Online Press Release Article

PASSHE Approves Online Master of Science in Sport Management Studies

Last January marked the beginning of a new calendar year, semester and also the start of a new program at California University of Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education's (PASSHE) Board of Governors approved a Master of Science in Sport Management Studies at Cal U that will be offered completely online, beginning this July. The program meets standards developed by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education and the North American Society for Sport Management.

"It’s for people who are already working in the industry," said Dr.

Robert Taylor, assistant professor of Health Science and Sport Studies.

"What this program does is prepare these professionals to be more effective leaders in management. This is to help people, who already have jobs, to do better jobs and move up."



Cal U’s undergraduate Sport Management Studies program received a seven-year national accreditation two years ago by the Sport Management Program Review Council. Many students from this highly popular program have gone on to secure jobs in various areas of sport management. The graduate program is designed to do much more than simply build on the existing undergraduate program.

"It is totally different from the undergraduate program," said Taylor, who has been at Cal U since the fall of 2001. "The segments, such as marketing and finance, are the same, but now, we are teaching students how to solve problems and use critical thinking skills at a higher level. In the undergraduate courses, we teach them how to be successful at an entry-level sport management position, to get in and learn how to do the job. In this program, we are preparing them for leadership positions. For instance, coaches may be looking to get their master's degrees and move into athletic director or teaching positions. Our graduate program will help people earn pay raises and make them more marketable."

The Master of Science in Sport Management Studies program length will consist of 13 consecutive months beginning with the second semester summer session in July of each year, with students finishing the following summer and graduating in August. Course materials will be presented in modular format, making them conducive to presentation via the Internet.



Not only does this new graduate program fit perfectly into the university’s commitment to the Keystone Growth Plan ­the idea of adding more and more enrollment over the Internet but, it also offers a convenience that is essential in attracting the working professionals targeted. This is the first Master of Science in Sport Management Studies offered online anywhere.

"We could have a traditional master's program, but that is why a lot of people don’t go," Taylor said. "It’s not convenient for them to go through a tradition program. They have jobs and families, and they can¹t take a few nights a week to drive to a class. They could risk losing status in their jobs or even lose their jobs completely, because they are needed at work. This program is asynchronous, and students can log on at three in the morning if they want to."

While the graduate sport management program being completely online provides much-needed flexibility, Taylor believes the format is more challenging to the students as opposed to the traditional classroom setting.

"I believe it is different from a teaching perspective and from the student¹s perspective too," Taylor said. "This is not a correspondence course or something you log on and off of when you feel like it. It’s probably more challenging than the classroom. If I go to a classroom with 35 to 40 people in it and start lecturing, probably four or five people are going to raise their hands and participate in the discussion. But, in this online program, everyone has to participate in discussions and answer questions. Everyone is a participant in the discussions."

Taylor began planning and putting together the online Master of Science in Sport Management Studies in the fall of 2003, when the idea of starting this program was mentioned to him by colleague Barry McGlumphy.

McGlumphy taught Cal U’s first online program, a master¹s degree in exercise science and health promotion, which has been taken by professional athletic trainers nationwide. All Cal U faculty teaching online programs have completed the eCertification course offered by eCollege, which prepares the instructor to think about teaching and learning in a different way. The course requires that the faculty member take the role as a student over the course of eight weeks of learning in an online environment.

During the past year, McGlumphy has assisted Taylor with the technical aspects of the program. However, Taylor put the proposal together for this unprecedented web-based program.

"I am extremely pleased to have a quality faculty member such as Dr. Taylor in our department who has the creativity and took on the responsibility of designing and creating this exciting and new online master's program in Sport Management Studies," said Dr. William Biddington, chairperson of the HSSS department. "Currently having the only fully web-based program like this in the country is obviously a plus to the university and is a credit to Dr. Taylor's effort to provide unique programs within our department and the College of Education and Human Services. We are looking forward to providing a high quality educational program in Sport Management Studies and the significant enrollment it will bring to California University."

Taylor is understandably excited about being part of what is fast becoming a trend in higher education and most certainly at Cal U. "I am looking forward to it, and obviously, there are a lot of challenges because it is fairly new," Taylor said. "The graduate students seem to be a little more motivated, more serious and often have more experience. That and the topics we get to talk about makes it more interesting."

He believes the future can only bring better and more specialized features to this new program.

"After we get the program going, we could maybe branch out into some different tracks or specialty areas such as facility and event management or something such as a track between sport medicine and sport management where you manage the medical facilities at large sporting events," said Taylor. "There are specific needs in this field, a lot of possibilities, and we are providing that need at a different level. We are looking for those niche areas that other institutions aren¹t offering."