Master's Program in Athletic Administration

This is the first orientation residency on the Ohio University campus in Athens, Ohio. The purpose is to help participants acclimatize to the program through a variety of workshops, projects, and presentations. The orientation is built around a collaborative team project focusing on the nature of athletic administration. Participants will also complete an individual learning module and start a current events discussion during the week. These activities will help participants become familiar with the program structure and the information technology to be used as a mean of learning and research in the program. Equally important, participants and faculty will get to know each other in a face-to-face environment before starting to work together at a distance.

This course embodies practical methods and innovative techniques needed by interscholastic athletic administrators. The topics presented are directly related to the responsibilities undertaken by athletic program personnel who guide adolescent and young adult participants. Some examples of those topics include developing a program philosophy, responsibilities of an athletic administrator, academic standards and eligibility, etc.

This course provides an advanced understanding of legal proceedings, legal research, negligence, and risk management. Specifically, this course focuses on risk management as an ongoing responsibility of the athletic administrator. Through actual experiences of advanced legal research and the development of a risk management plan for an actual interscholastic athletic department, participants will develop a deeper understanding of the current status of negligence as it applies to interscholastic athletic administration and the development of a risk management plan to reduce operational risks.

The course focuses on ethics, rights, and responsibilities related to interscholastic athletic administrators. The purpose of the course is to help people involved in interscholastic athletics develop a personal philosophy regarding social responsibility. Topics discussed include concepts of morality, personal philosophy regarding social responsibility, theories of ethics, professional code of ethics, etc.

This course provides an overview of how sport in general and interscholastic athletics in particular are governed in the United States. The course also examines how sport policies are formulated and how they impact the operations of a sport organization. The roles and functions of state athletic associations in interscholastic athletics are discussed and analyzed.

This course focuses on the application of both theory and practice of planning and managing facilities and athletic events in interscholastic athletics. Upon the completion of the course, participants will be able to understand the complexities involved in managing various types of athletic facilities and in planning, production, and evaluation of athletic events. Topics to be covered in this course include planning and design of athletic facilities, management of athletic facilities, housekeeping and maintenance, concessions and merchandise operations, event planning, and production.

This course reviews the fundamentals and dynamics of the relationships that exist among sports organizations and their consumers, and the application of these fundamentals to interscholastic athletic departments. The primary focus of the course is on planning and implementing organizational strategies and programs to enhance relationships with consumers and consumer groups. A major project for participants is that they have to develop a marketing plan for their athletic programs.

This course offers an operational understanding of research in recreation and sport sciences in general and interscholastic athletics in particular. The purpose of the course is to help athletic administrators become intelligent users of research-based information. Participants will be required to conduct a research project and have the option of presenting the results of the project at the national meeting of NFHS/NIAAA in December after the completion of the program. While much of the work will be done in the summer, this course will actually be introduced at the December residency and participants will be able to work on it throughout the winter, spring, and summer.

This course reviews contemporary theories related to management and leadership, and discusses their applications to interscholastic athletics. Specifically, this course discusses various skills, roles, and functions of athletic administrators as well as the elements of leadership theory and practices as they relate to various managerial responsibilities of athletic administrators in middle and secondary school settings.

The purpose of this course is to help the participant develop an understanding of how to apply basic principles and concepts of finance in the operation of interscholastic athletic programs and some critical skills of financial management required of athletic administrators. Financial situations that the participants are likely to encounter during their careers will be examined to gain insights into financial management processes in interscholastic athletics. Topics to be covered in this course include budgetary cycle and process, revenue management, types of budget, fundraising principles and strategies, planned giving, capital budgeting, facility financing, etc.

This course introduces participants to managing human resources in interscholastic athletic organizations, such as athletic departments in middle and high schools. Various aspects of managerial functions and human behavior in interscholastic athletic organizations, such as communication, staffing, appraising, training and development, compensation, leadership, negotiation, motivation, and decision making will be addressed.

Under the guidance of a faculty member, each participant will have an opportunity to examine a particular issue that is important to interscholastic athletic administrators. A written research report is required.

A special instructional format is utilized in this course. During the two-year course of the program, participants will be involved in ongoing discussion of current issues facing interscholastic athletic administrators. All faculty will post issues periodically and participants will do research, comment on the issues, and carry on a discussion with other participants and the faculty.