SPORT MANAGEMENT DEGREE PROGRAM Bernie Goldfine, Sport Management Program Coordinator
ASSURANCE OF LEARNING REPORT Spring 2010 (January 15, 2010)
1. Following up on the previous AOL report and the feedback your program received from the AOL Council, what AOL-related activities have faculty in your program conducted in the interim?
The last AOL Report in 2007 responded to feedback by the AOL Council in 2006. We did adequately provide answers to most questions at that time in the 2007 report; however, we will provide a report of additional or subsequent measures and progress in areas where measure were yet in be implemented as of 2007. In addition, one of the AOL Council’s representatives, Sharon Williams met with us on June 19, 2008 and provided us with additional feedback about the Sport Management Program. Her questions and concerns are also addressed herein.
Areas of observations/feedback are answered as follows:
(a). First, in response to one of the 2006 Council’s summary observations: “…the LO appear to be in Compliance with disciplinary conventions
but…we strongly encourage the Department to review and improve the LO in the future as faculty lines are added and new courses are added.” In
response to this comment, we have further improved our LO through the addition of a new faculty line to teach the core Sport Management course – HPS 2222, Sports Information. We had relied on an adjunct to teach this course up until 2008, which meant that the course was not offered on a regular basis, which was unfortunate for our Sport Management students. The addition of new faculty line in our Department, specifically to teach this content area has solidified the ability to offer this course each semester as well as improved upon the richness of the curriculum covered in the course. (b). Second, in response to another of the 2006 Council’s summary
observations: “once the Department has assessed the core program, it should move to the next stage and develop an AOL plan for the four
concentrations,” over the last two years we have incorporated measures to
begin to address student learning assessment in these concentrations. The primary measure has been the incorporation of a Special Senior Project in the Sport Management Senior Seminar (HPS 4710) in conjunction with various community partners, which mirrors a student’s concentration area. Prior to 2008, all students were required to be involved with the Atlanta Spirit Sport Ticket Sales/Marketing Project, which was not satisfactory for the students’ in the other Sport Management Concentration areas. In the new approach - specifically, students in the Sport Marketing Concentration continued to be part of the group and individual ticket sales auxiliary staff with the Atlanta Spirit, the managing entity for the Atlanta Hawks Professional Basketball and Atlanta Thrashers Professional Hockey Team. Each student’s gross ticket sales and receipts are tracked and each student gains a strong sense of their sales and marketing capabilities as a result of this project. Furthermore, each student writes a summary paper, which forces them to reflect on their salesmanship at the starting point and ending point of the project, and how
they might improve upon their craft. This assignment and corresponding assessment aligns with SLO 2.4, i.e., “the student will explain and execute the sport marketing process.”
Students in the Recreation Concentration create and manage an event for the City of Acworth Parks and Recreation Department. They also write a reflective paper at the end of the project, which assesses their individual contributions as well as the team effectiveness concerning the planning an execution of the event. It should be noted that this particular recreation project also achieved recognition this last year (2010) as the Most
Outstanding voluntary, community recreation project in the State of Georgia through the Georgia Recreation and Parks Association (GRPA). This activity and assessment are aimed at GLO 3.0, “the ability to communicate
effectively both in writing and orally,” as well as SLO 3.5: “students will be able to work well with others in small groups or teams.”
Sport Communication Concentration students have their special project with Kennesaw State University Athletics all aspects of camera work and
production how to setup involved in the broadcast of intercollegiate athletic events. These students also write a self-reflection regarding what they have learned and their capabilities in these areas. This special project and assessment are under GLO 5.0 (the ability to utilize technology); we have also added a new SLO (5.3) – to learn the craft of camera work and production for the broadcasting sports events.
There have been no students who have taken the Fitness Management curriculum in this concentration area, probably because students who have a proclivity toward this area become Exercise and Health Science Majors. Therefore, we have contemplated the possible removal of this concentration area if the trend continues over the next 2-3 years.
(c.) One of the Council’s summary observations was that, “this assessment plan appears weak because the instruments used are limited in scope, few in numbers...” In the 2007 report, we addressed these concerns through the
implementation of a number of changes. In June of 2008, AOL
Representative, Sharon Williams, met with us and recommended that we should try to make some additional changes (and interestingly enough, quite a bit different in substance relative to our assessment instruments at the time), which would provide us with some indication of: (1) where Sport Management students’ knowledge was upon entry into the programs (as defined as the beginning of the Introduction to Sport Management – HPS 2200 – course, and where these same students were upon graduation from the program and; (2) students’ assessment of the curriculum upon graduation. As a result of these recommendations, we added a very basic qualitative instrument for Sport Management students entering the program (see Appendix A) as well as an exit survey for students to rate and provide
feedback of the value of the each Sport Management course they took in their course of study (Appendix B), which might provide us with valuable
feedback as far as curriculum in a holistic fashion, rather real time, course by course evaluation provides.
