Sport management is ready for kick-off

Management is a field that is quickly growing. In fact, Hiram College now offers sport management, a program that prepares students to enter the industry by investigating marketing, psychology, organizational behavior, ethical and legal perspectives, communication, facilities, and finance. Through the program, students at Hiram College will volunteer, intern, research, and participate in student clubs in efforts to apply the concepts they learn through their coursework to real-world situations. And to create such a strong program, listening to what the students wanted was important, said Andrew White, visiting assistant professor of psychology.

“Most of the students in/interested in the program at this point are incoming first years or sophomores and they know they have interests in both sports and business, even though they don’t yet know where their passions will take them,” White said. “Since next year will also be our first full-year offering the program, we are also hoping to have a series of “kick-off” events with some guest speakers.”

About the program

Within the major, students must complete a minimum of 45 hours in sport management courses. This includes an in-house internship, where students will work with Hiram Athletics during their junior year and will continue to build on the skills that were taught for an external internship during their senior year. Hands-on experiences like such help students to develop the skill set and mindset that will enable them to be successful after graduation.

“We wanted to focus on experiential opportunities and take advantage of Hiram’s location with relative proximity to Cleveland, Akron, and Youngstown (and Columbus, Pittsburgh, Toledo, Cincinnati, Buffalo, and Detroit if you expand the scope a bit) – this provides ample internship opportunities for our students,” White said.

The final 12-16 hours, students can choose from the following tracks: fitness; administrative; education and coaching; or capstone experience. In order for students to find their personal calling, the program includes courses in fitness, administration, management, and communication. It prepares students to show off the concepts and theories they were taught, while communicating to a diverse audience; identify and capitalize on trends, and make connections with past, current, and possible future events; critically evaluate issues from the different perspectives, while successfully transferring theories to practice through firsthand learning opportunities; and display an ability to think holistically, act professionally, and make ethical decisions for real world situations.

“The piece that brought a lot of the program together, and that sets us apart from most other programs in Ohio, is that the program is structured to earn accreditation. This means we will be considered a “gold standard” program, which employers will love to see, especially when combined with a liberal arts education,” said White.