MA in Sports Leadership Program

Mission

Rochester University’s Master of Arts Degree (MA) in Sport Leadership provides an extensive curriculum that equips students with the necessary leadership skills for today’s sport industry and prepares the next generation of leaders in the field of sport. Through a blend of online and seated instruction, this cohort-based program exposes students to the many challenges and opportunities faced by the leaders of domestic and international sport organizations. 

Summary of the MA in Sport Leadership Program 

Consisting of 33 total credit hours of graduate-level courses, the Sport Leadership curriculum is offered in a 15-month shared cohort model. There are two cohort entry points, one in the fall and one in the spring. Each cohort will consist of a maximum of 12 students taking nine credit hours in the fall and spring terms and six credit hours in the summer. Students will take their first and last courses with their cohort; all other courses will be shared with either the previous year’s cohort or the new cohort coming in, giving students an opportunity to network and learn from one another. Each cohort will begin the program with a required orientation and intensive course on RU’s campus. An additional intensive will be required off-campus during the summer, exposing students to leading practitioners in the sport industry. 

Learning Goals and Outcomes 

The MA in Sport Leadership program is a graduate program within RU’s Department of Sport Studies, which is part of the School of Business. The Sport Leadership program learning outcomes are aligned with the School of Business Concepts and RU’s Institutional Learning Goals (EPIC Learning Goals). 

RU’s School of Business Concepts include the following: 

1. SOCIAL AND ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITY: Professional graduates align personal, professional, and organizational conduct with ethical and professional standards of conduct including an understanding of corporate responsibility. 
2. PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION: Professional graduates communicate effectively by preparing and delivering oral and written presentations using appropriate technologies. 
3. PROBLEM-SOLVING and APPLICATION: Professional graduates apply functional area concepts and theories appropriately. 
4. CRITICAL THINKING: Professional graduates think critically and apply systems thinking to decision-making. 
5. VOCATIONAL AWARENESS: Professional graduates demonstrate an understanding of God’s ongoing story in the world and their responsibility to God, self, organization, and the world as a part of that ongoing story. 

Program Learning Outcomes 

Graduates of the MA in Sport Leadership Program will be able to: 

1. Develop professional leadership standards which reflect responsible, sustainable, and ethical practices within the sport industry. 
2. Critically analyze the role of sport leadership in contemporary society across a wide range of sociocultural, legal, and ethical issues and how each applies to various aspects of the sport industry. 
3. Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the skills necessary to lead a sport organization as an effective visionary leader in response to the sport industry’s demands. 
4. Demonstrate an understanding of sport leadership in a historical, social, and global context. 
5. Identify, develop, and effectively communicate a leadership style and philosophy consistent with one’s vocation. 
6. Identify and effectively communicate the application of complex methods utilized in communicating and promoting the sport product to today’s consumers. 
7. Analyze and interpret information pertaining to questions or challenges in the field of sport leadership by utilizing the most appropriate research methodologies and practices.