Survive and Advance Ref lections on how we’ve adapted and lessons we’ve learned during COVID-19 PLUS: ADMINISTRATOR EXPECTATIONS FOR FALL PLANNING FOR SPRING GUT PUNCH CHAMPIONING ALLYSHIP INTO ACTION THE CoSIDA FITNESS CHALLENGE IS CHANGING LIVES 10 THINGS TO IMPROVE YOUR WEBSITE’S ACCESSIBILITY AND MUCH MORE! VOL. 5 ISSUE 3 SUMMER 2020 CoSIDA.com Jolisa Williams of Shaw Kenny Klein of Louisville Josh Cornwall of Agnes Scott Gene Cassell of Washburn CoSIDA 360 | SEPTEMBER 2020 | 1 Contents FEATURES 1423 2829 VOL. 5 ISSUE 3 SUMMER 2020 View past issues Gut Punch 14 Race, Sports and Athletic Communications 16 CoSIDA members like Dave Walters — through no fault of their own — are facing the harsh reality of furloughs and layoffs. Championing Allyship into Action — resources provided by the Advocacy and Diversity & Inclusion committees. Success Stories 20 SIDs Live, Work in the ‘Bubble’ at TBT 26 The CoSIDA Fitness Challenge team competition has been a highlight for many SIDs whose lives are being changed for the better, 10 weeks at a time. Tim Glon of Ohio Northern and Monique Bowman of Ohio State served as statisticians for The Basketball Tournament in Columbus. COVER STORY Survive and Advance 6 Reflections on how we’ve adapted and lessons we’ve learned during COVID-19 DEPARTMENTS PERSPECTIVE 13 Spring Will Have Sprung Before You Know It Don’t panic, but don’t wait to address what may be the busiest season in our profession’s history. DIVERSITY & INCLUSION 24 10 Things You Can Do To Improve the Accessibility of Your Website Your goal should be equal access for all users to information and functionality. ADVOCACY 27 Understanding What CoSIDA Does Under the Heading of Advocacy CoSIDA’s advocacy work brings a voice of influence now more than any time in our history. MEMBERSHIP 29 We’re getting through this, together. CoSIDA is all of us who work in college athletics communications coming together to connect, educate, support, advocate and honor each other. EXTRAS 2 Misc 3 President’s Message 4 CoSIDA Compensation & Career Satisfaction Survey — What’s Next? 5 Perspectives from Outside the Profession 32 The SID Life On the Cover Gene Cassell, Jolisa Williams, Kenny Klein and Josh Cornwall are four of 12 members who contributed to our cover story, reflecting on the lessons that they’ve learned and what’s ahead during the COVID-19 pandemic. 2020 CoSIDA Membership Recognition Week Our newest committee, the CoSIDA Membership Recognition Committee, has been meeting to plan our fifth annual CoSIDA Membership Recognition Week, which is usually in early November. It’s an election year and we’re in the middle of a pandemic, so we’re still working on what dates make the most sense for this year. Our weeklong holiday and the message of the importance of communications professionals have never been so important. We hope when we announce the details you’ll join in celebrating and promoting our profession — there are a lot of decision makers that need to hear it. Stay tuned, all the details will be available at A September issue of 360? After our expanded May edition of CoSIDA 360 and that little thing called the #CoSIDA2020 Virtual Convention — go watch what you missed at — we needed a little more time for this “Summer” issue. Who can’t relate to needing a little grace? We’re hoping to be back on track with a November issue but, like you, we’re taking it day-by-day. Advertising opportunities with CoSIDA Many opportunities are available for partnership or collaboration with CoSIDA. All advertising sales are now handled in-house. Print and digital advertising opportunities are available by contacting CoSIDA Executive Director Doug Vance at or (785) 691-7708. More information on becoming a corporate partner or convention exhibitor, or advertising on a CoSIDA platform can be found CoSIDA Staff Executive Director Doug Vance (785) 691-7708 Associate Executive Director Will Roleson (317) 490-2905 Director of Professional Development and External Affairs Barb Kowal (512) 739-1234 Director of Membership Engagement Laurie Bollig (913) 707-0365 Director of Creative Services Beau White (913) 223-0594 About CoSIDA 360 CoSIDA 360 is a quarterly publication of the College Sports Information Directors of America. Publication dates each year are in February, May, August and November. Any submissions, questions or comments can be directed to Beau White by emailing CoSIDA 360 is printed by of Lexington, Ky. Special thanks to Jai Giffin. CoSIDA 360 Credits CoSIDA Director of Creative Services Beau White serves as editor and designer of CoSIDA 360. Additional assistance provided by the CoSIDA staff. Contributing writers for this issue include Sam Atkinson, Laurie Bollig, Mindy Brauer, Mex Carey, Kyle Chilton, Josh Cornwall, Barb Kowal, Eric McDowell, Will Roleson, Doug Vance, Dave Walters, and Beau White. Photos provided by Jeff