2. As a result of these activities, what did your program’s faculty discover about the quality of teaching and learning with the program and/or its AOL processes?
This section asks specifically for us to “provide a narrative that describes the type of evidence collected and the extent to which students are meeting, exceeding, or not meeting expectations on the program’s learning outcomes that were assessed since the last AOL report…[focusing] on direct measures of student work (e.g. assignments, examinations, performances, or other assessments) related to the program’s learning outcomes.” This section
provides follow-up of the changes implemented subsequent to the 2007: There are currently five assessment mechanisms utilized in the Sport Management Program to evaluate curriculum including:
(a) An on-site supervisor’s evaluation, which includes elements tied to the curriculum GLOs and SLOs AND (as recommended by the AOL Council), an accompanying rubric for the supervisor that clearly explains the ratings systems (see Appendix A). Our goal is for-75% of graduates to achieve an average rating of “3” on internship site supervisor performance evaluation criteria ratings. Since Spring Semester of 2008, on-site internship
supervisors have been provided the scoring rubric to ensure clarity on the evaluative measurements we ask them to make on the student-intern performance. Unfortunately, this particular data, which we collected for 6 semesters, has been lost when the University System transitioned from Web-CT Vista to Georgia VIEW Vista. The KSU access page states, “For access to the old WebCT Vista system, contact the KSU Service Desk.” However, when we did contact the KSU Service Desk to obtain our archived files from the previous semester, much to our chagrin, we were informed that those files were no longer available. Therefore, we only have data from the Fall semester of 2009. At least for the data we do have from the Fall of 2009, every senior level sport management student was surveyed/ assessed, utilizing the rubric/criteria during. The goal was to find that as a composite group, 75% of our senior-level students will average adequate “2” or higher “1.” This goal was met for this particular semester. Additionally, informal feedback by several on-site supervisors indicated that the rubric was useful in helping them determine what each rating criteria and the scores represent.
(b). The performance on the Final Examination of the HPS 3390 course Leadership and Management in Sport), which addresses a significant number of the GLOs and SLOs. Every faculty member charged with evaluating the final exam for HPS 3390 has a clear set of guidelines for grading. Some of the questions are objective in nature (and a standard key is provided for these). On the subjective essays, Sport Management the faculty is provided with a standardized scoring rubric as recommended by the AOL Council (Appendix B), which provides a basis of evaluation (e.g. the depth of response and linkage between concepts such as tying together ethical
with a difficult management scenario – i.e., well-articulated problem-based learning). Our second assessment criteria goal was to have 75% of students receive a passing (70% correct answers) on their comprehensive exam in HPS 3390 and this has been achieved with 78% of the sampled students achieving this benchmark.
(c). Concerning measuring Sport Management student knowledge about the various subjects within the discipline upon entry into the program (as defined by student’s first week in HPS 2200, Introduction to Sport Management) through the qualitative questionnaire (Appendix C), and then measuring these same students’ knowledge upon exit from the program (as defined as upon completion of the internship), we have started the data gathering process. The first students that were assessed were in the HPS 2200, Introduction to Sport Management course in the Fall semester of 2009. Obviously, it will be 1.5-2.0 years before these same students exit the program and we have the beginnings of a longitudinal data regarding what Sport Management knowledge the students gained through completion of the program course work.
(d). Exit assessment of courses (Appendix D), provides us with a retrospective opinion by students after completion of their full-time internship. Students rate which courses provided them with useful
information, skills, etc., relative to application in their field experiences. This information is one basis for curriculum evaluation.
(e) The fifth assessment mechanism, which has only been added within the last year, is final special project and paper in the Sport Management Senior Seminar (HPS 4710). This was clearly explicated in our response to Question # 1 of this report.
As a result of the implementation of these refined assessment tools (versus the previous evaluative mechanisms), the program’s faculty discovered the following about the quality of teaching and learning within the program: 1. Our Sport Management undergraduates clearly possess worthwhile skill sets and are representing our program and Kennesaw State University very well within the greater Atlanta sports community as evidenced by the strongly positive feedback we are receiving from Sport Practitioners who have rated our students highly, utilizing our clearly defined rubric.
