A new partnership between TROY Athletics and the Sorrell College of Business’ School of Hospitality, Sport and Tourism Management will create a new master’s level curriculum to give students hands-on work experience inside an NCAA Division I athletics department.
“We are excited to partner with our colleagues in the School of Hospitality, Sport and Tourism Management to provide meaningful ‘hands-on’ opportunities for our sport management graduate students as we look to grow together,” said TROY Director of Athletics Brent Jones. “As an athletics department, this collaborative partnership is a huge win-win for both our graduate students but also our student-athletes. This partnership will provide our athletics department staff members and coaches with additional resources for them and their sports be more successful. This partnership is an outstanding example of what the ‘One TROY’ identity means.
The partnership will place TROY sport management graduate students ahead of most of their peers in practical skill application upon graduation.
“The School of Hospitality, Sport and Tourism Management is excited to again formally partner with the Troy University Athletics Department,” Associate Director and Professor Robert Mathner said. “The mission of our school and the master’s program is to prepare students to become future leaders in the industry and this partnership does just that.”
“In addition, it allows the Troy University Athletics Department to utilize valuable resources to serve our stakeholders so that our student-athletes can have a quality experience at Troy University. This partnership is truly mutually beneficial, and I am confident that the benefits will be realized for years to come,” he said.
The new Collegiate Sport Management Concentration is designed to provide graduate students with a more tailored academic curriculum in NCAA Division I athletics while also providing them a path to getting experience beginning with their first semester in the graduate program.
“This partnership allows us to tap into the quality graduate students that the School of HSTM brings in by providing valuable resources to our coaching staff and administrative staff members,” Jones said. “These students will be an incredible resource and benefit to our athletics department and we look forward to providing them with these experiences to assist them in their career endeavors in college athletics.”
Graduate course credit will be offered to these students in the form of practicum and internship hours. In addition, and just as meaningful to the students, the Department of Athletics will offer paid graduate assistantships to those students who excel in their practicums and internships.
“One of the strengths of our sport management program is the emphasis on experiential opportunities in sport,” Troy University Faculty Athletic Representative and Graduate Program Coordinator Dr. Fred Green said. “This new partnership formalizes this process and provides prospective sport management graduate students with excellent opportunities to position themselves for professional growth in the collegiate athletics industry. We look forward to working closely with Troy University Athletics in providing real world experiences for our students.”
Sport management graduate students who choose this concentration will play active roles in the TROY Athletics Department by providing support in a variety of areas including, operations roles for all of Troy’s sports teams, assisting in Athletics Communications, Compliance, Development, Licensing and Trademarks, Marketing and Fan Engagement, Operations/ Technology, Student-Athlete Services, and the Ticket Office.
