Task Force Appointed to Develop Plan to Elevate Sport Management in Falk College

Gretchen Ritter, Vice Chancellor, Provost and Chief Academic Officer, announced today the appointment of a task force to develop plans to elevate the Department of Sports Management within Falk College to a School of Sport Management. The move from department to school will enhance and expand on existing excellence and position the new School of Sport Management to achieve an even greater level of distinction and relevance.

“Since its inception nearly two decades ago, the Department of Sports Management has been tremendously successful in attracting high-performing students and preparing them for careers in the sports industry,” says Ritter. “This is an area of ​​excellence not only for Falk College but also for Syracuse University and creates an opportunity to leverage our faculty’s intellectual property to capitalize on a significant and emerging field of study and professional industry. I appreciate the task force’s commitment to this work and look forward to reviewing its findings and recommendations.”

The task force will explore and recommend ways in which the new School of Sport Management can connect, align, and integrate other areas of sport-related teaching and research on the Syracuse University campus.

Michael Veley, Rhonda S. Falk Endowed Professor and Chair and Director of Sport Management, who is retiring at the end of this calendar year, says there has never been a more opportune time to start and establish a School of Sport Management. “This industry is growing rapidly and requires a larger, better prepared workforce. Nowhere is there a bigger pool of athletic talent than here at Syracuse University.”

Jeffrey Rubin, Professor of Practice at the School of Information Studies, Special Advisor to the Chancellor on eSports and Digital Transformation and Founder of Sidearm Sports, and Jamie Winders, Professor of Geography and Environment at Maxwell School and Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs, will chair take over the task force. Other members are:

• Keonte Coleman, Assistant Professor of Broadcast and Digital Journalism and Director of Assessment and Program Review at The Newhouse School
• Lindsey Darvin, Assistant Professor of Sport Management at Falk College
• Brad Horn, Professor of Public Relations and Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives at Newhouse School
• Kristen Konkol, Associate Teaching Professor of Exercise Science at Falk College
• Gina Pauline, Associate Professor and Undergraduate Director of Sport Management at Falk College
• Tommy Powell, Assistant Provost for Student and Athlete Academic Development
• Lori Robinson G’09, Emerging Leaders Council, Department of Sports Management, Falk College.

This task force will begin work while the search is ongoing for Falk College’s next dean, who will be responsible for overseeing the implementation of the plan to increase the new School of Sport Management. This is the second school to be established within Falk College, which already includes the School of Social Work.