Hodges unless otherwise noted. To advertise in CoSIDA 360: Doug Vance CoSIDA Executive Director (785) 691-7708President’s Message CoSIDA 360 | SEPTEMBER 2020 | 3 Sam Atkinson | Gallaudet University, Associate Athletic Director for Communications | CoSIDA President 2020-21 | Be the Change How was your summer? Did you go anywhere? No? Yeah, me neither. For many of us, this past summer will be one for our memory books. Never have we felt trapped in our homes as we stare blindly into Zoom call after Zoom call. There were days I never walked outside! I’m sure I’m not alone. A silver lining for dealing with the coronavirus and the shutdown and cancellation of spring sports, and a non- traditional 2020-21 academic year ahead is that we are all dealing with this together. We’re riding this real-life rollercoaster through the ups, downs, unexpected turns and loops that we couldn’t have predicted at the start of 2020. This summer saw many of our athletic programs, conferences, coaches and student-athletes take a stand in support of social change and racial justice as nationwide protests took place to combat inequality and police brutality. All of these moments have turned into a movement. It’s important to remind everyone, especially athletic communicators, that when there is crisis, there is opportunity. What better time to make significant change than now? In this issue of CoSIDA 360, we tackle these subjects and try to map out a path forward. This path has two directions, one to get us back to sports, out of our houses and back in the office, while the other path urges us to act and create positive change. Our cover story, “Survive & Advance” by CoSIDA Executive Director Doug Vance shares member reflections on how we’ve adapted and lessons we’ve learned during COVID-19. Dave Walters, one of too many of our members to have their positions cut, gives us an inside look at how he’s coping with the sudden loss of his job. Josh Cornwall of Agnes Scott gives us his personal story of dealing with the pandemic and warns of the long-term effects of cutting communications pros. Members of the CoSIDA Advocacy and Diversity & Inclusion committee teamed to produce “Race, Sports and Athletic Communications,” to highlight some of the resources at that will help challenge us to move beyond being an ally of Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), and become a champion of action — not just talk about action. Before his passing on July 17, Congressman and civil-rights leader John Lewis urged us to answer the highest calling in our hearts and stand up for what we truly believe. As CoSIDA’s President, I can assure our membership and the general public that CoSIDA’s Executive Board of Directors realize we need to improve our diversity within our membership ranks and we are committed to make a difference this year and years to come. I’m encouraged to see how our membership responded this summer to our new “Critical Conversations,” a professional development initiative on Racial and Social Justice. Our first panel “The Intersection of Race and Athletic Communications” featured five esteemed colleagues including CoSIDA Second Vice President Jessica Poole (Chicago State University), Kenisha Rhone (Belmont University), Scottie Rodgers (Cotton Bowl Classic), Kyle Serba (North Carolina Central University) and DeWayne Peevy (University of Kentucky). The response was so overwhelming that two weeks later we held an after- hours virtual gathering to dig deeper into the topic. Be on the lookout for many more “Critical Conversations” webinars this fall and we hope you’ll join us. This past July 26 marked the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a major milestone in our nation’s history to increase access and opportunity for people with disabilities in the workplace and communities. MIT Assistant Director of DAPER Communications, Promotions and Marketing Mindy Brauer provides 10 things we can all do to make our athletic websites ADA-compliant. As you can see there is an underlying theme about change and taking action. A major change to CoSIDA took place this past June when the membership overwhelmingly voted to endorse our new governance structure that was spearheaded by Past President Herb Vincent (Southeastern Conference) and his committee. It will take several years before CoSIDA will transition completely to this set-up. We’re taking steps now to begin this transformation for our organization. I look forward to working with our new Divisional Cabinet leaders this coming year. We face a lot of change as we move forward. Change starts with you. If change is going to happen, it needs to happen on a personal level first. Be unafraid of what lies ahead of us. Be the change. I hope next year you have a different answer to my opening question to this column. Until then, we have a lot of work to do virtually or in-person. 