Utilizing the chapter titles from this module’s Learn section to guide your writing, reflect on the
following questions:
▪ Who are life giving mentors? Why?
▪ Why is mentoring necessary?
▪ Who should be my target? Why?
Include ways that your thinking on these topics has been confirmed, and/or the ways your
thinking has been challenged following the Learn section for this module (Attached). You must also
include discussion about the holistic role of the athlete from a biblical worldview.
Explore: The OU Athletics Department
SMGT 622
Mentoring Assignment Instructions
Overview
Elmore (2009) describes mentoring as “a relational experience through which one person empowers another by sharing their wisdom and resources” (p. 2). Mentoring is an important part of what you will do as a coach or athletic administrator. It is through meaningful, interpersonal relationships that you are able to significantly impact those under your leadership.
Instructions
Utilizing the chapter titles from this module’s Learn section to guide your writing, reflect on the following questions:
· Who are life giving mentors? Why?
· Why is mentoring necessary?
· Who should be my target? Why?
Include ways that your thinking on these topics has been confirmed, and/or the ways your thinking has been challenged following the Learn section for this module. You must also include discussion about the holistic rolde of the athlete from a biblical worldview.
Your Mentoring Assignment must be completed based on the following criteria:
· At least 4 pages
· Current APA format
· Since this is a reflection paper, no references are required. However, you are expected to properly cite information using current APA format where appropriate; and
· Clear biblical integration – do more than list a Bible verse.
· Include a title on the top line of the first page, followed by your name. No other identifying information is needed.
· You must include the reference information for each source in current APA format on a separate page.
,
Serving Today’s Student-Athlete: Grand Canyon’s Jamie Boggs
posted on AUGUST 13, 2020
jamie boggs
file_0.wmf
“We are fluid, flexible, and adapt, we are innovative, remain solution-oriented, and solve problems so we can serve our student-athletes and university at the highest level like we always have. We are no excuses kind of university.” -Jamie Boggs
jamie boggs
file_1.wmf
Jamie Boggs is the Interim Vice President of Athletics for Grand Canyon University in Phoenix. With Arizona emerging as a hotspot for COVID-19 over the summer months, Boggs explains that university decisions regarding students and student-athletes have been made with the pandemic top of mind.
“We were number one in cases for a while. With the new mask requirements and capacity restrictions, we are starting to see it plateau. As far as the university, we just announced last week that we would be doing a delayed start online on September 8th. After that, we can bring everyone on campus, assuming numbers don’t get worse. I think that was a good decision, a smart decision.”
Boggs believes that Grand Canyon University’s leadership and clear guiding principles have helped make decisions about the health and welfare of student-athletes an easier call.
“One thing I’m very thankful for is that as a university, we are very collaborative and we have a culture of continual improvement, so when this pandemic hit and we were all asked to work remotely, we brought our department together to talk about our culture. I define it as the four C’s — collaboration, continuous improvement, community, and Christian leadership. We talked about what that means in today’s uncertain landscape.”
With her staff, Boggs emphasizes the need to overcommunicate during this time.
“We’ve increased our department-wide meetings, we meet with head coaches, with our student-athlete leaders. I’ve actually leaned on text messages, and I think it feels a bit more personal and is faster than email. I’ve gotten a lot of feedback. They appreciate that.”
Northern-Iowa-121219.020-680×290.jpg
file_2.wmf
She says that their student-athletes are like everyone else in this situation. They need information and want to know what the next steps are moving forward.
“They are eager to come back. We have increased communication with them. I’ve tried to do more pop-in meetings for them and just stay available for them and make sure they know it’s always an open door. That’s something we started for them before this pandemic hit.”
Their department’s strategy is to keep them continuously engaged through their head coaches. Jamie Boggs says they’ve explained to their coaches that now is no different than anything other time as far as keeping student-athletes engaged with their program. She advocates building relationships with student-athletes, no so more than ever during this time of social distancing.
“Academic services, health, and training, all of those services as business as usual, even though they are being done remotely. We have stressed that everyone has to be more mindful of the mental health component and to know what services are available for our student-athletes.”
jamie boggs
file_3.wmf
GCU athletics staff has been proactive in ensuring their student-athletes know what types of mental health services are available. Jamie Boggs explained her staff has been trained to know what’s available, and coaches have been trained to identify when there may be a need for those services.
“Everyone knows what the processes are and what to do next if the need arises. We’ve had a focus on mental health for a number of years before the pandemic.”
