Department of Sport Management’s Emerging Leaders Council to Support Next Generation of Industry Leaders

Current and future students in Falk College’s Department of Sport Management will be the true beneficiaries of its newly announced Emerging Leaders Council (ELC). This core group of 31 influential Syracuse University alumni is committed to supporting the next generation of sport professionals with the tools necessary to be successful leaders and practitioners.

In partnership with sport management faculty and staff, as well as other Falk College and campus partners, the ELC will participate on the department’s strategic areas of interest to support students as well as alumni, including alumni relations and mentorship, professional and career development, events, curriculum and fundraising.

The Emerging Leaders Council will assist with capstone, practicum and internship placements and other professional opportunities while serving as ambassadors and advocates for sport management programs in their workplaces and communities. Council members will be involved with classroom lectures and assignments in SPM 201—Professional Development in Sport Management and participate in regional networking events. The group’s first meeting was held in October 2019 in conjunction with the Third Annual SPM Alumni in #SportsBiz event aimed at enhancing professional development and networking opportunities.

Since its inception in 2005, the Department of Sport Management has offered students unparalleled access to industry leaders and practitioners through guest lectures, experiential class projects and immersion trips to Los Angeles, Boston and New York, among others. One-on-one networking opportunities for students include regular interaction with Falk College’s 31-member Sport Management Advisory Council, a “who’s who” in the sport industry that consists of company presidents, founders, CEOs and other top-level executives, including Falk College benefactor David B. Falk.

“We always strive to make a life-long connection with our students—not only while completing their undergraduate or graduate degree—but once they become alumni,” says Michael Veley, Rhonda S. Falk endowed professor, department chair and founding director. “Engagement is one of the cornerstones of our success, and it is terrific to witness the current wisdom and leadership of our senior-level Advisory Council being passed on to the new generation of leaders in our ELC.”

Falk College’s sport management, sport analytics and sport venue and event management programs are well-known throughout the industry for their comprehensive, experiential-based course offerings and the prominent faculty leading them, both of which are critical in helping to graduate job-ready change makers in the field. Principles of social justice and social responsibility are embedded in sport management classes and sport-focused student organizations, including the Sport Management Club, whose annual Charity Sports Auction has benefitted area not-for-profit organizations for the past 15 years.

“One of the many significant success indicators of our sport management program includes growing numbers of alumni with leadership roles in the sport industry,” says Falk College Dean Diane Lyden Murphy. “In addition to the skillsets our alumni bring to their workplaces, their commitment to social responsibility in the communities they call home illustrates what sport management faculty and staff mentors instill in our students throughout their degree programs.”

“Having a leadership group like this as a pipeline between students and the SPM Advisory Council will keep alumni connected in all stages of their careers all over the world,” notes ELC member Nicole Cost, an SPM internship placement coordinator who manages alumni engagement efforts for the Department of Sport Management. “As one of the newest programs in Falk, many SPM alumni are just getting into senior-level roles and will be the next leaders in the sport industry.”

For more information about academic programs in sport management (B.S.), sport analytics (B.S.) and sport venue and event management (M.S.), visit falk.syr.edu.