2. Upon entry into the Sport Management Program, the vast majority of KSU undergraduates have a very unsophisticated understanding of the subject areas within the discipline of Sport Management as measured by our brief qualitative program entry survey. We will know how this compares with these students’ knowledge upon exit from the program, when we collect this exit data in the next 2-3 years.
3. Sport Marketing Concentration students, often report surprise and
exasperation in their Special Project Final reports concerning how difficult it is to sell tickets to professional sporting events. Many become disillusioned with the sales process. This result has our Sport Management Faculty
brainstorming on how to provide students with this type of insight earlier in their program of study.
4. The limited exit survey data that we have collected concerning the value of the various courses within the Sport Management program, has thus far indicated that students perceive all of the courses offered by our unit to be somewhat or very beneficial. A couple of remarks indicate that the Sport Economics class may be addressing professional and collegiate sports, and that there are not examples from the recreation field in the discussions and lectures. If this trend continues, then there may be a need to incorporate case studies and discussions from the recreational field to allow students from this concentration area to have an understanding of the application of economic principles in this sector of the sport marketplace.
3. As a result of these discoveries, what changes did your program’s faculty implement to enhance the quality of teaching and learning in the program and/or its AOL
processes?
a. Realizing that having an adjunct faculty line teach Sports Information class (HPS 2222) was unsatisfactory in terms of providing consistent quality instruction on a regular basis, we have added a new full-time faculty line to address this deficiency. This hire has strengthened this program’s ability to achieve the pertinent GLOs and SLOs. For example, students are now exposed to meaningful and productive assignments such as the process of writing a proper press release for a sporting event.
b. The AOL Council’s recommendation in 2007 about beginning to address an AOL plan for the Sport Management Concentration areas, spurred us to create some excellent universal and culminating experiences for all of our students. Each semester, these projects are fine-tuned through authentic dialogue between our community partners and the students. For example, the students wanted to be able to shadow sales representatives in the Atlanta Spirit’s sales offices. As a result of these recommendations, students were provided with this opportunity, which enhanced their abilities to witness successful sports tickets sales processes first hand.
c. The AOL process has lead us to examine our concentration areas more closely. The two most popular concentration areas (as defined by the number of Sport Management students concentration choices) are Sport Marketing and Recreation Management. One of the concentration areas, which we have identified as problematic, is Sport Communication for 2 reasons: (1) the Communications Department curriculum has undergone a great deal of change (e.g. some courses we have on the program of study or no longer offered, have changed names, or are not offered regularly) and we are dependent upon them to deliver the vast majority of the hours in this
concentration and; (2) the Sport Broadcasting course (HPS 3333) is a highly specialized area and has not been offered on a consistent enough basis because of the difficulty in finding a qualified instructor…we appear to have a very good long-term solution with an adjunct we have identified. The Sport Management faculty has discussed in depth the need to add more valuable courses within this concentration area. A couple of new courses we have
contemplated to provide as future offerings are Sport History and Sport Literacy.
4. As a follow-up to discoveries from the AOL process and the changes that were implemented, what AOL-related activities are your program’s faculty planning to conduct in the upcoming year?
a. First and foremost, the most significant changes we will be implementing as a result of the AOL process and general brainstorming concerning problems we are facing, is a general re-evaluation of the Sport
Communication Concentration. For the benefit of our students, the Sport Management Faculty believe that it is imperative to more carefully identify SLOs in the concentration area, and allocate more resources into the development of this concentration area. The desire to implement such
changes, will of course, be dictated by the larger economic environment. For example, we have identified that we want to offer home of the concentration courses within our home unit and more specifically geared toward sport, but can we make a strong enough case for an additional faculty line in this area? Two courses we are considering adding are Sport History and Sport Literacy, which we believe would provide our students with a much stronger
background knowledge in the area of Sport Communication. On a positive note, we do have monies ready to be used for the purchase equipment for students to be able to practice radio and television broadcasting. This equipment will greatly strengthen the delivery and learning activities in the Sport Broadcasting course (HPS 3333). Finally, the Sport Management Faculty will be contemplating improving upon the assessment mechanism for this concentration area.
5. Update the Grid of Global Learning Outcomes and Assessment Methods for KSU Degree Programs:
a. The grid is accurate with the exception of one minor change. As of 2008-2009, the KSU Sport Management Program has developed excellent full-time internship opportunities for our students in Florianopolis, Brazil.
