<p>I was wondering if anyone had any information about the Sports Management program at FSU. I plan on majoring in Sports Management once I get to college in the fall of 2007. I've been told it's a good program, but I wanted to come to the FSU board to get everyone's take on it. Is it better then the program offered at UFlorida or UMiami? Thanks in advance for any information.</p>
<p>Here is the link to information about the program.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.fsu.edu/%7Esmrmpe/%5B/url%5D">http://www.fsu.edu/~smrmpe/</a></p>
<p>College of Education
Sport Management, Recreation Management and Physical Education (SMRMPE)</p>
<p>Based upon the data in this link:</p>
<p>It appears that the Sports Management program at Florida State is better than either U Florida or U Miami. It also appears to be the most comprehensive in Florida.</p>
<p>I'd say that Miami is better based on my research. There are no rankings for Sports Management, you have to go and look at the internships and career placement of each programs, their curriculum, and the value of the degree. Miami has much more internship options within the city, and provides undergraduates with an abundance of oppurtunities. It is the #1 recruited school for teams like the Heat, Dolphins, Marlins, and Panthers. They also have many colleges within the city that allow internships with their athletic departments. Their curriculum is much more business based and the best part is that you have a required internship with the program. Florida State doesn't offer this feature. You also have a required business minor.</p>
<p>It's not the most comprehensive in Florida. Don't jump to that conclusion because they have programs at every level and are approved in NASSM. 3/4 of the colleges don't want to become approved by NASSM due to the lengthy application they want. And often doctorate degrees in SM are pointless unless you want to become a college professor in Sport Management. In fact, i'd say that UCF is definitely ahead of Florida State, and up there with Miami in terms of quality. UCF has guaranteed internships with the Magic, and you also get a business degree I believe. Tampa also has a good program. Florida has a great program with a required internship. St. Thomas has a very good one with a vast alumni network (very critical for internships). Stetson has another good one. I know Flagler's is alright. There are a few more i'm sure but those i'm aware of and they are all solid. Big time sports programs always have a plus because you can get involved with their program and work with them.</p>
<p>So you're saying - based on your research - FSU does not require an internship or other associated courses such as business, and thus is the weakest of all the SM programs?</p>
<p>If a NASSM application is lengthy, thus meaning detailed and requiring attention to a diversity of areas they think are important, is too much a bother for a university why would any school , like U Texas for example, spend the time?</p>
<p>Is an internship with a pro team the best indicator of quality of an SM program?</p>
<p>Do major college sports programs qualify as internships?</p>
<p>Here's some news of the FSU program:</p>
<p>North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM) Annual conference, Kansas City, May 30-June 3. Aubrey Kent (Florida State University) was among 5 scholars inducted as NASSM Research Fellows. There are now a total of 29 Research Fellows worldwide............Aubrey Kent (FSU) was elected as NASSM President-Elect at the Annual General Meeting of the conference. His term will run through 2009.
<a href="http://www.coe.fsu.edu/newscoe.htm#smrmpe%5B/url%5D">http://www.coe.fsu.edu/newscoe.htm#smrmpe</a></p>
<p>And some information from the FSU SM FAQs:</p>
<p>Is sport management a good major if I want to coach high school athletics?</p>
<p>It is not the best undergraduate major if that is your goal. Sport management is about the business side of the sport industry and does not prepare you to be a teacher at any level.</p>
<p>What kind of jobs can I get if I major in sport management?</p>
<p>Sport management is centered on the business aspects of the sport and recreation industries. Our program is designed to help students learn more about all facets of the industry from college and professional athletics to facility and event management to workout facilities, and marketing firms among others.</p>
<p>I would say that you can tell the quality of a program based on where it's graduates are currently employed, whether or not they have a guaranteed internship, whether or not they make you study a it from a business aspect (sometimes even require a dual major or a minor), and based on the oppurtunities you have with that degree.</p>
<p>Florida State's curriculum isn't business based like many other curriculums, and leaves out a lot of classes that other universities, like Miami, offer. They weren't approved at the undergraduate level for their curriculum, and when you look at it, it does leave a lot out in terms of business and internship based classes. </p>
<p>Schools spend the time to fill out application because it lures applicants to them and creates publicity for the program. However, many top schools (like Michigan, Rice, Indiana) don't fill out the publication, because they don't need accreditation from a private society that is meaningless to employers. They already know they have great programs, and it is a waste to spend hours in submitting an application so you can be approved.</p>
<p>I know virtually nothing about the SM business, so I therefore don't have an opinion about the program.</p>
<p>However, from what you're written and what FSU posts, the only significant difference I can discern is that the internship issue is a bit murky at this point. The Q+A above lists the business apects of SM a main concern, apparently. Yet, in their SM newsletter FSU writes about students getting internships. So in some form students must be securing them. </p>
<p>This then begs the question, since you seem to know about SM - is it crucial to have an internship with a pro team or is an internship with a Division 1 college team or a county program or some private-industry program acceptable? Pro team internships would be nice, but there just aren't that many in Florida...but there are 67 counties and thousands of private concerns.</p>
<p>It depends on what you want to do. Some want to work in collegiate athletics and become athletic directors. In that case, yes, a strong sports program like Florida State is definitely a plus, because of the exposure you get in recruiting and top athletes that schools like Indiana State wouldn't get. I assume this works well in landing potential jobs for professional sports, because you have worked in an athletic department before. It's not like a business major where everyone wants to go into consulting or I-Banking for banks, you can choose the field of athletics you want to go into, professional or collegiate, and even some high school as well. Employers just want to see that you have experience in working in the business world of athletics. If you can do that through your school, or through a sports team, you shouldn't have difficulty getting a job, although you have to remember that many of these internships turn into jobs.</p>
