at a crossroads in its history. CoSIDA has been evolving since it began as part of the American College Public Relations Association (ACPRA). In 1957, our organization split from ACPRA to stand on its own as CoSIDA. In 2008, CoSIDA partnered with NACDA to better position our organization within intercollegiate athletics which eventually led to our first combined convention in 2013. I am grateful for the leadership of those men and women who saw the wisdom and had the courage to transform what they had always known into something that positioned us to remain a respected organization.

Facing our generation’s watershed CoSIDA moment, we must utilize analytics and the feedback we have received as our compass, rather than our map. The path forward will be determined by all of us. We will need to hear from the many committed and passionate members of our organization, representing schools and conferences in Division I, II and III, the NAIA and two-year colleges, both here in the United States and in Canada.

As we begin to take those initial steps, I want to share with you five things that I believe lead us to a mandate for change:

1. The current CoSIDA brand and external perception does not reflect who we are today
Just as our jobs have evolved and our responsibilities continue to expand and change, the sports information label is no longer an accurate description of who we are and what we do. Based on feedback from our membership, many organizations have already come to that conclusion. According to the survey, a majority of member schools and organizations within Divisions I, II and III do not brand themselves or their departments as sports information.  

One of our guest speakers at the NCAA Convention shared this thought about her own organization that encapsulates the same challenge we face in developing our brand: “Our goal is to be modern. However, before we can be modern, we have to be current.”

2. Sounds the call for a change in mindset within our membership
At face value, the re-branding of an organization is generally measured by the change of a name or the design of a sleek modern logo. And while those are certainly integral to the process, the most fundamental and crucial change facing CoSIDA involves the mindset we have as individuals and, collectively, as an organization. This is perhaps our most significant challenge and the scariest part because it involves an adjustment on our end rather than merely altering the perception of others.

When I first joined CoSIDA in the early 1990s, the organization and its members were viewed as leaders of our profession and trusted confidants for athletics directors, executive directors and commissioners. Somewhere along the way, as other chairs were added to the administrative table, many in our membership lost a seat and with it the influence strategic communications professionals need to ensure the success of our organizations.

For years, we have opined about being pushed aside, while still clinging to long-held responsibilities prioritized by tradition, rather than dictated by the changing landscape of intercollegiate athletics. Many of those responsibilities are still there and shortage in staff makes it more difficult than ever, but leaders invest resources in areas in which they see potential growth, and we must position ourselves at the front of the line.

3. Bolsters our individual and collective advocacy efforts
I've had the opportunity to serve as the board liaison to the newest CoSIDA committee, the Advocacy Committee. Former CoSIDA President and Hall of Famer Shelly Poe leads an engaged committee dedicated to helping our members advocate for themselves as well as building a network to support them in those efforts.

In our profession and within intercollegiate athletics as a whole, we are faced with a disturbing trend of outstanding men and women leaving the business. Whether it is frustrations over salary and benefits, chances to advance or the inequities of work-life balance, we must proactively advocate for ourselves and each other to help stem the tide of talented professionals transitioning to other lines of work.

Far too often, our CoSIDA membership is marginalized with antiquated definitions of sports information and not recognized for the diverse expertise and skillset they possess. While acknowledged as hard-working, our members are often not recognized as often as other colleagues in our departments or rewarded financially for the value of their contributions.

This is an effort that cannot be solved at the national level alone. We all own the lion’s share of the responsibility for our own situations. However, a change in perception will benefit those efforts.

4. Enhances the expansion and growth of our membership
As previously outlined, the “All In” Membership model has already been adopted and will allow multiple members of athletics departments to join and enjoy the benefits of CoSIDA for a group rate. This will allow expansion of our membership to all members of the office as well as graduate assistants and students.

However, the most dynamic growth for our organization could come with the addition of a talented group of creative professionals working in the emerging fields of content creation and digital communications. Currently, this group does not have an established national organization within intercollegiate athletics. Our survey indicated that CoSIDA is the most logical destination for these professionals. While much more will need to be done, a brand change would be a first step in what must be a continued sincere effort to engage creative professionals as valued colleagues in strategic communications.

5. Supports our commitment to diversity and inclusion
Within our overall goal to grow our organization, we also must remain vigilant in attracting and expanding opportunities for strategic communications professionals from underrepresented populations. At our convention in June, CoSIDA will witness a pair of historic firsts as Cynthia Potter of Columbia (Mo.) University will pass the gavel to Jessica Poole of Chicago State. Not only will it be the first time the CoSIDA presidency has transitioned from one woman to another, but it will also be the first time that an African-American woman will take the reins of our organization.

While we have made progress, we are still woefully behind in attracting and maintaining individuals that reflect the diversity of our athletics programs. The aforementioned addition of creative professionals can assist us with our mission. The emerging field has caught the attention of those who have not traditionally viewed sports information as a promising career path.

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A change for change’s sake will not do it alone. However, it can provide us the opportunity to signal something is different today in our own shops and as an organization. We must invest as much time in branding ourselves as we have promoting teams, student-athletes and coaches through the years. We own the keys to our brand. We can do it! We are the experts.

In the coming weeks, you will hear more about the branding survey and where CoSIDA will go from here in exploring our future. As you are aware, our Executive Director Doug Vance will be retiring at the conclusion of our CoSIDA Convention this June. I want to thank Doug for his tremendous leadership and his commitment to this organization. Although he will no longer be serving in a full-time capacity, I have no doubt he will continue to be an advocate for CoSIDA and our members.

So here we are at our watershed moment. As an organization we have stood the test of time because we have not shied away from our responsibility to pay it forward. The time is now to decide what we do next.

I encourage you to get involved, share your views and be a part of the dialogue. Take some time think and reflect on where we are and where we want to be. After all, a compass and a map are only useful once you have identified the ultimate destination.   

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