Office of Public Relations
Missouri Baptist University
One College Park Drive
Saint Louis, Missouri 63141-8698
314.392.2307 / fax 314.392.2265
www.mobap.edu / pr@mobap.edu
For Immediate Release
RE: Sport Management Program Attains Unique Distinction
Sport Management Program Attains Unique Distinction
August 26, 2005
The Sport Management Program at Missouri Baptist University recently garnered approval from the Sport Management Program Review Council (SMPRC), one of only two institutions in Missouri and thirty-seven nationwide to receive such affirmation.
“Students wishing to graduate with a firm understanding of sport management theory and develop the skills necessary for future employment in the sport industry should consider programs approved by the SMPRC first and last” said Dr. Greg Comfort, professor of health and sport sciences and chair of the health and sport sciences division. “St. Louis is a sports mecca. It is our hope that our efforts to continually improve our sport management program will not only benefit our students, but will positively influence and impact the local sport industry.”
After nearly eighteen months of scrutiny, the SMPRC announced this past July that MBU fully complies with its sport management program standards. A seven-person team of professional educators in higher education, among other things, reviewed the program’s curriculum and faculty.
Currently, more than seventy-five students participate in MBU’s increasingly popular Sport Management Program, a number that has tripled in just the last two years. In 2002, the University began restructuring its longstanding Sports Management Program, changing curriculum and adding faculty with diverse interests—academically and professionally.
“This is a program where students can apply their coursework in a fulltime career,” said David Pierce, an adjunct professor of health and sport sciences at MBU who has worked in the Sport Management Field for more than thirty years. “Before graduating, all of our students are required to complete a 400-hour internship. We also have professionals in the field come to our campus, which allows our students to develop a professional network.”
The required courses offered in approved sport management programs prepare students for a wide range of sport–related vocations. “Whether a student wants to be the marketing coordinator of a local speedway, the event manager for a triathlon, the Athletic Director for a local college or the general manager for a professional sport franchise, an understanding of the business side of sport is essential,” said Comfort, editor and co-author of the Undergraduate Directory of Sport Management Programs and the Graduate Directory of Sport Management Programs. “It’s the business side of sports.”
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Missouri Baptist University is a premier Christian university in Saint Louis, offering graduate and undergraduate studies in over thirty specialized fields and nine degrees. MBU's education and fine arts programs are nationally known in addition to business, religion, administration of justice, and more. MBU is one of the fastest growing higher education institutions in Missouri with an enrollment of over 4,500 students at five locations in the bi-state region — West County, Lincoln County, Jefferson County, Franklin County and the new Illinois extension at Lewis and Clark Community College.
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