PLUS: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN A CHANGING WORLD THE EVOLUTION OF STORYTELLING ELEVATING CREATIVE SERVICES AT SMALL SCHOOLS MEMBER VOLUNTEERS: OUR BACKBONE ETHICAL DILEMMAS PIECES OF HISTORY PREVIEWING #CoSIDA21 AND MUCH MORE! VOL. 6 ISSUE 2 SPRING 2021 CoSIDA.com #CoSIDA21 Virtual Convention June 7-10 CoSIDA 360 | MAY 2021 | 1 Contents FEATURES 1423 2829 VOL. 6 ISSUE 2 SPRING 2021 View past issues The Evolution of Storytelling 9 Elevating Creative Services at Small Schools 13 What skills and traits will make for the best storytellers in college athletics in the coming years? ADs who support their SIDs with added full-time creative colleagues will have an advantage over those who try to get by with a one-person shop. Member Volunteers 17 A Day in the Life of ‘Sprall’ 20 Each year, over 500 members volunteer their talents and time for the betterment of our CoSIDA community. Athletic communicators are grateful and tired after navigating a spring of fall, winter and spring sports. COVER STORY All Creatives & Communicators Deserve a Seat at Our Table For CoSIDA to fulfill its mission, we must open our doors wider to be more inclusive of all types of communications and creative professionals in college athletics. We’ll all be stronger for it. 6 DEPARTMENTS CONVENTION 24 Previewing #CoSIDA21 The 2021 Virtual CoSIDA Convention will be held June 7-10 and will feature 12 educational sessions, four awards shows, divisional days, an interactive exhibit hall, the 11th annual 5K, opportunity for community service, and more. SPECIAL AWARDS 26 Congratulations to the 2021 and 2020 Special Awards Winners We’re saluting all our winners from the past two years in the months leading up to #CoSIDA21. ADVOCACY 28 Ethics and the Clash of Values How would you weigh these three ethical dilemmas? MEMBERS 32 Pieces of History SIDs help bring long-lost school memorabilia back into the light. EXTRAS 2 Notes from CoSIDA 3 President’s Message 4 2021 Membership Staffing Survey Summary 5 Perspectives from Outside the Profession 16 2YSIDA SIDs of the Month 31 Register for the 2021 Virtual 5K 34 The SID Life On the Cover A variety of communications pros — from traditional SIDs, to designers, to videographers, photographers, social media strategists — all bring immense value to their institutions and CoSIDA. Advertising opportunities with CoSIDA: Digital advertising opportunities are available by contacting CoSIDA Executive Director Doug Vance at or (785) 691-7708. More information on becoming a corporate partner or advertising on a CoSIDA platform can be found at Join the CoSIDA Slack Community! Go Apply for CoSIDA 3rd VP before May 14 The CoSIDA Nominating Committee is seeking qualified and dedicated individuals who are interested in serving in a leadership role on the Board of Directors for the 2021-22 year and beyond. Due to the restructuring of the CoSIDA governance structure and the addition of the CoSIDA Divisional Cabinets for 2020-21 and beyond, there is only one Board opening available - to serve as CoSIDA’s Third Vice President in the officers rotation. Interested applicants should contact CoSIDA Past President Herb Vincent at Submit your entry for the new CoSIDA ChangeMaker Innovation Awards This new CoSIDA award was created in the spring of 2021 to recognize individual members or staffs who have created and managed innovative content during the current academic year. Submission deadline will be Friday, May 21, 2021. Find rules and details at CoSIDA to Begin Strategic Branding Review Recognizing that CoSIDA represents a rapidly changing profession and must keep pace as the expectations of the job continue to evolve, the organization’s Executive Board of Directors has commissioned a strategic branding review process during the upcoming year. This process will be chaired by 2020-21 President Sam Atkinson and supported by CoSIDA Director of Creative Services Beau White from the national staff. CoSIDA Staff Executive Director Doug Vance (785) 691-7708 Associate Executive Director Will Roleson (317) 490-2905 Director of Professional Development and External Affairs Barb Kowal (512) 739-1234 Director of Membership Engagement Laurie Bollig (913) 707-0365 Director of Creative Services Beau White (913) 223-0594 Intern Danielle Potts (270) 227-7026 About CoSIDA 360 CoSIDA 360 is a quarterly publication of the College Sports Information Directors of America. Publication dates each year are in February, May, August and November. Any submissions, questions or comments can be directed to Beau White by emailing The digital issue of CoSIDA 360 is provided by of Lexington, Ky. Special thanks to Jai Giffin. CoSIDA 360 Credits CoSIDA Director of Creative Services Beau White serves as editor and designer of CoSIDA 360. Additional assistance provided by the CoSIDA staff. Contributing writers for this issue include Sam Atkinson, Laurie Bollig, Gail Dent, Imry Halevi, Barb Kowal, Ali Paquette, Danielle Potts, Will Roleson, Jeremy Rosenthal, Doug Vance, and Beau White. Photos provided by Jeff Hodges unless otherwise noted.President’s Message CoSIDA 360 | MAY 2021 | 3 Sam Atkinson | Gallaudet University, Associate Athletic Director for Communications | CoSIDA President 2020-21 | Advancing the Profession Forward A year ago in this space, I encouraged everyone to “Be The Change.” It was not a new idea but more a personal request to see our membership rise to the challenge as we faced a global pandemic and a racial and social justice movement. I firmly believe change starts with each person individually and those personal changes add to the greater good. As CoSIDA’s President, there have been many times during this past year I have changed my thinking on things after listening, educating myself, reading