#CSCUnite25 Divisional Day Programming

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Last updated June 4
 
Please note that the CSC Unite convention mobile app available on iPhone and Android, or via the web, is the most accurate source for up-to-date schedule changes throughout the convention. For information about the accessing the mobile app, click here. 

Divisional Day programming will take place on Monday, June 9. All schedules are tentative and subject to change. Information will be added to this page as available.

What and when is Divisional Day?
Divisional day is programming specific to your division. Topics and issues discussed are geared toward sports communicators and creatives in that particular division or area of interest. Specific programming will be offered for these seven areas: Division I, Division II, Division III, NAIA, two-year institutions/conferences, Canadian institutions/conferences, and (all-division) conference office communications.

Divisional Day programming will be scheduled from 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM.

NCAA Division I Divisional Day
  • 10:15 AM - 11:10 AM - The House Settlement
    As the legal process continues to play out, what is our responsibility as communicators and creatives to be informed on and contribute to conversations around the House settlement? How will the House settlement affect our communications field, and how do you protect yourself and your team? We will also discuss how you plan to manage your institution’s story related to House, both externally to media and key stakeholders, and internally to staff, coaches and student-athletes and how has your content changed / not changed in response?
    Panelists: Liz Breen (FGS Global); Pearl Houck (ACC); Moderator: Amy Yakola (ACC)
  • 11:20 AM - 12:15 PM - Defining Media
    As the definition of “media” continues to change and evolve, it seems like everyone with a camera, website or social account is asking for credentials. But who are media? How do you separate contenders from pretenders? When do you take a chance on someone, if ever? Also be to discussed: how NIL is affecting who you do - and do not - let in to your venues, and what steps are you or your colleagues taking to make the process of denying (or accepting) credential requests easier.
    Panelists: Sam Gardner (Florida Citrus Sports); Susan Lax (Kentucky); Curtis Snyder (Colorado); Moderator: John Paquette (BIG EAST Conference)
  • 1:15 PM - 2:10 PM - Managing expectations
    It feels like it’s becoming harder and harder to manage expectations—both internally and externally—and it’s having a detrimental effect on the mental health of many in our organization. How can you manage some of those headaches, create collaborative and mutually beneficial relationships with coaches, other administrators, and key stakeholders? What can you do to get the support you need from your administration and colleagues?
    Panelists: Chad Cooper (Saint Joseph's); Sue Edson (Syracuse); Sherryta Freeman (Lafayette); Moderator: Chris Gargano (The Gargano Leadership Group, LLC)
  • 2:15 PM - 3:05 PM - Workflows
    It has never been more important for communicators and creatives to work together on anything and everything. How do you mesh and make the most of your time 1) on gamedays and 2) outside of event content? How do you balance your social/web/direct marketing platforms and how do you stay organized and work months ahead? Successful leadership stories bring a team around a cohesive message and content strategy. How do you measure success and, perhaps more importantly, communicate your value back up the ladder for future support and growth?
    Panelists: Chas Dorman (Princeton); Barrett Henderson (Gonzaga); Liz Holbrook (Unaffiliated); Moderator: Doug Drabik (West Coast Conference)

NCAA Division II Divisional Day
  • 10:15 AM - 11:15 AM - Personal wellness
    Join us for some personal development strategies as our panelists discuss lifestyle changes they made to improve their mental and physical health. Topics will include how to make time in your schedule to take care of yourself, how to get started toward making meaningful lifestyle changes and how to better care for yourself during the hard times – crossovers and postseason. Tips and tricks will focus on better ways to prepare your meal plan, move your body and take care of your mind.
    Panelists: Mary Beth Challoner (Toronto); Jon Holtz (Slippery Rock); Brian Lovellette (SLIAC) David Petroff (Genius Sports); Marcus Thatcher (NCAA)
  • 12:30 PM - 1:20 PM - Mission, vision and values exercise
    This interactive group session will walk participants through an exercise on exploring and determining core values, using those values to craft an actual mission and vision statement for your offices and using those values and statements to guide you through how to approach certain situations that impact our areas throughout the year.
    Panelists: Jon Holtz (Slippery Rock)
  • 1:30 PM - 2:20 PM - Maximizing your budget
    In an era of budget cuts, smaller staffs and greater expectations, what things can we do to maximize our resources from manpower, equipment and time management?
    Panelists: Chris Due (Lubbock Christian); Amanda Green (Eckerd); Tim Heiduk (Point Loma Nazarene); Moderator: Brian Henry (Auburn Montgomery)
  • 2:30 PM - 3:10 PM - NCAA Division II Business Meeting
    Updates from the Division II executive board, representatives from CSC and the NCAA Division II national office.
    Host: Brian Henry (Auburn Montgomery)

NCAA Division III Divisional Day (times subject to change)
  • 10:10 AM - 11:30 AM - The efficiency playbook: Content and writing management for D3 sports communicators
    Solo sports communicators, or those with a limited staff, juggle multiple roles to keep their athletic stories alive. This presentation offers practical, actionable strategies to help you thrive as a one-person sports communication team. Learn time management techniques to streamline your workload, create a flexible content calendar that’s easy to maintain, and tap into content champions to make your job easier. Plus, discover how AI tools can transform a single story into a variety of content formats—saving you time while boosting your program’s visibility.
    Panelist: Dawn Dugle (Dawn Dugle LLC)
  • Noon - 1:00 PM - NCAA Division III Business Meeting
    Annual business meeting, with visit from CSC staff and NCAA Division III governance representatives.
    Hosts: Ali Paquette (Middlebury); Katie Gonzales (Illinois Wesleyan)
  • 1:20 PM - 2:20 PM - NCAA Division III Awards
    The inaugural Division III awards for top district and national athletic communicators will be presented.
    Hosts: Ali Paquette (Middlebury); Katie Gonzales (Illinois Wesleyan)
  • 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM - Special Olympics Event
    Organized by Katie Mucci (NCAA Division III National Office)

