Sport & Recreation Management

Program Highlights

The Sport & Recreation Management Major delivers a foundation of study in the sport and recreation industries, their products and services, and prepares students through active learning to effectively lead sport and recreation organizations. Our program prepares students for careers in:

College and Professional Sport Management
Athletic Administration
Municipal Recreation Manager
Event and Facility Management
Youth Sports Coordinator

Students will learn the business of sports through a combination of coursework from the School of Exercise Science & Sport and the Tabor School of Business.

The business core provides a broad spectrum of courses in specialized areas of the sport business community. The Sport & Recreation Management curriculum follows the recommendations of the North American Society for Sport Management.

Sport & Recreation Management Plan of Study

Departmental Course Offerings

Courses change each semester, so this list should not be considered a commitment to these individual topics. However, this does represent a list of many of our current and popular courses. The list is provided so that you can begin to imagine your academic career at Millikin in this major.

Personal and Community Health

This is an introductory course surveying topics and issues pertaining to the health/wellness classroom. Developing the wellness concept; physical, mental, social, emotional, environmental, and spiritual well-being are discussed. (ES160)

Introduction to Safety

This is a foundation course designed to provide standard information on safety and accident prevention in the school environment, as well as in the workplace and home. Identifying safety hazards and education for proactive rather than reactive responses is a major emphasis. (ES202)

Foundations of Sport Mgmt.

The course surveys the functional areas of contemporary sport management and the career preparation of professionals in the field. Students will be introduced to the historical background, unique nature and current issues in sport management. (ES210)

Sport and Recreation Facility Management

This course is designed to provide students with an orientation into various theories, structural makeup, design, operations and functions related to managing sport and recreational facilities. The course will address facility development, use considerations and auxiliary functions that impact the manager’s role. In addition, an overview of the foundations of facility management will be presented. (ES244)

Intercollegiate Athletics

This course is designed with the intent of enhancing the understanding of intercollegiate athletics in higher education. Through an in depth examination of the history, present and future of sport within the context of colleges and universities, students will be prepared to work effectively with athletics administrators, coaches and student-athletes in the campus environment. Students will examine the role intercollegiate athletics plays within the university community and the reasons for the often perceived divide between the academic and athletic aspects of campus. By developing an understanding of the emergence and subsequent development of athletics within American colleges and universities, students will be able to identify specific issues regarding contemporary college sports. (ES281)

Sport & Recreation Event Planning & Marketing

This course offers experience in the researching, planning, coordinating, marketing, management, and evaluation of events within the fields of sport and recreation management. (ES344)

Risk Management in Sport and Recreation

This course will provide an in depth study of factors essential for the safe delivery of programs within the areas of sport activities, exercise and physical education, outdoor recreation, and event planning and facilitation as a foundation of quality program planning. (ES339)

Practicum in Sport and Recreation Management

This practicum course is designed to allow students to demonstrate and synthesize the knowledge base they have acquired through the planning and facilitation of sport and recreation programming under the guidance of experienced professionals and supervisors. (ES345)

Professional Development

The Professional Development course is designed to improve the ability of students to describe their accomplishments and sell their ideas in situations like professional networking, company meetings, response to proposals for services, and interviews in preparation for a career in sport and recreation management. It teaches writing skills and workplace integration for new jobs. Particular emphasis is put on verbal communication and preparation for verbal communication. Students will learn to create career plans that require them to research internships, career options, and potential employers, and prepare a developmental roadmap that will lead them success within the field of sport and recreation management. (ES346)

Principles of Recreation and Leisure Behavior

This course addresses the historical, philosophical, sociological, psychological, and economic development of leisure and recreation. In addition, the course explores fundamental concepts, values, and functions of leisure and recreation as an individual emotional experience as well as a necessary part of community life. (ES348)

Ethical and Legal Issues in Sport and Recreation

This course provides an extensive overview of legal principles and ethical issues in sport. This course introduces the different fields of law and issues (Federal Amendment, contracts, labor relations, etc.) as they relate to sport. In addition, this course examines the basic philosophical issues concerning ethics and moral reasoning and how these issues relate to sport. Furthermore, this course is designed to help future sport administrators develop an ethical decision-making process. Topics discussed include the concepts of morality, personal philosophy regarding social responsibility, theories of ethics, professional code of ethics, etc. (ES444)

Sport and Social Change

Sports and athletes have often been agents of social change, many times challenging norms and assumptions concerning gender, race, sexuality, and fairness. Drawing on theories from sociology, rhetoric and critical approaches to discourse, this class critically assesses the use of sports and sporting events as a public stage to perform dramas of social change that have led to larger movement activities that impacted politics and culture. The class will focus on international sports such as the Olympics movement and the World Cup as well as events unique to American culture. Students will apply critical and rhetorical theories to mediated sports events to understand their impact and gain perspectives on how sports may be exploited to enact social change. (ES445)

Internship in Sport Management

These courses are designed to provide opportunity outside the classroom to develop professional training and experience for students specifically in the sport management discipline. Internships are established in cooperation with agencies, businesses and institutions. (ES475/ES476)

Global Sport Issues

This seminar will address the intertwined relationship between globalization, mega-sport events and development. The focus will be on global sport and local economy, sport and global capital, sport and identity, sport and inter-racial relations, youth and sport and sport and social agency in the context of ethical decision making. (ES482)