the Zoom room and, most important, learning from each other. I hope you have seen personal growth of your own during this trying year. It can be a humbling experience when you have to admit you were wrong, you don’t know the answer, you don’t have a certain skill or you don’t want to change. Change is hard but a necessity to evolve and grow at the same time. What we have witnessed this past year is an athletic communications profession forced to change how we communicate and share our content to promote our athletic programs and student-athletes. CoSIDA members had to elevate their creative services and reimagine their storytelling capabilities. Our profession has been heading down this digital and creative track for years but things sped up exponentially due to the pandemic, working remotely and hosting athletic competitions in a different environment. So where are we going? This has been a topic the CoSIDA Executive Board of Directors has wrestled with for years but this spring has forced us to move it to the forefront. We announced in April that the Executive Board of Directors has commissioned a CoSIDA strategic branding review. This is our opportunity to explore and understand the issues our members face in the growing college athletics communications environment and how CoSIDA and our profession is perceived by others in and out of collegiate athletics. This spring issue of CoSIDA 360 dives into several of these topics. CoSIDA Director of Creative Services Beau White shares why All Creatives & Communicators Deserve a Seat At Our Table (page 6) and why we must open our doors wider to be more inclusive of all types of communications and creative professionals. Harvard University Assistant Director of Athletics Imry Halevi talks about The Evolution of Storytelling (page 9) and what skills and traits are necessary to deliver nowadays. Middlebury College Assistant Director of Athletic Communications Ali Paquette pens a story about Elevating Creative Services at Small Schools (page 13) and how athletic directors who support their SID with added full-time creative colleagues will have an advantage over those who try to get by with a one-person shop. The issue also pays tribute to CoSIDA’s 2020 and 2021 Special Award winners (page 26), our 500-plus volunteers (page 17) and how our members are surviving the “sprall” this spring (page 20). The issue also previews #CoSIDA21 (page 24) and what this year’s virtual convention (June 7-10) will entail and other ways to get involved. I am confident and optimistic about CoSIDA’s future and the possibilities that lie ahead. I hope after reading this issue you will feel the same. Speaking of getting involved, I want to leave you with a quick story about volunteer service. I got involved with CoSIDA because I wanted to give back to the profession that had given me so much to help my career. After my first CoSIDA Convention in 2007, I got involved with the Goodwill and Wellness Committee and that led me to dream bigger and made me want to aim for a bigger leadership role within the organization. CoSIDA has helped so many in the athletic communications field advance in the profession and onto other senior athletic administration positions. Think of the possibilities if CoSIDA were to create more room at our table to help other communicators with their careers? As I wrap up my year as CoSIDA’s President, I want to personally thank our members for your support and faith in me. This has been one of my highlights of my professional career and I am proud of everything our organization has accomplished in 2020-21. A quick summary of the year can be wrapped up with: we became the change, we advocated, we overcame and we are now advancing our profession forward. It has been an honor and a pleasure serving as your President. Editors note: This is Sam Atkinson’s final CoSIDA 360 Magazine presidential column. The entirety of his term has come during a pandemic. He was not able to receive the gavel in person last year in Las Vegas and he will not be able to make the historic hand off in person to our first president from the NAIA — Cindy Potter — this June in Orlando. Still, he has made a significant impact on our organization and the profession. Thank you, Sam, for your commitment to moving us forward through difficult times.4 | 2021 MEMBERSHIP STAFFING SURVEY SUMMARY CoSIDA received 301 responses from account custodians out of 778 requests (39%) in an informal March 2021 survey regarding staffing and pandemic impacts in the past year. A more detailed report is available Key: D1, D2, D3 = NCAA Division; N = NAIA; C = Canadian Institutions; 2Y = Two-year Colleges What is the name of your department? D1D2D3NC*2Y Athletic Communications (or variation)68%50%50%21%29%- Sports Information13%44%45%79%29%100% Media Relations 19%1%1%--- * 43% of Canadian institutions said their department name was Marketing Where are your creative colleagues located? D1The vast majority of non-D1 creative specific positions are located in the communications office or a combined communications/marketing office. Their own department 12% Communications34% Marketing15% Spread over multiple departments 30% We don’t have them9% How many full-time staff members comprise your communications staff? Percentage of schools who employ X number full-time employees at each division. D1D2D3NC**2Y** None --2%3%-2 14%52%47%67%14 1.5--1%3%-- 2 26%39%43%18%41 2.5--1%--- 324%9%5%3%1- 4 16%-1%6%-- 5+30%---1- **Canadian and Two-year responses are represented as total responses instead of percentage. Pandemic impacts Percentage of schools who had X number of full-time employees impacted. 01234+ How many full-time positions have been eliminated since March 1, 2020? 