4 | What CoSIDA can’t do for members: • Talk to your boss for you • Give you a raise • Approve the addition of an assistant position • Take away some of your responsibilities • Increase your budget Call to action Speak up, CoSIDA members. If you have an idea for a webinar topic, a best practices guide, an infographic or key messages that CoSIDA can help you learn or develop, reach out to any member of the CoSIDA staff. We want to hear what you need from us (refer to list above for what CoSIDA can do for you). As with every professional development or educational opportunity, we’ll aggregate resources that can assist you in your day-to-day. It’s a small sample size, but respondents to a recent poll show that a high percentage of CoSIDA members have accessed the data provided earlier this summer from the 2020 Compensation & Career Satisfaction Survey. Times are tough in intercollegiate athletics. Budgets and sports are being cut. Athletic department staff positions are being eliminated. CoSIDA members are being laid off or furloughed. Releasing a survey with sobering statistics in the middle of a global pandemic wasn’t ideal, but it was important for our members to see data they asked CoSIDA to provide. Collaborating with members of the Advocacy and Diversity & Inclusion committees, the Board decided to release the data over the course of two months. You can find all the information from each release, including webinars and infographics that support the data at CoSIDA.com/2020SalarySurvey. So what’s next? How does CoSIDA leverage the data and help members find useful ways to incorporate the information into their work plans for upcoming years? What’s Next? Themes are emerging: • Staff size as it relates to responsibilities and sports sponsorship • Increased responsibilities with corresponding decreases in resources • Compensation as it relates to responsibilities and hours worked What CoSIDA can do for members: • Give you data and make recommendations for how to act on the data • Give you strategies for how to have conversations with supervisors when asking for better compensation and more resources • Study how similar jobs are compensated in other industries • Give you resources to help with negotiation and prioritization of duties • Advocate with athletic department members about your workload, salary and staff sizes • Provide resources for mental health and well-being by Laurie Bollig CoSIDA Director of Membership Engagement CoSIDA 360 | SEPTEMBER 2020 | 5 Joel Cain Jones College Athletic Director “We’ll continue to provide exposure for our student-athletes in a constructive manner and represent our institution and conference in a positive light. Our five core values will remain our focus: leadership, empowerment, accountability, discipline and family.” Lonnie Folks Maryville University Director of Athletics and Recreation “I’ll be leaning even more so on my athletic communications staff during this upcoming fall period. There will be multiple issues that arise, and from many different areas. The constant for me will be my team in athletics communications and their ability to remain focused, professional and task-orientated along the way. I’ll be having individual and group meetings with them regularly to not only inform, but also to learn what their thoughts are and what they may know that I’ve not yet heard or anticipated. This will be one of the areas that I try my best to keep as close to normal operations as possible.” Krista L. Montague Montana State Billings Athletic Director “Our athletics communications professionals are a critical part of our team and that will be no different this fall without competition. We know better days are ahead and we’ll lean on our communications staff to help us plan and communicate our messages moving forward. Our Director of Communications (Evan O’Kelly) is an important member of our decision-making team. His feedback will be important, as we begin to work through what our spring and beyond will look like. We plan to be creative and work on some fun virtual projects to keep our student-athletes, fans, and alumni involved. Our athletics communications team also is available to assist our overall university’s marketing & communications staff with ideas and content to attract new students to MSUB. “It’s often said there is no off-season for athletics communications professionals. Although the work and demands may look a little different this year, we look forward to using this time to get creative and keep our students engaged and involved in the best and safest way possible.” What are your expectations... for athletic communications professionals as we prepare for a fall without full sport competitions, and what do you see as the important contributions athletic communicators can make in planning for the spring semester? We asked five