By: David Kelley, Ph.D., CAA - University of Cincinnati & Jason Simmons, Ph.D. - University of Cincinnati As the readership of Interscholastic Athletic Administration Magazine can likely attest, the plethora of administrative responsibilities performed by high school athletic directors can be, at times, challenging. On top of the day-to-day tasks of the job, the administrative responsibilities of a high school AD can include, but are not limited to: Setting, implementing, and enforcing policies, rules, and regulations for various stakeholders (e.g. athletes, coaches, parents, booster club members); hiring, supervising, and in some instances, firing coaches and other athletic department personnel; budgeting; fundraising/development; and scheduling practices, athletic competitions, and transportation to away contests. As such, ADs must be able to multitask, problem solve, make tough decisions, and work under pressure to successfully accomplish these tasks/duties, typically with limited resources. An emerging trend has seen high school ADs turn to the postsecondary ranks seeking assistance in the form of interns or graduate assistants. According to the website, degreesinsport.com, there are more than 450 schools offering degree options in sport administration/management across the United States. For the most part, students in these programs are interested in a career in the sport industry, with interests ranging from professional sport to intercollegiate athletics to sport facilities and events, and even interscholastic/high school athletics. From day one, sport administration students are educated about the harsh reality of finding a job in sport - without industry experience and a professional network of contacts, you are going to struggle to find employment. As a result, most sport administration programs require an internship experience as part of their degree program. At the University of Cincinnati, for example, all sport administration students must complete a 400-hour internship prior to graduating. This "class" gives student the opportunity to apply concepts learned in the classroom in a real-world setting. More than that, students are able to build their professional resume with actual industry experience. At the graduate level, students face similar pressures to pair their master degree with industry experience. Most graduate programs also include an internship; however, some students take on a more formalized position as a graduate assistant. On the surface, hiring college students as interns or graduate assistants to work in high school athletic departments seems like a no-brainer. Interns typically do not get paid, and they are eager to work. Graduate assistants share that eagerness, but are usually paid in the form of tuition remission and/or a stipend. The benefits of such a relationship, for both athletic directors and the student, extend far beyond this simplistic approach. The objective of this article is threefold: 1) to articulate the unique nature of working with an intern-graduate assistant, 2) to demonstrate the real benefits that may be gained from formalized internship opportunities within a high school athletic department, and 3) to inform IAA readership on the best way to go about procuring a college intern or graduate assistant in the future. What do you need to know about working with an intern or graduate assistant? A college student worker, whether an intern or graduate assistant, is NOT an employee. Most interns are not paid; however, an understanding of state and federal laws - which are beyond the scope of this article - is recommended to determine whether an employment relationship exists and the intern must be paid. First and foremost, interns and graduate assistants are college students seeking industry experience as part of their major requirements. Their internship is a "class," for which they receive a grade, usually pass/fail. The educational experience for the student should be paramount. While there are benefits to be realized by the athletic department, the benefits to the student must take precedence. Interns should work directly under the supervision of a site supervisor, in this case, the athletic director, and should never be asked do the job of paid employees. Graduate assistants are generally afforded more autonomy; however, the benefits to the student must be at the forefront. Internship requirements will vary from program to program. All will have a set number of hours the student must complete at their internship site, with some requiring students to complete all their internship hours in a single semester and others permitting students to break up the hour load across multiple semesters. Usually, sport administration interns will be required to complete a culminating project tailored to address a unique problem or opportunity within the organization. Other requirements may include a site supervisor evaluation, a faculty member site visit, and the submission of weekly/bi-weekly time logs. How can both the intern and high school athletic director/department benefit? The benefits to both parties in this relationship are plentiful. On the intern or graduate student side of the equation, actual work experience better positions them for a job in the industry and opens their eyes to what it is really like working in sport. For high school ADs, having additional personnel at little-to-no financial cost can help ease the burden of some of the challenges noted in the outset of this article. These are vague generalities, however. Scott Garvis, CMAA, Athletic Director at Newton High School in Newton, Iowa; and Bran Leshner, Executive Director of the Activities Beyond the Classroom (ABC) Foundation in Cincinnati, Ohio; both work with either an intern or graduate assistant from the University of Cincinnati Sport Administration program, and can speak to the benefits they observe on a