88%9%3% How many full-time positions have been furloughed at least five days since March 1, 2020? 73%13%7%4%2% Percentage of schools who indicated they lost part-time/full-time student, intern or graduate assistant positions since March 1, 2020. Students 49% Interns 31% GAs 16% Survey ResultsCoSIDA 360 | MAY 2021 | 5 Communications professionals are known for providing advice on planning and strategy, but how often do communicators focus on the blueprint for their own careers, especially as it relates to professional development? Continuing to develop in the workplace is imperative and, as we’ve seen in the last year, our world and nation are changing and many things will continue to change. We often look at professional development only in terms of educational classes, conferences or online sessions we attend. However, when we venture outside our normal ways of thinking and continue to evolve our minds, we are actually developing personally and professionally. I work in communications but I’m also involved in DEI — diversity, equity and inclusion — at the NCAA. It’s a privilege and a rich learning experience. Working to shape narratives, assisting with programs, and helping to future-proof college sports as it relates to race, gender, LGBTQ , disabilities and international themes is a wonderful opportunity. My efforts started on campus; segued into a master’s project on student-athlete race relations; and also involved community work over the course of my career. All are examples of opening my mind to a type of professional development that was not traditional. The experiences helped me learn and understand how to better engage with all individuals and prepared me for future public relations issues. The experiences also helped me value different viewpoints. Today, DEI is a priority and an opportunity for everyone to learn, which includes individuals who may not have lived diverse experiences. Sports teaches us how to value, engage and respect others. Statistics show that the U.S. population will be more racially and ethnically diverse by the year 2032, and we’re seeing Professional Development in a Changing World indications today that lean toward that movement. We’re becoming more diverse on many fronts. Athletes are becoming more vocal and programs are broadening. So where does communications fit in this inclusive evolution? Communications is crucial as it continues to move us into the future, and communicators may be on the front end of change. I believe we’ll see more social activism in sports and more vocal positioning around race, gender and other identities. Sports is a microcosm of society, and is venturing beyond just competition. We see different athletics positions connected to DEI, however, communicators should have a key role in the narratives. Communicators will need a general sense of DEI as the gatekeepers around issues management and inclusive storytelling. They need to have a seat at the management table to provide strategic insight, guidance and tactics. Communicators don’t have to be experts in DEI, but they should have an understanding of how it impacts their institutions, and be prepared to provide viewpoints from a communications lens. So how do we prepare ourselves for this future? 1.) Educate yourself as it relates to DEI. Again, you may not be the athletics diversity and inclusion designee, but you may be called to write or communicate initiatives regardless of whether you are a woman, person of color, white male or another identity. The NCAA hosts an annual Inclusion Forum, where anyone in the membership can learn about DEI topics. This year, the Forum is virtual with free registration. You can also educate Perspectives from Outside the Profession by Gail Dent | NCAA, Associate Director of Communications – External Engagement | yourself with free webinars, which have become popular during Covid, including many from CoSIDA. Communicators should participate in these programs. 2.) Teach or speak publicly when an opportunity arises. Adjunct teaching has helped my growth too. I started by simply speaking to college classes about sports and communications. This offered me the opportunity to grow and engage with younger audiences and thought leaders who may not look or think like me who are going to shape the world with their actions and mindsets. 3.) Reach beyond what you know. Be intentional. Are you developing your mind? Do you interact with diverse audiences, student-athletes and staff? Do you interview and employ while keeping diversity and inclusion in mind? Are you developing yourself to work in a changing world and a more diverse population? Covid changed our communication process. The issues and topics I’ve mentioned will change athletics and higher education. Communication leaders and our association risk getting left to the side if a homogeneous look and the status quo are maintained, especially with a more diverse population rising, which includes vocal student-athletes. Let’s work together to make our communications industry more viable, intentional and inclusive with diverse insights and actions. Professional development can be broad and enriching. The world is changing. And so should we as communicators. Gail Dent has served in the NCAA national office since 2001 and also as an adjunct professor at UIndy since 2013. She received her master’s in sports administration from Kentucky and her bachelor’s in public relations from Eastern Kentucky.6 | When you read CoSIDA’s mission statement, what sticks out to you? For me, it’s the last three words: “enhance our profession.” WHAT is our profession? Is it sports information — a title that a recent informal survey showed that less than half our membership uses? (see page 4) If you look at the last three words of the first sentence, it says