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This story is part of our January 2022 CoSIDA 360 package, to view more stories,
click here.
A Future of Significant Change for CoSIDA
by Doug Vance – CoSIDA Executive Director @dvancecosida
I have a favorite quote that’s framed and displayed prominently on my office wall. It serves as a daily reminder that we can’t afford to always accept the status quo if we want to be relevant on the landscape of college athletics.
The quote has been attributed to Henry Ford, someone who was instrumental in dramatic change on how society has functioned for over a century.
“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”
You can Google quotes about change and it’s one of the first ones you’ll find.
The message from that quote, indirectly, has helped guide my thought process over the years while serving as CoSIDA’s executive director. CoSIDA needs to be proactive and embrace creative ways to be a more effective association in how it serves its membership.
I’m proud of how members of the CoSIDA Executive Board of Directors, those leaders from both the past and present, have considered staff recommendations regarding fundamental changes in ways we function and are governed as an association.
As we start a new year, another one full of challenges and unknowns for everyone in this profession, one underlying theme is evolving in terms of your national association: We’ve made significant change decisions and considering others that have the potential to reshape our future in a positive way.
Combining what’s been decided and what’s being considered, here’s a quick 360-degree view of three impactful changes looming for the association.
Membership
A new, innovative membership model will launch next year. It will offer one standard membership cost, tiered and priced according to division or governance designation, for anyone associated with the business of communications both in an athletic department and on campus.
It’s potential impact on the growth, reach and advocacy enhancement of the association could be significant.
It will provide membership in CoSIDA for all full-time and part-time employees who handle athletic communications, including those in the creative space, students who work in the office and any department administrator at one all-encompassing price.
A Strategic Branding Review
CoSIDA is currently undertaking a detailed analysis of how its brand is performing and if it is effectively positioning the organization across the landscape of college athletics. Among the questions being considered are if the association is keeping pace with a changing profession and how we expand our resources and benefits to attract additional stakeholders such as those in the creative space.
Both our internal and external constituents’ thoughts will guide the Executive Board of Directors on a decision to consider recommending two landmark changes to the membership. A survey was distributed to a combined 6,500 individuals from the CoSIDA membership along with creatives, athletic directors and other administrators. In addition, in-depth interviews on the topic have been conducted from a designated representation of conference commissioners, athletic directors, college athletic governance officials and former CoSIDA leaders to gain additional perspectives of the associations current brand.
Among the potential impacts are a organization name and logo change along with a broad culture shift in terms of resources that are more inclusive for everyone under the communications umbrella in college athletics.
New Executive Director
CoSIDA is currently involved in a national search for a new executive director. With the change in staff leadership comes the opportunity for new and exciting concepts and a new mindset to help CoSIDA keep pace with the ever-changing communications profession by building resources, strengthening advocacy and using new technologies.
Beyond those three evolving concepts, CoSIDA’s new leadership structure which was adopted at the 2020 Convention, will complete the final stage of its phase-in process in 2023.
Change represents an inherent reality on the road to relevance for any association. Operating in the traditional sense as we’ve traditionally done for the last several decades in not an advisable option. With a restructuring of the economic order in college athletics, we can expect there will be other change considerations in the months ahead.
Clearly, it’s not a future of doing what we’ve always done. A quote from former president John F. Kennedy appropriately applies to the upcoming decisions faced by CoSIDA.
“There are risks and cost to action. But they are far less than the long-range risks of comfortable inaction.”
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