<p>Having heard that, were I an administrator at the local YMCA looking for a sports manager, I'd still look for a graduate out of a program with the best, publically accepted credentials. Generally, a YMCA facility is quite expensive and thus a valuable asset in terms of money and community good will. </p>
<p>They also are the targets of lawsuits, especially if poorly managed. </p>
<p>This means that NASSM accreditation is important, because it's the only objective evidence I would find representing the quality of the program at the applicant's university. I, as a responsible YMCA administrator, would therefore hire the NASSM accredited applicant over one who spent a semester picking up after elite athletes on a pro team (I'm sure this is a gross generalization). Going before the YMCA trustees to justify my hiring decision, I'd feel confident with the NASSM grad.</p>
<p>Not to be too picky, but pro sports teams tend to impress those who follow such teams. The rest of us are mostly clueless about such teams, except to follow the stories about allegedly overpaid pro athletes or such teams asking for taxpayer money. We do like it when the local team wins, though. (So much for fair-weather pro sports fans)</p>
<p>In consideration of this analysis, FSU's Sports Management program still seems to represent the best accredited program in Florida.</p>
<p>The NASSM is not publically accepted. It's a private organization for profit that is meaningless to employers. Accreditation not important. I've spoken to the Orlando Magic and the Philadelphia Sixers and both have said that they don't consider it and that many employers just look at it as nothing. It's like a "Who's Who Among American High School Students", something you have to pay for and send in an application so you can put it on your resume. Many colleges don't do this, because there is no point to it. Your curriculum (which employers will look at) and your degree reputation (linked to the overall reputation of the program) is what's more important, in addition to the historical background of the program and the connections with recent graduates in the field with organizations. And Florida State is not even accredited at the undergraduate level (no business, no internship), which ironically is your argument for why they should be considered the best in Florida.</p>
<p>That's an interesting point and warrants additional research. </p>
<p>FSU's lack of a NASSM undergraduate accreditation seems to put it on par with the other schools in the state, in that context, but only at the undergraduate level.</p>
<p>My observation is that FSU has this rating while the other schools do not, or do not to the same degree. Since this is quite evident from the NASSM pages and that other significant schools have the same rating it comes across as credible.</p>
<p>For example - here's the NASSM webpage lead-in:</p>
<p>'NASSM is actively involved in supporting and assisting professionals working in the fields of sport, leisure and recreation. The purpose of the North American Society for Sport Management is to promote, stimulate, and encourage study, research, scholarly writing, and professional development in the area of sport management - both theoretical and applied aspects. Topics of interest to NASSM members include sport marketing, future directions in management, employment perspectives, management competencies, leadership, sport and the law, personnel management, facility management, organizational structures, fund raising, and conflict resolution.'</p>
<p>To the layman, like me, this sounds fine. It also sounds consistent with your position of what a school should be doing in this degree area.</p>
<p>With regard to the issue of pro teams, I am getting the message from you that this is where SM grads want to go. The numbers, though, seem wrong - there appear to be far too many SM grads for the few pro teams in Florida. </p>
<p>Most SM grads would wind up working elsewhere, I would estimate. This makes me find the apparent anecdotal information from those teams (only one of which is in FL) not representative of the SM class of graduates. </p>
<p>Also, any pro team located in Tampa, for example, will want to support the local community and thus take interns from local schools before out-of-town schools. It just makes good PR sense to do this. Consequently, it's easy to see how the local school would receive a better reputation - as far as the pro team goes - than another school. This is not persuasive to me, therefore, that the SM program at UMiami, for example is better than FSU's just because they have easier access to local pro teams.</p>
<p>Do you have data besides this kind of information that would indicate a significant difference in programs? Everything you're related so far has been supported by FSU's program and the NASSM website, just as you've written about.</p>
<p>You just said it. It's all about location and getting the job in Sport Management. If your institution isn't the feeder institution for a major market, then you aren't going to be a good program. It's all about getting the job, and whatever school gives you that job, that's the one that is going to be the best school. That's why I consider Miami better. They will land jobs for their graduates. They are the recruited program for the Heat, Marlins, Dolphins, and Panthers. Florida State isn't, it's a long ways away from them. Actually, Florida State hits the Atlanta and New Orleans markets, as there aren't any great schools in those regions. But you are right, they recruit locally and will take the local program's kids over the ones from other regions. That's why relatively unknown schools can have great sport management programs. Massachusetts feeds the Boston area teams. U San Francisco feeds that region. Oregon actually works with Nike in Japan as well as Portland teams. South Carolina with Charolotte. Michigan with Detroit, Rice with Houston, Indiana with Indianapolis, Texas with Dallas, Miami with Miami, I could go on. It truly is all about location, and if in that region you are the school with the best reputation, you will be recruited out of. How you get that reputation is linked with your program's graduates, if they have the background that they need to succeed in the industry, and the success of the recent graduates - if they are successful and can lead students to jobs with their organization. I'll always state that the age of the program as well as it's graduates are the most important things when it comes to SM.</p>
<p>I think this information will now be helpful to those condsidering sports management as a major.</p>
<p>gunot - is this of any help?</p>