athletics communications community. WHO is included in that? In an industry that now includes a wide range of communications and creative roles and responsibilities, is it exclusive to the sports information director? A better question than “what is our profession” may be “who is our profession” or “who should be included in our profession.” Having equally spent my time in a college athletic department both as a traditional SID and then in a creative role, I hear opinions from different perspectives all the time. Sometimes these opinions about the value of different roles are not productive and can, unfortunately, make some professionals sound more like rivals than teammates and collaborators. This is something we need to work on, starting with our national organization, to open the door wider for more communicators and creators to feel supported. For CoSIDA fulfill its mission, we must open our doors wider to be more inclusive of all types of communications and creative professionals in college athletics. We’ll all be stronger for it. CoSIDA MISSION STATEMENT CoSIDA educates, advocates, and communicates with and for the intercollegiate athletics communications community. It is our mission to engage and empower members, develop exceptional leaders, and promote and enhance our profession. by Beau White CoSIDA Director of Creative Services ALL Creatives ALL Creatives & CommunicatorsCommunicators deserve a seatdeserve a seat at our tableat our tableCoSIDA 360 | MAY 2021 | 7 as a slight. Ask anyone who’s keeping stats, doing PA, running a video stream, trying to get some photos for the website and posting social content by themselves during a game — while a whole other sport is also being played across campus — if they wouldn’t be better off with a full-time colleague sitting next to them, especially a full- time colleague with different strengths. The differences in our strengths and weaknesses should be celebrated and leveraged. Those differences are why we have different roles. It does not make one role more important than another. To understand and respect what everyone can bring to the table and then use that collectively to your advantage… that’s what makes for the best athletic departments. So what can CoSIDA do as an organization to encourage and support better unity among all types of communicators? How can we come together to use our collective influence to advocate for the communications profession as an industry, rather than our specific job roles? What’s lost on so many is that no matter your title or role, we’re ALL strategic communicators and creators who are at our best when we come together toward a common goal. Those departments that have already busted those silos are thriving — amplifying their creativity, messaging and branding. I’m talking about traditional SIDs, social media specialists, writers, designers, videographers, photographers — everyone who plays an active role in the content creation and reputation management of an athletic department or organization. Whether you’re the official spokesperson in charge of the crisis statements, you cultivate the relationships with the media, you design the graphics or videos, or you create the social media voice — it takes an immense amount of intelligence, skill and strategy to effectively communicate. Great writing, whether long-form, Twitter-form or graphic-form, is important to telling stories. These are traits we all share although we use different abilities. When we’re siloed in separate offices and it becomes a competition between communications, creative/ digital and marketing for who is the most important or who is doing the best work, the institution and brand — and by extension our student-athletes — suffer. When these professionals are not collaborating, all they are doing is confusing their fans, recruits, sponsors and donors. Worse, our bosses are confused and decision makers make decisions based on things they may not completely understand about our positions that affect our livelihoods. If you work in a small or one-person shop right now you’re rolling your eyes saying “I am THE person who has to do all of that,” and it’s true. Fortunately for small colleges it’s starting to happen that more creative- specific positions are being added — although not quickly enough — and those institutions making the smart investments in adding human resources have a chance to learn from the mistakes and successes of the larger schools before them. A one-person shop simply can’t do it all and do it all well. That’s not meant When I was coming up, CoSIDA represented the best of communications in college sports. As a student SID at Missouri State, my introduction to CoSIDA was seeing my boss’s 25-Year Award on his wall and being excited when our office won recognition for our publications. As I learned more, the simple opportunity to be part of the national organization and attend the convention was something that felt aspirational. CoSIDA factored in my decision to take a job at Kansas because Past President Doug Vance led that office and was someone I wanted to learn from. The first two media guides I ever produced on my own were recognized with second and sixth in the nation awards. Later that year when I attended my first convention — then called a workshop — it was an awesome experience to sit with and learn from names I’d previously only known and admired from a distance. The awards and confidence I gained as I was welcomed into CoSIDA in those early years made me feel like I truly Creatives + Communicators Imry Halevi serves as Assistant Director of Athletics - Multimedia & Production at Harvard. Halevi believes communicators should be focused on creating content. Read his perspective beginning on page 9.Next >