SUNY Cortland to Offer Dual Master's Degree in International Sport Management

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SUNY Cortland and London Metropolitan University dual diploma partners are, from the left: Bob Morgan, Stephen Burwood, Ted Fay and Jan Bamford.

CORTLAND, NY (12/17/2008)(readMedia)-- SUNY Cortland has partnered with London Metropolitan University (LMU) to offer a new dual diploma masters' degree in international sport management, one of only a handful in existence worldwide.

LMU's Dean of the School of Business Bob Morgan and its International Student Coordinator Jan Bamford visited the Cortland campus on Dec. 16 to formally sign the program's articulation agreement with SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum.

"This is the first university in the United States that has a dual degree graduate program in international sport management," said Ted Fay, the program's developer, professor and chair of the College's Sport Management Department. "We are being recognized by our peer institutions nationally for the direction we have taken. This effort is also drawing the interest of other colleges and universities involved in our discipline, causing them to look at similar models."

"This provides a truly international experience for our graduate students," observed Stephen Burwood, director of the James M. Clark Center for International Education at SUNY Cortland. "The mission of the Clark Center is to help internationalize the campus and to assist departments in providing the broadest possible spectrum of international experience for the students and also for faculty. This is a major new initiative toward that goal."

The College has three other dual degree programs - in economics, business economics, and teaching English as a second language - all offered at the undergraduate level, Burwood said. The Master of Science dual degree in International Sport Management (MSISM) marks the College's first dual diploma at the master's level.

The new dual degree in international sport management program targets professionals working in a variety of segments of the sport industry in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors, both in North America and around the globe. Interested professionals include those seeking career advancement in areas such as international sport marketing, media and communications, international event and facility management, international sport law, labor relations and risk management, information technology applications in international sport enterprises, international sport finance and fiscal management.

"SUNY Cortland and LMU are engaged in a co-recruiting effort to enroll students from all over the world," Fay noted. "We at SUNY Cortland expect to put a great deal of emphasis on the Western Hemisphere, particularly North America."

The inaugural group of five students - four Americans and one Greek - enrolled in the MSISM program completed the fall semester curriculum at SUNY Cortland.

They are: Danielle Barone of Penfield, N.Y.; Elizabeth Bateman of Lakeland, Fla.; Zoi Kuokaki from the country of Greece; Juan Sebastien Romero of Elmont, N.Y.; and Ben Stuck of Vestal, N.Y.

The contingent will join an estimated six new students recruited through LMU for studies in London this spring. The program is expected to reach its target enrollment of 25-30 students over the next couple of years, said Fay.

The roots of this program evolved from Fay's 30 years of involvement in international sport organizations engaged in Olympic and Paralympic sports, during which time he perceived a gap in intercultural competence and global awareness, particularly among young American professionals engaged in international sport.

The two major centers of international sport finance, media and governance are located in Europe and North America, and in particular in London and New York City. The two campuses are ideal from a geographical standpoint as laboratories in which students can study sport management and later as places from which they can launch their careers.

"The partnership presents both teaching and research opportunities for faculty at both institutions, providing a chance to retool their ideas for the future," Burwood said. "Internationalizing the College is not just about the movement of people but about the movement of ideas, and how those ideas settle and change."

In late summer, the New York State Education Department (NYSED) Office of Higher Education granted SUNY Cortland permission to begin offering this new Master of Science program in International Sport Management (MSISM). A graduate student may elect to complete either a M.S. degree solely from Cortland or in its dual diploma form in partnership with London Metropolitan University. This program is designed to be full-time and to be completed in 18 months to two years by a close-knit cohort of up to 30 full-time graduate students. To earn a dual degree from both SUNY Cortland and LMU, graduate students will split their studies between both campuses and earn a total of 36 credit hours including both a master's thesis and an intensive, semester-long internship. The first students are expected to complete their dual degrees either by December 2009 or June 2010.

The MSISM builds on SUNY Cortland's existing undergraduate and graduate programs in sport management. Combined with the College's on-campus and on-line M.S. degree programs in Sport Management, the department currently enrolls over 90 graduate students from the U.S. and abroad. The undergraduate curriculum currently has approximately 400 majors and 25 minors.

"We've seen quite substantial and predictable growth in our undergraduate program in the past ten years and the data indicates a similar progression with our master degree programs," Fay said. "We're expecting to continue to build out our graduate programs over the next three to five years."

For more information, contact Fay at ted.fay@cortland.edu or (607) 753-5537.

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