Further your sports education with the Master of Arts in Human Performance (Sport Management Teacher Certification) online program
Starting this summer, the University of Alabama’s College of Education will begin offering a Master of Arts in Human Performance (Sport Management Teacher Certification) online.
The program will give students across the country the opportunity to earn master’s-level teacher certification in sport management. Teachers, coaches, and athletic directors holding Alabama Class B teaching certification, or the equivalent in another state, are encouraged to apply.
Through this online program, faculty members in the College of Education hope to provide greater accessibility to prospective students interested in sport management.
“We’ve had a number of current teachers, athletic directors, and coaches across the state call us about this program, but for many of them, traveling to Tuscaloosa three nights a week is not possible,” said Dr. John Vincent, professor and graduate coordinator for the program.
J.T. Gosnell, a 2011 alumnus of the campus program, said he would have preferred an online option. Instead, he traveled back and forth to campus while teaching full time and coaching high school football and baseball.
“I really enjoyed my time at UA, but if the program had been offered online back then, I probably would have taken it online,” Gosnell said. “Mostly because I was teaching full time. I didn’t have children then, but now I have a daughter…so it would be really difficult to get to campus.”
Gosnell enrolled in the program to further his sport management education. He is interested in becoming an athletic director, and the program seemed to be the best fit for his future career advancement goals.
The program helps educators develop leadership, personnel management, motivational, and communication skills. Students in the program also study legal issues and risk management, fundraising and development, marketing and finance, and socio-cultural issues applicable to sports and interscholastic athletics.
“Coaches and athletic directors attain results through efficient and effective management of their resources,” Dr. Vincent said. “This program contains all the information they need to do that.”
Taryn Fink, a current student in the program, also found the program to be the perfect fit for her career. However, Fink is more interested in the legal side of sports. She was sworn in as a member of the Alabama state bar in May 2014 and had hoped to integrate sports into her legal practice.
“I didn’t feel like my career was going in the direction that I wanted it to,” Fink said. “I was at an Alabama football game with my sister and the lightbulb went off. I thought, ‘Oh my god. I should do something with sport management.’ That would get my career back to the sport law direction I had wanted. And UA’s program was the best option.”
Gosnell said his experience with the program, especially his relationships with faculty members, was fantastic.
“The professors were really accommodating. If you had a question, they answered the phone right away or got back to you pretty quickly. They went out of their way to try to help you,” Gosnell said. “I was coaching baseball and football for part of the time that class was in session, so if I ever had any conflict with a game, they worked with me.”
Students enrolled in the online program will pay the distance learning tuition rate, which is the same regardless of residency. To be eligible, prospective students must hold Alabama Class B teaching certification or the equivalent from another state. They must also meet GPA and other admission requirements.
For more information on this program, contact Dr. John Vincent at vincent@ua.edu or visit BamaByDistance.ua.edu.