Next, she discussed the recent hires of men’s basketball coach Bryce Drew and women’s basketball coach Molly Miller, which overlapped with the onset of COVID-19 in late February. Boggs explained that while the outbreak did make things a bit more challenging, the department remained systematic in their hiring process.
“Everything about our hiring process is efficient and quick; being new to Division I, we have to be this way to stay ahead of the game. We have a president who is very engaged in athletics, and he identified Bryce early on. Fortunately, when we were hiring Bryce, the pandemic was just starting and hadn’t really hit Arizona yet. We were able to bring him on campus, and we could tell right away he was a great fit. Molly was a bit different; it was a few weeks later and the numbers were growing. We had to do everything with her virtually, but the great thing about having such a strong culture the way GCU does, is that the fit is apparent right away, so she rose to the top.”
After it became apparent that they were both a good fit with the university, Boggs focused on building a relationship with them. They both understood the importance of building relationships early and immediately fostering the university culture, despite the unprecedented times.
“They are problem solvers, that’s part of the reason why we hired them. They are grinders and relentless recruiters; they know how to build their culture.”
Wisconsin-082418.025-680×290.jpg
file_4.wmf
The conversation then turned to the cultural and social impact of the Black Lives Matter movement. Boggs said it’s been disheartening to see racial injustice continue to be an issue. With a diverse group of student-athletes, Jamie Boggs explained that there is a diverse set of feelings and opinions on the issue.
“We have provided forums for our student-athletes to express themselves and that seems to really have been what was needed. We learned very quickly that the student-athletes wanted to be heard, and we provided a setting for that, both large and small. Letting the students express was the first step, but ultimately the foundation of our university is our faith. We are moving forward with unity, and we are all created under God.”
Boggs says they have a diversity and inclusion committee that they established last year to come up with programming and other initiatives. In listening to their student-athletes, they learned the student-athletes wanted to hear less from experts and more from each other. They wanted to hear personal stories from other student-athletes about the injustices they’ve experienced.
jamie boggs
file_5.wmf
“We’ve adapted and improved our program to include more of that based on feedback and will adjust our programming in the fall. The other thing we learned from our student-athletes is that they are very proud of what the university has done to help with social injustice and inequalities. People may not know this about GCU, but we are located in a very diverse community. It’s very immigrant-heavy, immigrants from Africa and South America, it’s very diverse. In 2014, we came up with a 5-point plan to revitalize our community, and it was based on really being involved in our community. Our student-athletes were so proud to know about that and wanted to be more involved with it.”
She explained that they made a commitment to the student-athletes that the university would be more involved and intentional about letting them know what initiatives are happening with the university and giving them the opportunity to participate. Jamie Boggs herself sits on the University’s Diversity Council and said it has provided her with enhanced insight into what’s going on and enables her to better share that insight with the student-athletes.
“A lot of departments around the country jumped on social media, which is important with this generation, but you have to have some teeth and commitment behind the words. That’s why I feel so fortunate to be at a place like GCU where that has been the fabric of who we are since day one.”
FILED UNDER: ATHLETIC DEPARTMENTS , SERVING TODAY'S STUDENT-ATHLETES
,
Educating Student-Athletes in Uncertain Times: Kansas City’s Ursula Gurney
posted on OCTOBER 13, 2020
file_0.wmf
“Being a student-athlete helped prepare me as an athletics administrator. That experience has helped me in many ways, it taught me time management skills and enforced how to work with a sense of urgency. It taught me to be coachable. I really think that experience as a Student-Athlete has translated into me learning how to listen, listening to the people around me, and understanding what it takes to help them as a department.” -Ursula Gurney
ursula gurney
file_1.wmf
Ursula Gurney was named the Deputy Director of Athletics and Senior Woman Administrator the Missouri-Kansas City Roos in May 2017. Since that time, she’s leaned on her experience as a student-athlete to help guide her department.
“It also really told me to be open to other people’s perspectives and find the intersection of where everyone needs are to move forward as a department.”
Gurney oversees academics, compliance, sports medicine, sports performance, and is the primary liaison with UMKC’s Offices of Admissions, Registration and Records, and Residential Life. She says every facet of her role in the athletic department is influenced by the strong culture of Kansas City.
“The culture and tone of our department is obviously set by the athletic director in concert with the chancellor. In our department, culture needs to provide our student-athletes the genuine perspective that their time with the department has true value. We have a culture of inclusiveness, one that fosters a family environment, ensuring that we act for a place of integrity, and one that values academics. The culture really defines how we act on a daily basis, what kind of services we want to provide our student-athletes and how they will grow into their role after they leave us in four or five years.”
