Master of Science in Sport Management - Parks & Recreation

This course analyzes contemporary issues including the use of performance enhancing drugs, gambling, escalating salaries, violence, and institutional cheating in sports. Case studies are investigated and students engage in critical thinking and discussions to understand what has created these issues.

This course introduces the fundamental tenets of the law and familiarizes students with legal structure and basic legal terminology. Various aspects of law are examined including negligence, tort law and risk management, and how they impact the sports industry. In addition, legal issues that relate to professional sport leagues and amateur governing bodies are analyzed.

Financial Management in the Sport Industry is a study of the principles, theories, and competencies essential for working with the fiscal and economic conditions and factors involved in global sport organizations. This course will provide students with basic fiscal and economic principles, strategies, and techniques essential for the leadership, management, and administration of global sports programs. Course activities and requirements have been designed to familiarize the student with the fiscal, economic, budgeting, sources of funding, and impact analyses issues associated with sport in a global society.

This course will examine leisure behavior primarily from sociological, historical and philosophical perspectives, although current contributions to the understanding of leisure behavior will be incorporated when appropriate. Emphasis will be given to understanding the role of social and historical forces in shaping leisure behavior.

Examines the role of managers as ethical and responsible thought leaders, problem solvers and change agents. The complexities of, and challenges associated with, managing and leading change in a rapidly changing, international, diverse and information-based environment are emphasized. Through discussion, case analysis, role playing, decision-making simulations, and experiential exercises, students explore the responsibilities of contemporary business and the complex issues of leading and guiding organizations in a turbulent environment.

This course addresses management practices and procedures within the sports and entertainment industry, with an emphasis on sports management procedures and operational scenarios. Students in this course explore professional and amateur athletics, organizational structures, sports operations and logistics, and sports business, models.

Research in Sport Management requires students to identify, describe, analyze, and report on a sport industry issue or problem at their own workplace by drawing on the relevant literature. The issue could be related to collective bargaining, the introduction of new technology in sport, sexual harassment, sport marketing, employment equity, overtime working, worker motivation and productivity, seniority, discipline, or management rights. Final product for the course is a research paper/project covering an in-depth analysis of a sport industry problem or issue, including a review of the literature, data analysis, and findings/recommendations. Prerequiste: Earned at least 21 credits & Permission of Instructor required

This course covers fundamental principles of analytics applied to sports. In this course, students will be introduced to mathematical and statistical concepts and learn basic programming and coding skills to analyze sport-related data. Students will learn how to handle, code, and analyze large amounts of sport-related data. Specific course topics include the application of analytics in sports related to player performance, team management, operations, marketing, finances, fantasy sports, eSports, among other topics.

The overall objective of the course is to provide a broad survey of the roles of parks and recreation in our global society. We will focus primarily on issues related to the management of wild-lands (national parks and forests) as an environment for outdoor recreation.Current and historical relationships between recreation visitors, the resource base, and management policies are explored within the United States and as a global phenomenon. Additionally, issues related to recreation planning on multiple-use forest lands, parks, wilderness, protected areas and private lands are discussed. Understanding these roles provides the necessary intellectual footing to professional development and conveys to others how we got to where we are. More specifically, the course is designed to address the following questions:1. How do societies view the evolving roles and purpose of recreational spaces?2. How does recreation make a difference to our social, individual, & environmental lives?3. What types of recreation opportunities and experiences are valued in American society?4. What forms and structures does recreation and tourism take, domestically and internationally?5. What are the fundamental issues associated with managing visitors to wild-land settings and how do we address those issues?

This class will use current events and issues to examine the current state of the Parks and recreation field. The class will begin by setting the historical backdrop for the industry and then moving into current trends and issues to show how the industry got to its present state before moving on to potential solutions for the issues grounded in this knowledge.

This graduate level course covers the basics of nature tourism, a broad category that covers ecotourism, adventure tourism, and a variety of activities and programs involving the outdoors. An emphasis is placed on New England nature tourism and its multifaceted impacts.

One of the major fields of study that influence social science is psychology. Psychology is the study of the way the human mind works and how it influences behavior. We all use the principles of psychology daily without realizing it. This class will link the principals of psychology to a multitude of leisure activates as well as the leisure industry.

The purpose of this course is to provide students with tools for effective writing and reporting of research and projects in the sport industry. The prerequisite for this course is SMGT 780, Research & design in the Sport Industry, an introduction to research methods and designs in the sport industry. SMGT 781 will briefly review some important issues relating to writing and reporting of data and information across the sport industry. Writing and publication practices will be examined in relation to grant funding, publication, and professional presentations in Sport Management education and the Sport Industry.

This three (3) credit course is designed for students to acquire field experience in the Sport Industry. 797 includes supervised work for 150 hours in a sport management setting. Practical experience can be gained in any number of positions including sales, marketing, public relations, operations, facilities, athletic administration (in schools or higher education), event management, or other segments of the sport industry. Prerequisite: Students must have completed a minimum of 27 credit hours & Instructor Approval