NAIA Divisional Day (times subject to change)
  • 10:15 AM - 10:50 AM - Building relationships and communicating with coaches
    Panelists will discuss how to build relationships with coaches in order to communicate both in-season and out-of-season. Topics will include setting boundaries, setting priorities and how to handle conflict.
    Panelists: Nick Dodson (Southeastern); Colena Roberts (SCAD); Regan Rossi (College of Idaho); Moderator: Alisha Alexander (Lewis-Clark State)
  • 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM - Media day roundtables
    Attendees will break into groups and discuss helpful tips and tricks to host a successful media day.
    Host: Alisha Alexander (Lewis-Clark State)
  • 12:45 PM - 1:30 PM - NAIA-SIDA Business Meeting
    Annual business meeting with visits and information from CSC representatives and NAIA national office representatives.
    Host: Tommy Chasanoff (Cumberlands)
  • 1:40 PM - 2:30 PM - Writing workshop/FanWord AI presentation
    This will be a two-part discussion, talking about writing techniques and strategies and the use of AI in assisting athletic communications with content generation, productivity and efficiency, and nore.
    Panelists: Chris Aumueller (FanWord); Brandt McCall (NAIA); Colena Roberts (SCAD); Moderator: Alisha Alexander (Lewis-Clark State)
  • 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM - Imposter syndrome
    Veterans of the industry will talk about how to work through and overcame imposter syndrome amongst athletic communicators
    Panelists: Cindy Potter (Columbia College (MO)); Jay Stancil (Appalachian Athletic Conference); Chris Wells (Lindsey Wilson); Steve Wilson (NAIA); Moderator: Jared Kilgore (Cumberlands)
  • 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM - Clarence "Ike" Pearson Award Reception (by NAIA invitation only)
    Reception and award ceremony for the Ike Pearson Award recipient. The award is given annually to a member of the NAIA Sports Information Directors Association (NAIA-SIDA) to honor outstanding contributions to the profession. It is named for the former statistical crew chief of the NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship in Kansas City, Mo.

Two-Year Colleges Divisional Day
  • 10:15 AM - 11:10 AM -  Stats crisis: How to handle issues relating to gathering game stats
    This interactive session will include scenarios where something goes wrong with stat gathering will small-group discussions on how to remedy the problem. Examples include: What happens if you are traveling to a game and hit traffic causing you to be late to a game? What happens if a team manager is unable to upload the video to HUDL? What happens if there is no live stream video to do a screen recording and coaches were not keeping stats at the bench, and you have nothing to work off of?
    Panelists: AJ O'Hagan (Monroe-Bronx)
  • 11:20 AM - 12:15 PM - 2YSIDA Business Meeting
    Annual two-year business meeting with a discussion on reworking the two-year/2YSIDA constitution. Representatives from CSC also will join at the beginning to give an organizational update.

Conference Offices Divisional Day 
  • 10:15 AM - 11:10 AM - Navigating change
    Every level of college sports is experiencing change. How do you take your role at the conference office and help league stakeholders and school communications teams stay informed of national change and develop consistent conference messaging? How do you stay connected and informed with external stakeholders (e.g., sponsorship teams, NCAA national office, alumni groups)?
    Panelists: Chuck Dunlap (SEC); Sam Knehans (Sun Belt Conference); Ali Wilson (American Rivers Conference); Charlie Henry (NCAA)
  • 11:20 AM - 12:15 PM - The where/when/how/what to outsource
    Full-time staffs are stretched thin and outsourcing is sometimes the best option for initiatives and tasks in order to prioritize staff time. Hear the decision strategy for what is best outsourced and how that strategy can be aligned within office leadership to maximize staffing and resources.
    Panelists: Drew Dickerson (Atlantic 10); Tyler Williams-Bell (Collegiate Conference of the South); JJ Klein (Ivy League); Rachel White (Horizon League)
  • 1:15 PM - 2:10 PM - Evolving and energizing staff into leadership positions
    Communications and creative staffs at conference offices are inevitably smaller than campus departments and, therefore, positional growth is sometimes hard to come by at conference offices. Hear how leaders keep their staffs energized and motivated through career development and growth opportunities in order to reward and retain staffs.
    Panelists: Josh Yonis (Conference USA); Ben Miles (Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference); David Waxman (Big 12 Conference); John Paquette (BIG EAST Conference)
  • 2:15 PM - 3:10 PM -  Content is (still) king, but how is it evolving in conference offices?
    Conference office communicators and creatives are tasked with leading its league content strategy for its members and stakeholders while evolving it on what seems to be a daily basis. How has the content and content strategy changed in the last 2-3 years? How do you plan ahead on a strategy or campaign when college sports continues to change? What type of content resonates with your membership and how do you prioritize your time spent on the right content?
    Panelists: Brett Bosley (Conference of New England); Bridget Nash (Horizon League); Amy Yakola (ACC); Chris Dion (NCAA)

Canadian Divisional Day
  • No sessions