Master of Collegiate Athletics
The Master of Collegiate Athletics is a professional, competency-based program focusing on the specifics of collegiate sport management. This one-of-kind program has recruited industry leaders to develop courses and lead students to successful careers in sport administration.
Highlights
As the lead instructional designer for this program, I introduced a new way of designing online learning at the University of San Francisco. In addition to promoting and managing the design and development of a program-based “look and feel”, I also leveraged available technologies to capture the wealth of knowledge available from instructors and guest interviewees.
Roles
Lead Instructional Designer
As the lead instructional designer, I managed the development of a program composed of twelve, 3-unit courses. The goal of the program is 32 hours of designed instruction per course for a total of 384 instructional hours.
I liaised with the academic program director to conduct content analyses of courses to determine module learning objectives, instructional activities and assessments.
Project Manager and Team Supervisor
As project manager, I maintained development within scope despite the challenges of working with non-academic instructors. Additionally I managed the audio-visual producer, the multimedia developer, contractors and student employees who were responsible for various project deliverables.
Art Director
I lead a process of creative ideation with the academic program director, the multimedia designer, the audio-visual producer, and Bootstrap developer. We designed a signature look for the program, the first of it’s kind at the University of San Francisco.
Cinematographer
Having previous professional experience as cinematographer, I introduced and managed the implementation of quality lighting style that enhanced the content and conveyed professionalism to students and secondary target audiences.
Instructional Methods
- Asynchronous online learning environment with occasional online synchronous presentation sessions
- Group-based projects
- Case-studies based on instructor research and knowledge
Expert in-studio interviews to provide highly-relevant, authentic content - Instructor course and module introductions that enhance instructor social presence
- High fidelity project-based assessments delivered in real-world environments, for example, branding presentation delivered to Atlantic Coast Conference marketing stakeholders
- Consistent look and feel to convey a unified learning experience
Courses Developed
New Student Orientation
601 College Athletics in a Digital Era
602 Leadership and Career Management
603 Digital Branding and Strategic Management
604 Ticketing, Pricing, and Sales
605 The Budget Cycle and Financial Management
606 Governance and Compliance
607 Fan Engagement, Data Analytics, and Market Solutions
608 Facility Design, Venue Construction and Fan Engagement
609 Generating Revenue Partnerships
610 Game Day Operations
611 & 612 Career Management & Professional Development 1 & 2
Instructional Object Samples
When first starting this program, we identified an opportunity to apply an aesthetic treatment that reflected the world of collegiate sport. We strove for clean design, flat layout, and dynamic content. Items that we could infuse with the MCA brand were the course home page, case studies, instructor course and module introduction videos, subject matter expert interviews, and Captivate presentations.
Course Home Page Design
The course home page is the first thing that a student sees when they login to a course. In order to ensure that students have a consistent experience from course to course, we maintained the top navigation pane with a standard set of custom-designed icons. Every course, however, had distinct background images to reflect their specific subject matter.
Roles
- Project manager
- Instructional designer
- Art Director
Case Studies (Web)
As a departure to the lecture format, we designed engaging, interactive case studies based on instructor knowledge and expertise.
These case studies are built in a custom-designed Bootstrap framework. Every case study has the signature top navigation pane, accented with the Collegiate Athletics “yellow”. Flat titling and a “floating” background image, motifs that carry over from study to study.
Roles
- Project manager
- Instructional designer
- Art Director
Course and Module Introductions
In order to enhance instructor social presence in an online course, I rallied for the use of video in the form of course module introductions. In course introductions, the instructor introduces the course at a high level, covering course learning outcomes and how the course fits in the context of the program. Module introductory videos introduce module learning outcomes and situate the student within the trajectory of the course.
Roles
- Project manager
- Instructional designer
- Art Director
- Cinematographer
Guest Subject Matter Expert Interviews
Numerous interviews were conducted to draw on the authentic expertise and experience of professionals in the field. Rather than relying solely on available resources, the Program Director, recruited local and national players in the field of sport management. These resulting videos served to augment the content of the course, but also to provided students with up-to-date trends and issues encountered in the profession.
Production approach
SME interview videos were shot in a professional “black box” interview style. Standard high-key three point lighting was used to enhance the interviewees and to center the students’ focus on the speaker’s content.
Roles
- Project manager
- Instructional designer
- Videographer