Gurney explains that some of their most important student-athlete services revolve around academic support where they not only provide assistance but meaningful, critical personal skills instruction.
“We want our student-athletes to be successful in the classroom, it’s important to help them learn critical thinking. We also want to help them navigate their path toward graduation and find it a meaningful degree. Our academic support is significant.”
She says that type of academic support is also student development. Ursula Gurney explains, one of their main goals is to help develop a well-rounded student-athlete.
ursula gurney
file_2.wmf
“We want them to also focus on life after college. We look at things like leadership development, career development, focusing on things like activism, which has become a big topic among college athletics. So how do we prepare them for activism? For us, it’s engaging in critically thinking about the landscape of our nation and how do you think critically and engage in a dialogue? That means giving them opportunities to engage in a dialogue right now.”
She says they put an emphasis on preparing their student-athletes for when sport comes to an end and understanding their next steps. Ursula Gurney says that mental health is also an important topic within their athletic department, she says sports medicine and academics work hand in hand to provide help and awareness of mental health.
“Offering help in mental health areas is important, but we also want to give them tools to work on their mental health while they are with us, and even after they leave. Teaching them how to be resilient, teaching them how to be proactive with their mental health. We have to give our student-athletes these tools for mental health spaces to prepare them for life after they leave Kansas City. It really starts from the top down, our athletic director, Dr. Brandon Martin, believes in the mental health component and as a result, we have buy-in not only from our coaches but also the rest of the administrators on our team.”
She explains that they are constantly working towards synergy within the department so all of the moving parts can work together to create an outstanding student-athlete experience.
“It’s really fantastic to see when you have leadership that supports the growth of the student-athletes. That allows our entire team to come together, under that leadership, to offer our students a well-rounded student-athlete experience.”
ursula gurney
file_3.wmf
Gurney says everyone in the department can see the value of focusing on the student-athlete experience; when you have the ability to demonstrate that the student-athlete experience is front and center, all parties align with your mission.
“When members of our external team are out seeking a sponsorship, people can see what our mission is right away. People tend to support student-athletes and the student-athlete experience, wanting to lift up the students. In recruiting, when coaches are out telling the Kansas City Athletics story, it’s important that they show we’re also building strong men and women. The means it’s not just the experience that they get on the court or on the field–that the coaching staff works in conjunction with all of these different units in addition to the leadership they provide on the field.”
The human side of the equation has become a selling point for athletics, especially during the COVID crisis, explains Gurney.
“There’s nothing more human than the student-athlete experience because it’s all about lifting up and betterment. Our athletics director leads with the human story and the total student-athlete experience and it’s been that way since day one. I know he’s gotten only positive feedback from the community on our student-athlete experience and it’s really come front and center now. People want to help the student-athletes.”
Highlighting the student-athlete experience at Kansas City is not the only opportunity that’s presented itself during the pandemic. Ursula Gurney says professional development and “lifting and you rise” have also become a focal point for her and her team.
“It’s been important to provide professional development opportunities for our staff. As they grow, our department gets better. In this time of COVID, it’s been interesting. We are not going to conferences, we’re maybe not spending the time together, so we’ve had to get creative in how we continue to develop each other. Part of the way is turning to each other to learn and grow and develop. On the internal side, I lead a group twice a week, our whole internal team meets. We talk about our growth needs as individuals and as a department. We’re sharing thoughts and ideas. We are a great resource for each other.”
DSC_0125-380×570.jpg
file_4.wmf
Gurney says when it comes to choosing members for her team, how they see and value the student-athlete experience is top on her list of character qualifications.
“You have to really look at their character and how they will impart their character, their morals, their compass on others. You have to gauge how they will want to engage student-athletes. At the end of the day we all work for higher education, so our goal should be to educate both on the court and in the classroom. How is that coach or staff member going to impart their education on to the student-athletes to make sure we’re here for the whole picture and not just one part of it.”
She says that the pandemic has taught her things about Kansas City that she may not have taken the time to examine beforehand.
“We can be flexible, it’s ok to be flexible, we can pivot, sometimes we pivot daily. Another thing that has really come to the center is how important communication is and that it does not hurt to over-communicate. It’s important to take the time and structure your time to communicate. It’s helped us to be more efficient, it’s helped us to be more effective. The crisis has also shown us how important our mission is and how important it is that we work for that mission as a team. It takes all of us to make that great student-athlete experience.”
FILED UNDER: ATHLETIC DEPARTMENTS , FEATURE
