University of Dubuque Trades Textbooks for Engaged Learning With Sports Career Game Plan (SCGP)

The full story:

Background

The University of Dubuque (UD) is a private, coed university founded in 1852. Located in Dubuque, Iowa, the university prepares students to find their purpose and make meaningful contributions to the world. UD offers a Sport Marketing and Management program that focuses on the skills, techniques, and proficiencies of leading an organization within the larger sports industry. Following graduation from the program, students have several options in front of them: Some matriculate to graduate education while others go to work for professional, amateur, collegiate, and municipal sport and entertainment organizations in a variety of positions.

Opportunities

Kevin P. Cattani, Ph.D., is Professor of Sport Marketing and Management and Director of the Master in Management – Sport Management program at UD. He teaches many courses across the curriculum, the first of which is Introduction to Health, Wellness and Sport (HWS 100), a course for freshmen that covers professional development and guides students to determine whether working in sports is the right career path.

In 2019, Cattani met WorkInSports’ VP of Marketing, Brian Clapp, at a sports industry conference. The two spoke about the fledgling WorkInSports Sports Career Game Plan (SCGP), an online engaged learning program designed to help students jump-start their careers in the sports industry.

Cattani thought his students would benefit from the program, as SCGP delivers actionable, digestible material in various mediums, including career advice articles, checklists, worksheets, quizzes, videos, audio content, and interviews. Previously, Cattani had tried using two different textbooks on professional development, but neither of them were quite what he was looking to add to HWS 100.

Solution

As one of the first adopters of SCGP, Cattani worked closely with Clapp to refine the SCGP curriculum, which today comprises five modules: Gaining the RIGHT Experience for Your Sports Career; Building and Maintaining Your Sports Industry Network; Mastering Your Resume, Cover Letter, and Personal Brand; Interviewing for Jobs and Internships in the Sports Industry; and Soft Skills to Move Your Sports Career Forward.

Cattani integrated SCGP into the 16-week HWS 100 course, which is taught in both the spring and fall semesters. The middle “block” of the class is catered toward professional development and Cattani uses SCGP as his go-to teaching resource.

“It’s essentially my book,” he said. “When I find a resource like SCGP that reinforces content I already present in class, that’s where I find value. SCGP represents all the things that are happening in the industry and helps us prepare students to be the best versions of themselves as they get ready for the next chapter in their professional development.”

All SCGP materials are accessible online 24/7 and students receive five years of Premium membership on the WorkInSports platform, giving them access to thousands of verified sports industry jobs, resume and cover letter building and scoring tools, and many more job search and career resources.

Results

Cattani and UD have been using SCGP for more than five years, helping over 400 students learn the skills needed to stand out and get hired in the sports industry. In fact, Cattani has eliminated textbooks in the HWS 100 course.

“We love that it’s not pages and pages of reading. It caters to a mix of learning styles and allows all my students to find a version of the materials they like,” Cattani commented.

Because of the wide variety of content, Cattani believes SCGP is effective in appealing to a broader group of students. They especially like the modules on resume and cover letter writing, he said, and exercises like the “Heat Check” are particularly impactful. To conduct a Heat Check, students look at a job description for a role that interests them and compare it to their resume. They highlight the skills and requirements in the job description in green that they possess, and mark those in red that they lack. If they see a lot of red, they know they must seek out additional experience to progress toward their ideal job.

Further, students are using SCGP and the WorkInSports platform beyond the HWS 100 course. As an academic advisor, Cattani often directs students to WorkInSports’ job board to search for internships – a requirement for two of the three tracks in UD’s Sport Marketing and Management program – and Resource Center for further career guidance.

Cattani also appreciates that WorkInSports continues to update the SCGP, keeping content fresh and relevant to the ever-evolving sports industry.

“It’s the gift that keeps on giving,” he concluded.

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