The Department of Communication, Journalism and Public Relations is debuting a new special topics course in the Spring 2018 semester – CA404, Sports Communication.

The idea began when  Associate Professor Lora Cohn, Ph.D., was enrolling one of her students for the spring semester. The student’s minor is Sports Communication but they both realized there are no specific classes geared toward this academic study at Park. Cohn reached out to Steve Wilson, Park’s Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations and Compliance, and who would eventually be chosen as the instructor of this course.

Wilson has been handling athletic communications at Park since 2007. Before that, he spent part of an academic year at the NAIA national office and two seasons at NCAA Division I Texas State. For his career accomplishment, Wilson was named the NAIA’s Clarence “Ike” Pearson Award winner, the highest achievement given to communications professionals in the NAIA, in 2013.

Cohn contacted Wilson, thinking they could set up some kind of Sports Communication internship and before long, it turned into a new course.

“I sent the email, and it was minutes before he said ‘I’m on it,’” said Cohn.

From there, the two put their heads together and brainstormed an outline of the curriculum for the class.

Cohn shared it with the department, which granted its approval. Cohn attested that the process of designing this class was, for the most part, struggle-free.

“Our curriculum is pretty flexible,” Cohn said. “We can be a little bit more innovative.”

With Wilson’s day-to-day work, the load of designing this course was not overwhelming for him, either.

“With the experience level our faculty have in putting together courses, it’s been relatively painless,” Wilson said.

The curriculum for this class is still somewhat open since it is a new course.

However, it will include the basics for covering sports at both a collegiate and professional level. Students will learn to be a communications liaison for sports organizations.

The focus of this course will also be very different than that of other communications classes. Professionalism with communication in the sports industry will be the focal point.

Something students can look forward to with this course is the hands-on experience they will get in sports communication.

“I’m not much of a lecturer so there won’t be a ton of note taking and tests,” Wilson said. “We are going to learn, though, and I believe the only way to learn on this subject is through hands-on experience.”

With Wilson’s hands-on teaching method, students will get their experience by merging this course with sporting events happening at Park. Wilson hopes utilizing Park Athletics will enhance not only students’ understanding of the course, but also drive interest in sports at Park.

Because this course is a merger of sports and communication and has a different focus than most classes, this section of CA404 could be beneficial to a variety of students. Those interested in sports, fitness and wellness, journalism or communications will gain a lot from taking this course.

“The skills learned go beyond sports,” Wilson said. “Being able to write and communicate effectively will translate in to any job setting, and I think this will be a fun and entertaining way to hone those skills.”

There are a few students enrolled in the course for the Spring 2018 semester but Cohn and Wilson are excited to introduce more.