CCIW invests in member schools' CSC memberships
College Sports Information Directors of America
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This story is part of our CSC 360 package for January 2023, to view more stories, click here.
CCIW Maureen Harty discusses why the league supports its athletics communicators
by Will Roleson – College Sports Communicators, Associate Executive Director @wroleson
In recent years, the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, an NCAA Division III conference, has made it a priority to fund its member schools’ annual memberships with College Sports Communicators.
For the 2022-23 academic year, the CCIW purchased the new All-In group memberships for all nine of its institutions plus the conference office. As of Dec. 30, a total of 68 staff members have been included in those memberships, led by 27 from North Central University and 16 from Illinois Wesleyan University.
In this Q&A, CCIW Commissioner Maureen Harty — who is herself a CSC member — discusses why the conference chooses to support its member schools with CSC memberships and why that is important to their professional development.
MH: In the past, the conference office would use grant funds to help offset the cost for one or two campus staff members to attend CSC’s annual convention. When the option to support the staffs at all nine member institutions came available, it was a much greater return on investment.
MH: CSC members have the opportunity to grow both professionally and personally throughout the year through all the programming offered. Whether a veteran with many years of service or a rookie new to the field, the network that the entire staff has available to them is unparalleled.
MH: The CCIW uses NCAA Grant funding to pay for the memberships.
MH: Many of our members have included their graduate assistants and student workers in hopes of growing their interest in athletic communications as a profession. Others included their athletics directors and other direct reports to help administrators better understand all that goes into the field.
MH: The athletic communications staff are really some of the unsung heroes who play a major role in any team’s success. Game stats and game film are invaluable to a coach for planning and preparation. A team’s webpage is the go-to source for information and the more successful as team is, the more publicity they receive. It’s up to the SID to manage all of that. Finally, without the efforts of the SIDs the student-athletes would not receive the recognition or awards they deserve.
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