APPENDIX A
INTERN SCORING RUBRIC FOR SUPERVISOR’S EVALUATION
1. The student intern will be able to demonstrate the ability to actively listen during dialogue andfollow through on tasks as directed.
Additional Specific Criteria Explication: The student intern demonstrates attentiveness to directions provided by supervisors. Due to their attentiveness, the student intern is able to follow through on assigned tasks and accomplish these jobs as directed. Additionally, the student intern engages in active listening, i.e., they ask questions of their supervisors in such a way as to confirm that they accomplish their directed responsibilities in the way that they have been directed.
(1) Professional: Meets Expectations
. Demonstrates the ability to listen and follow-through on directives on a consistent basis.
. Asks questions to help clarify their individual responsibilities.
. Rarely has to be monitored and provided with a great deal of feedback to insure a job is done properly.
(2) Adequate:
. Demonstrates the ability to listen and follow-through, in the majority of instances, but not a highly consistent basis.
. Occasionally, asks questions relative to their responsibilities. . Must be monitored to ensure that a job is done properly. (3) Needs Improvement:
. Does not listen intently.
. Must be corrected constantly, when it comes to performing clearly defined tasks. . Does not seek feedback concerning performance of tasks.
Comments________________________________________
2. The student intern will be able to demonstrate the ability to demonstrate effective business writing skills.
(1) Professional: Meets Expectations
. Demonstrates effective writing skills on a consistent basis in e-mails, memos, and reports.
. Writes clearly and concisely on virtually all documentation he/she produces. . Written documentation demonstrates proper grammar and contains no spelling
errors.
. Writing is organized and easy to follow. (2) Adequate
. Most correspondence is well written, but some documentation is difficult to decipher.
. Written communication conveys what is necessary, but it is not consistently well-organized
. Documentation has some grammatical and spelling errors. (3) Needs Improvement
. Written documentation consistently requires substantial editing and re-writing. . Grammatical and spelling errors are present throughout documentation. Comments________________________________________
3. The student intern will demonstrate the ability to work well with others or in team settings. (1) Professional: Meets Expectations
. Relationships with co-workers are cordial and respectful.
. Demonstrates a sensitivity when dealing with difficult topics, problematic situations, and/or interpersonal conflict.
. Shows the ability to work in teams effectively (doing his/her part for the group, ensuring he/she meets team deadlines, etc.)
(2) Adequate
. Relationships with most co-workers are cordial and respectful.
. May not completely demonstrate sensitivity to difficult situations and interpersonal conflicts, but does respect boundaries.
. Show the ability to work in teams effectively, but does not seek leadership roles. (3) Needs Improvement
. Relationships with some co-workers can be volatile or disrespectful . There is an insensitivity to others when dealing with problems . There is not evidence of the ability to work well in teams. Comments______________________________________________________ 4. The student intern acts in a professional and ethical manner.
Additional Specific Criteria Explication: The student intern operates in a professional manner with regard to: appropriate dress; being on time of work and appointments; demonstrating an
understanding of boundaries when dealing with superiors and; general demeanor in the work environment (e.g. constantly alert vs. dozing off/viewing personal email).
(1) Professional: Meeting expectations
. He/she is on consistently on time for work and appointments. . Dresses in appropriate professional attire and is well groomed.
. Demonstrates an understanding of boundaries when dealing with superiors. . Displays an alertness and excellent work ethic.
(2) Adequate:
. He/she is usually on time for work and appointments
. Most of the time, he/she is professionally dressed and well groomed.
. In most instances, he/she demonstrates and understanding of boundaries when dealing with superiors.
. Usually he/she is alert and demonstrates a good work ethic. (3) Needs Improvement:
. He/she is late for work and appointments frequently, and/or dressed in an unprofessional manner, and/or does not demonstrate a complete understanding of boundaries with superiors, and or does not consistently demonstrate a good work ethic.
5. The student intern demonstrates knowledge in their specific area of concentrated study (Sport Marketing, Recreation Programming and Management, Sport Communication, or Fitness Management) and familiarity with the issues and trends.
Additional Specific Criteria Explication: The student intern demonstrates a knowledge base that is useful in dialogue, brainstorming, or actual execution of job responsibilities prescribed in the internship. In Sport Marketing, this might include – the ability to effectively sell the organization’s goods or services, conduct marketing research, put together marketing reports, assist with
developing marketing plans, etc. In Recreation Programming and Management, this would include the ability to oversee existing programs, create new programs and/or events, develop good relationships with clientele, conduct customer satisfaction surveys, etc. In Sport Communication this might include written press releases, developing players biographies, maintain &/or updating statistics, creating or updating websites, etc. In Fitness Management, this might include being able to sell memberships, develop fitness regimens for clientele, maintain fitness equipment, etc.