regular basis (The ABC Foundation oversees the purchasing budgets for all 13 Cincinnati Public high school athletic departments, as well as provides nine athletic directors to oversee nine schools' on-site activities and needs). Below is an edited transcript of our conversations with them: How are you currently utilizing your intern/graduate assistant? Garvis (Newton): We met to discuss a plan for tasks and things he would like to experience during his internship. Right now he's got a few irons in the fire working on a leadership project, reviewing our facilities and offerings as it relates to Title IX compliance, assisting with fundraising and development activities, and working with public relations and marketing on event promotion activities. We also gave him a project to develop a student-athlete/parent handbook, as well as some side activities involving facility improvements, budgeting, event scheduling, and execution of in-game promotions. Leshner (ABC): The first thing you do as an intern is you learn how to be a site manager, and that is basically running a home football, basketball, or track event. A lot of being an AD is a lot of grunt work - making sure locker rooms are clean, that equipment is there, that buses know where to go. It requires detailed communication with other ADs coming into your school, so he's involved in that. What are the benefits to you of working with an intern/graduate assistant in your department/organization? Garvis (Newton): Having done this for quite a while now, I appreciate getting that fresh perspective from someone who is just getting into the industry. The biggest thing though is just tackling some of those projects that are time consuming. Leshner (ABC): There are two benefits to us. Part of it is lightening the workload through division of labor. There's plenty of work to be done in preparation of or during an event, and a lot of communication to be done. Long-term, for our organization, having a relationship with the university, in terms of brining in interns, is a potential pipeline of new people for when we're hiring who a) have experience, and b) we're familiar with. There's also some non-quantitative value to internships. It would be silly for the school district not to have a good relationship with the university. The community needs to work together to provide education and skills training for the potential success of kids. Not to mention, high school kids can relate more to a 22- or 23-year old than they can a 50-year-old AD. What benefits to you perceive that the intern/graduate assistant is receiving? Garvis (Newton): He's getting some really good practical experience, and getting to see the "dark side" of being involved in athletics. For him, I think it's been really eye opening. You never know until you really get in and get into it. That experience learning about the daily operations of an athletic department has been eye opening. He's also figuring out things he'd like to do and things he'd not like to do through this experience. Leshner (ABC): The truth is, having an internship and a degree is the most important thing. There's a lot of practical knowledge. The hardest thing about being an AD is getting your first job as an AD. Experience is very important in this field. We value practical experience. It is to their benefit for having done that. What are some of the unique challenges you have experienced working with an intern/graduate assistant that might be different than working with another employee? Garvis (Newton): Having been an AD in a high school, you're kind of a one-man show; so delegating things sometimes can be a little weird. It's good, but you need to relinquish some things too. The big thing though is meeting regularly and coming up with a plan of attack for the week. We really try to focus on his experience and the benefit to him when he lands his first job. What advice do you have for other high school athletic directors looking to work with college interns/graduate assistants? Garvis (Newton): The number one thing is to come up with a plan. Sit down with the intern. Gather information about what they'd like to learn about, and come up with an overall plan before you start. It's a checklist for things they'd like to experience, and then you can assign projects that help them learn about each of those topics. Leshner (ABC): Reach out to local colleges and universities with sport administration programs, have job descriptions and dates for what you need. Most universities want to be able to offer internships to their students. It's good education and practical experience. How can high school athletic directors find potential interns? As Brian Leshner mentioned, reach out to local, or even non-local, sport administration/management programs with a job description and let them know you are interested in working with an intern or graduate assistant. Some programs, such as ours at the University of Cincinnati, even offer specialized graduate degree concentrations in athletic administration that would be ideal partners for internship/graduate assistant opportunities. Each program's procedures and policies will be slightly different, but for the most part, sport administration programs are always on the lookout for new internship opportunities for their students, especially in emerging fields. Athletic administration job opportunities, both in colleges and high schools, are expected to increase by almost 10% in the next eight years (Roberson, 2016). Given the importance of practical industry experience for students interested in working in sport, high school athletic departments can be an optimal training ground for the next generation of athletic administrators. References Roberson, J. (2016, October 24). Five reasons you should become an athletic director. 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Today’s Intern, Tomorrow’s Athletic Administrator
