Course Detail

SRA 330 Sport Governance and Policy

SRA 330 IS Sec 1, University of Mississippi
[See UM Catalog for Description]

3 credit hours

Instructor Information:

Instructor name:
Dr. Brennan K. Berg

Instructor Information:
I want to share a little about my life and background in sports. I went to high school in Jackson, TN, and played football through my first two years of college. I walked-on very briefly at the University of Oklahoma and then transferred to Illinois State University so I could be on scholarship. My athletic career came to end sooner than I expected due to injuries and I had to move on in life. I transferred to the University of Memphis to complete my undergraduate degree in political science. I really enjoy political science and had some great experiences up in Washington D.C. interning on Capitol Hill and at the White House. I still incorporate my political science background into the policy research I do here at the university and, of course, is one reason why I love teaching sport policy and governance.

After completing my undergraduate degree, I knew I would go to grad school. I had always been interested in sport management and got accepted to the University of Memphis Sport Commerce program. So, I was in your position many years ago. Two of the most enjoyable years I ever had as a student were in the Memphis program studying sport management. I appreciated how we got to challenge each other on topics we all enjoyed studying, and the camaraderie between the faculty and students was outstanding. While I was in the program I was a graduate assistant at the alumni office putting on pregame events before home football and basketball games and the homecoming parade. I was in a sport sales training program we did with the Memphis Redbirds at the time. I was also a selected member of a sponsorship activation team that worked with University of Memphis Men's Basketball, Tiger Sports Properties, and Ford Motor Company.

After completing my Master's, I left Memphis and worked for a little over a year in San Antonio for the Spurs. A lot of sport companies own multiple teams and so as a new employee I was assigned to work for their WNBA team. While it was sometimes frustrating, it also served as a better learning experience and really forced me to be creative during my time there than had I just immediately started selling the Spurs. I hope you can see that I have a lot of different experiences in sport and will bring many practical examples into this course to better prepare you for the industry.  

I still had a desire to earn my Ph.D. in sport management so I left San Antonio to go study at the University of Texas at Austin. I studied in Austin for four years and then was blessed with the opportunity to come back to the University of Memphis as a faculty member. I spent 10 years at Memphis before accepting an opportunity to come here to Ole Miss, where I just completed my first year. I am not only a faculty member who gets to work with our students but I also serve as the program director for the sport and recreation administration degree. You will see many changes to the degree program in the coming years so please stay connected and look for communications we will send to the students!  

As far as specific sports, I enjoy football, basketball, and mixed martial arts. I also enjoy working out on a regular basis. My family and I are enjoying Oxford so far but have a lot more to learn about this community and university. So, please share advice on great local restaurants or cool experiences to have while living here!  

Feel free to ask if you are curious about anything else. I am excited to work with you in this SRA 330 course and look forward to seeing your growth as a result!  

Contact Information:

If you have questions concerning the content of the course, you may contact the instructor directly using the Email Your Instructor link in the Lessons or Content page. NOTE: Whenever sending email, please be sure to indicate your course title and number in the subject line. You can expect a response within 72 hours, although it may be longer on weekends. Many instructors reply within 24 hours.

For lesson or test administration issues, please contact the iStudy department:

Course Description

This course serves as a comprehensive study in examining how sport organizations address fundamental issues of governance and policy. The basics of managerial activities necessary for governance in sport organizations and the structure and function of sport bodies will be explored. Current policy issues and the ethical questions they raise will be investigated. This course provides an overview of the sport industry and will help students understand their place in this exciting profession.

Textbook Information:

Textbook information will be provided upon enrollment in your iStudy course.

Course Objectives:

Objectives include (but are not limited to):

1. Be conversant with the environmental, economic, and sociopolitical impacts of sport;
2. Be skilled in the application of stakeholder analysis to sport development;
3. Be conversant with the contributions of sport to deviant behavior;
4. Be able to describe the policy objectives for sport as a social service;
5. Be competent to analyze critically the legitimations for taxpayer support of sport;
6. Be proficient at the preparation and critical analysis of policy arguments;
7. Be able to describe the implications of key psychological and sociological phenomena for the recruitment of participants into sport settings;
8. Be able to formulate strategies to foster athlete transitions;
9. Be competent to design and implement sport programs and systems to foster participation and the development of sporting excellence

Course Outline:

You MUST complete the syllabus quiz as soon as you have access to your Blackboard course. This is mandatory to verify your attendance. *  NOTE: you must pass the Syllabus and Orientation Quiz for the course materials to appear on the Lessons page

Grading:

Grading Scale:

GRADING INFORMATION:
Assignments will be assessed using the following criteria:

• Quality of writing and presentation
• Application of methods and concepts from the text and lectures
• Synthesis and integration of ideas and insights
• Clarity and logic

The grading format is as follows:
Journals 25%
Policy Analysis 25%
Exams 50%
Total 100%

FAILURE TO TAKE THE FINAL EXAM WILL RESULT IN FAILURE OF THE COURSE.

You must submit the lessons required to take the course exam(s). Lessons required but not submitted will receive a grade of zero. For the final exam, all coursework must be submitted and graded.