(1) Professional: Meeting expectations
. Demonstrates a depth and breadth of understanding of the field. . Shows familiarity with current trends and issues in the field. . Is able to apply his/her knowledge to work responsibilities. (2) Adequate
. Shows some knowledge of field and familiarity with trends.
. Although he/she has familiarity with the field, he/she does not easily apply this knowledge to their work.
(3) Needs Improvement
. Does not demonstrate knowledge of the field and only limited familiarity with contemporary trends and issues.
APPENDIX B
Essay is worth 36 points out of a 100-point exam, i.e. approximately 1/3 of the final
exam:
Writing Skills (12 points)
Loosely Adapted from: Moskal, Barbara M. (2000). Scoring rubrics: what, when and how? Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 7(3). Retrieved November 29, 2007 from http://PAREonline.net/
getvn.asp?v=7&n=3. This paper has been viewed 165,172 times since 3/29/2000. Meets Expectations for a Well-written Essay (12 points)
The document can be easily followed. A combination of the following are apparent in the document: • The elements of expository writing are apparent: introduction (overview of content), body
with supporting points, and conclusion (restatement of key points). • There are clear, easy-to-follow transitions between paragraphs.
• The document is clear and concise and appropriate grammar is used throughout. Adequate (10 points)
The document can be easily followed. A combination of the following are apparent in the document: • Basic transitions are used,
• A structured format is used,
The document contains minimal distractions that appear in a combination of the following forms: • Flow in thought
• Grammar/mechanics
Needs Improvement (8 points)
Organization of document is difficult to follow due to a combination of following: • Inadequate transitions
• Rambling format
• Insufficient or irrelevant information
The document contains numerous distractions that appear in the a combination of the following forms: • Flow in thought
• Grammar/mechanics
Inadequate (6 points) There appears to be no organization of the document’s contents.
Content (24 points)
Reference to explanation of one or more leadership styles & theories, in addition to
motivation theories.
(8 points = Reference and explanation is complete to 1 of each category) (6 points = Reference to 1 category and explanation is complete) (4 points = Reference to 1 category, but explanation is insufficient) (2 points = No reference to any category)
Incorporation and explanation of one or more schools of ethical thought.
(8 points = Reference, explanation & integration of 2 or more ethical theories (6 points= Reference, explanation, & integration to 1 ethical theory)(4 points= Reference to 1 ethical theory, but explanation is incomplete) (2 points= No reference to any ethical theories)
Demonstrates logic regarding public relations and marketing changes in policy to
stakeholders and fans.
(8 points = Well developed logical arguments relative to PR and marketing) (6 points = Arguments are stated, but with little depth or development) (4 points = Very vague reasoning or arguments presented re. these areas) (2 points = No reference to how to sell changes to fans or stakeholders)
APPENDIX C
Name__________________________
Date___________________________
INTRODUCTION TO SPORT MANAGEMENT
HPS 2200
PLEASE TAKE YOUR TIME TO WRITE WHAT
YOU KNOW ABOUT THE FOLLOWING TOPICS.
DON’T BE CONCERNED IF YOU HAVE LITTLE
TO COMMENT UPON ON ANY OR ALL AREAS.
THIS SURVEY IS BEING ADMINISTERED SIMPLY TO
DEVELOP A BASELINE OF YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE
SPORT MANAGEMENT AT ENTRY INTO THE PROGRAM.
Sport Management (in general) –
Career Paths in Sport Management –
Computer Applications in Sport –
Public Speaking –
List your knowledge of Sports, for which you have comprehensive understanding of
terminology, rules, basic strategies, etc.-
Financial Accounting (in general) –
Legal Aspects of Sport-
Sociological & Psychological Aspects of Sport-
General Principles of Marketing –
Leadership in Sport Organizations-
Management of American Sports (Collegiate, Professional)-
Sport Facility Design –
Risk Management of Sporting Activities –
Developing Sponsorship Plans and Selling Sponsorships-
Sport Marketing-
Economics of Sport-
Budget and Finance in Sport-
Developing a Plan to Market Yourself in the Sport Industry (e.g., Resume and
Interviewing Skills)-
APPENDIX D