high-level administrators at different levels of college athletics. Compiled by Barb Kowal CoSIDA Director of External Affairs and Professional Development Bernard M. Muir Stanford University Jaquish & Kenninger Director of Athletics “I sincerely appreciate how our communications team has embraced the last six months, demonstrating a combination of versatility, creativity and willingness to adapt to the changing landscape. The team’s mission during that time remained the same: inspire people around the world to value the simultaneous pursuit of excellence in both athletics and academics. As we transition into an unprecedented fall season, that same mindset and emphasis on storytelling will again be critical. I know our staff is already busy identifying feature content opportunities, establishing our digital strategy and contributing to some of our department’s most important strategic initiatives. We also rely on our communications team to remain connected and responsive to their student-athletes and coaches, serving as a trusted resource and familiar face to those programs during this period of uncertainty.” Bob Williams NCAA Senior Vice President of Communications “What we all need to do is start thinking about what we want college sports to look like in the coming years. One of the ways to ensure that you, the athletic communications professional, get a seat at the table — or strengthen your position at the table — is to pose to the leaders and decision-makers in your organization the realities of where we are today and the challenge of where we, as leaders, want to be tomorrow. That conversation must happen around the table; if that conversation doesn’t happen AT the table, it will happen TO that table. “The way to secure the seat is to bring all the important issues to your leaders, asking, “How will we address and handle a student-athlete group on campus saying, ‘Here are our demands’? Step forward and impress your leadership before these issues are put on them. Understand as communicators, we are the ones who forecast — saying and strategizing that ‘this is on the horizon, here are the issues, and we need to start talking about these things today.’ And, you need to come with potential solutions…not just questions. “The biggest value we can leverage across all communicators in every NCAA division and at every campus is to further communicate the narrative on everything we all provide for our student-athletes. You start changing outlooks and opinions when people have skin in the game. Let the public know: here’s what we provide, here are the student-athlete benefits, and let them know we want to provide more for them. This is the key to us moving forward.” Perspectives from Outside the ProfessionOn this page, CoSIDA members have handled the pandemic the best way they know how. 1 Jolisa Williams staying in shape. 2 Stayson Isobe spending time outside hiking with his girlfriend. 3 Josh Cornwall balancing work and family. 4 Jayson Ameer Rasheed is anxious for live sports to return. 5 Kenny Klein set up an outdoor backyard office at his home. 6 Joe Browning has gotten many overdue household projects done. 7 Donna Turner conducting an online press conference. 8 Donnie Smith works with the comfort of his dog. 1 23 45 678 Photos provided by those pictured.CoSIDA 360 | SEPTEMBER 2020 | 7 Survive and Advance Ref lections on how we’ve adapted and lessons we’ve learned during COVID-19 to conditions that have seriously tested their resolve and durability. Compounding the problem is the fact that college athletics is also facing an economic crisis that has certainly touched SID offices across the U.S. and Canada. To gain a better understanding of the survival strategies employed due to this painful shift in lifestyles, CoSIDA 360 reached out to a random sampling of members to seek their insights. No one has escaped being affected in the ugly world of COVID-19. Lives have been disrupted, stress has been elevated, and concerns about the future weigh heavily on everyone. You may not be infected with it, but the coronavirus has impacted almost every aspect of your life. In a profession defined by creative people who can adapt to almost any challenge, CoSIDA members have relied on their instincts in finding solutions How has the health crisis impacted you the most ? Joe Browning, UNC Wilmington: “We’ve had to make adjustments in family schedules, social interactions, dining choices and recreational priorities. We think intentionally about every second, minute and hour in each day.” Gene Cassell, Washburn: “Not knowing when sports (and normal life) will start again. My wife, Regina, by Doug Vance | CoSIDA Executive Director | “Try not to stress out over things out of your control.” Steve Fink Gene Cassell of Washburn (right) shows what it looks like for his family navigating work and school from home.Next >