A recently approved Center for Sports Administration at Ohio University will aim to strengthen connections between OU and a nationally growing sport industry.
The OU Board of Trustees approved the establishment of the center at its Oct. 13 meeting, and the executive director of the center will begin working at OU in December, according to an OU Communications and Marketing press release.
Ever since I've been at OU
I've felt that the (sport industry) program was of such quality that it really deserved to have its efforts focused through a center said Gary Neiman, dean of the College of Health and Human Services.
The center, to be located within Grover Hall and integrated with the College of Business, will provide student development opportunities through industry mentorships and student participation in sponsored research, according to the center's mission statement.
Neiman said the mission statement will ultimately focus on opportunities for research and development in the sports industry.
The need for the center stemmed from the exponential growth of the sports industry and a gradual need for OU to accommodate that growth, said Jody Grenert, director of communications in the College of Health and Human Services.
In 2003, the national sport industry was valued at $213 billion, and this year it is considered the fourth fastest-growing industry in the nation, according to the center's Prospectus and Operating Plan.
Last year, OU's Sports Administration and Facility Management Program was listed as one of five to watch by Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal.
It really ... requires that we not only have the opportunity to create the center but also the opportunity for somebody to lead the center who would just be able to do the things necessary to establish a great reputation for the center Neiman said.
The center will be headed by Jim Kahler, an OU alumnus, who is the executive director of the MBA Sports Business Program at Arizona State University in Tempe.
I think Jim Kahler is going to be very active in establishing firm industry contacts
integrating our superb alumni network into the program and garnering industry support
Neiman said.
The center will facilitate OU's undergraduate sports management program and the graduate sports administration and facility management program, with more of a focus on the graduate program, he said.
For fiscal year 2006, according to the center's prospectus, the center will have an estimated operating budget of about $286,000, while in fiscal years 2007 and 2008, the budget will be about $271,000 and $276,000, respectively.
During the center's first two years, the College of Health and Human Services is funding salaries for Kahler and the center's administrative associate, supplemented by OU's sports administration program. The center should be self-sufficient in operating expenses in 2008, according to the prospectus.
It's our intent that this will really be an industry leader and help determine where the industry is going rather than react to where the industry is
Neiman said.
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