Critical Need for CoSIDA Accreditation

I spent a thought-provoking hour this afternoon listening to an online open house (free Webinar) about the Public Relations Society of America's APR (Accreditation in Public Relations). It was incredibly informative and increased my belief (which I briefly mentioned in an earlier post) that CoSIDA desperately needs to offer professional athletics communications accreditation.

One of the key quotes that really stood out to me today on the Power Point slides that really applies to the field of athletics communications is a quote they showed by APR Kelly Groehler - “Anyone can walk off the street and start ‘practicing public relations.’ Accreditation is what sets apart those who are providing counsel that is strategic, managing relationships with constituents through good and bad times, and contributing to the success of the business. It's sorely needed in our industry, more than ever.”

How true is that for CoSIDA? That statement for public relations could be interchangable for athletics communications. Let's be honest, nearly anyone who comes into the office, agrees to work for free and is dependable and professional is immediately a member of the athletics communications department.

Believe me, I am not discounting that. That's how we all got our starts and I think it's one of the truly great things about this business - if you volunteer, work hard, demonstrate passion and continue to sharpen your skill set, you have a bright future. Personally, if Santa Fe CC athletics director Jim Keites hadn't taken a chance on allowing me to work in his sports information department as a 16-year-old high school student he'd never met, I wouldn't be anywhere near where I am today. The experience learned there was absolutely invaluable and I am so thankful for it.

That said, how do we set apart those those experienced and highly-skilled athletics communicators who are providing strategic council to leadership and positively impacting the bottom line of their athletics department? The only answer is accreditation.

For a full understanding of the APR process from PRSA, click to: http://www.praccreditation.org/

That accreditation really has nothing to do with how long someone has worked in athletics communications or how skilled they are at some of the technical aspects. It's all about providing a level of recognition and credibility to those people who understand and take pride in the "science" (another APR term) of athletics communications and have a clear view of its role as a leadership function.

Another key point I took with me from today's Webinar was the fact that the accreditation gives credibility to an often misunderstood profession. Boy, if there were ever a more misunderstood profession than athletics communications! How many people do you know that think all you do is hang out with athletes and coaches and they're all your best friends and you just watch games?

Credibility is key. I think if we, as athletics communicators, want more people to understand that what we do is a leadership function, we could use something that adds credibility to and legitimizes our profession. I can't imagine who wouldn't want that. Your Name, ACoSIDA - instant credibility.

So, how do we go about doing this? CoSIDA would have to establish an accreditation board. Ideally, in the future, the accreditation board is made up of elected senior ACoSIDAs with regional accreditation officers (like the local PR chapter ones) throughout the various regions of the country. These would be fellow ACoSIDAs, current athletics communications professionals, who help administer the readiness review and exam, etc.

It's going to be impossible to start this way. I think what needs to happen initially is for the CoSIDA board to appoint an accreditation board consisting of senior communicators who best understood the process of accreditation and the goals of what was trying to be accomplished. If any current CoSIDA senior communicators have gone through the APR process (not many have I am certain, but I know people like past-president Charles Bloom have been heavily involved in PRSA activities), those people should definitely be on the board. Make it a panel of maybe eight people.

Initially, the readiness review would take place once per year at the annual CoSIDA convention. Maybe the accreditation board and candidates come to the convention site two days early to conduct those activities before the convention, because you wouldn't want to hinder their availability to attend the convention sessions that are so instrumental to our professional development.

CoSIDA could then establish a relationship with the Prometric Testing Centers for purpose of the final examination, where athletics communicators could schedule and take the exams in their own cities, to be evaluated by the accreditation board.

Here are the key topics I would make sure are covered on the examination and review.
* Definitions and Functions of Athletics Communications
* NCAA Compliance
* Crisis Communication Leadership
* Leadership Skills and Issues
* Ethics and Law (CoSIDA Code of Ethics, PRSA Code of Ethics, Mass Media Law)
* CoSIDA Strategic Plan
* Research, Planning, Implementing and Evaluation
* Business Literacy
* Media Relations
* Information Technology and New/Social Media
* History of and Current Issues in Athletics Communications

For the readiness review, we are going to need an answer for what is an acceptable portfolio and plan. I don't know the answer right now. I am still trying to figure out how we can take what we do on a daily basis and make a strategic and comprehensive plan out of it. In a way, the all-consuming combination of a 24/7 mass media news cycle and big-business collegiate athletics does a disservice to us in this regard.

We are so focused on the idea of "get it done." There are so many pressures and demands on us that we get the job done. A lot of times, the approach is strategic in our minds, but almost never does an athletics communications professional compile a strategic plan for their "campaign" or season. This puts us at a real disadvantage when trying to quantify what we do to other (non-athletics) communications professionals.

Don't get me wrong - I don't do this written strategic planning process either. I need to learn how to do this as well and I've started on trying to figure out a way to do so. I don't have the answers when it comes to this - I just know it needs to be done.

How do we come up with a portfolio for our ACoSIDA readiness review? I don't know the answer to that, but I think it should be consistent with the APR standards, with an athletics communications twist. An athletics communicator should be able to leave his/her ACoSIDA process and then successfully complete the APR process.

I think if we can figure out the process, that will make each of us more organized and more strategic in our approach. That's what a number of APRs have said their experience in the accreditation process has done for them. That is a skill that will really validate the legitimacy of what we do. If anyone has any suggestions on this portfolio/campaign plan idea, please let me know - I think it may be the key to elevating athletics communicators to a higher level of respect and leadership. When we promote our programs, we make extra efforts to quantify what we're promoting about our teams or athletes - that's what we should be doing with our own communications efforts.

The candidate would then need to defend that plan/campaign in front of the accreditation board at the readiness interview. They would also need to discuss how the key topics bulleted above factored into their plan, especially research and evaluation.

As the APR study guide says, the readiness review is an opportunity to "demonstrate your professionalism. Treat it as if you are selling your credentials to a prospective client." The candidate will have to answer questions about how the plan/campaign was presented to decision makers, what the key audiences were, what strategies had to be modified during the course of the campaign and potential crises that would have made success in the plan impossible.

The computer-based examination would merely be multiple choice and essay questions that would test the candidate's knowledge in the key areas identified in the bullet points above.

I hope those of you reading this will join with me to try to help make this a reality. It's critical for the credibility of our profession and ourselves as professionals. One of the main principles in the CoSIDA strategic plan is to "Seek to identify and/or develop methods of evaluation and analysis that will enable the profession and its professionals to more effectively establish its role and value as a critical component of organizational success within the collegiate athletics community."

This is the way we do that. It's time we make this a reality.