HPER creates Sports Admin and Leadership program

It has been a big year for Viking athletics, hands down.

And as the year comes to a close, the Health, Physical Education and Recreation (HPER) department introduces the newest addition to the college—a two-year graduate-degree program in Sports Administration and Leadership.

On April 7, the Augustana faculty met, voted and approved the program, making Sports Administration and Leadership the fifth master's degree offered at Augustana.

Now, the final step is for the Higher Learning Commission to accredit the program.
"This idea has been a group process," Sherry Barkley, chair of the HPER Department, said. "The sports management major has been around for five years now, and really that's when the wheels began to turn. We knew that when we added sports management it would also make for a great master's degree program."

Requiring graduate students to attain 32 credits total, Sports Administration and Leadership includes courses from three separate departments at Augustana: HPER, business and communications.

Sports marketing, public relations, sport psychology, sport law, statistics, ethics, leadership and research are a few of the classes the graduate students will take.

"We were able to anchor this grad program in our Augie beliefs," Marcia Entwistle, chair of the business department, said. "We created a liberal arts core, which is nine credit hours. That's the leadership, ethics and research classes."

Over the years, Augustana has hired graduate assistants to work in the Elmen Center with the intercollegiate teams and student athletes.

Some graduate assistants teach a section of PE 100 while others help with coaching or personal training.

Now, in addition to practical experience, the college can offer them a full educational experience.

"We had people we needed to serve," Barkley said. "The graduate assistants give a lot to the college. They're young and enthusiastic. They're working on getting an education while working. If we didn't have them, we'd have assistant coaches who would not be spending as much time with the undergrads."

Currently, Augustana has more than 400 student athletes. Two physical education courses are required for all students upon graduation.

More than 50 students are enrolled as sports management majors.

Because of this growing number, the graduate assistants' work is appreciated more and more every day.

"In the Sioux Falls area, we will be the only school offering this master's degree," assistant athletic director Jeff Holm said. "I've already spoken with several people from the area who are ready to start taking classes in this program, and we haven't advertised yet. This will be a great resource for the community."

The graduate assistants that are at Augustana today will finish up the program they are currently enrolled in, but in the coming years, they will all be drawn from the newly created program.

"The Midwest definitely has a love for sports," junior sports management major Kate Tobin said. "I think the sport management major and the graduate program really compliment that regional interest. The program also will be great for getting quality people to the Sioux Falls area to learn."

The Sports Administration and Leadership program will accept up to 16 students, eight of whom will also work as graduate assistants in the Elmen Center.

"We're excited," Barkley said. "We were careful to abide by Augie's high and rigorous standards, and we want people to be able to say that they're proud they got their master's degree here."