Assessment Plan for the Sports Media Certificate

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Assessment Plan for the Sports Media Certificate

Assessment Plan for the Sports Media Certificate Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication University of Georgia, Athens, Ga.

The Assessment Plan for the undergraduate Sports Media Certificate was developed and is implemented by certificate program faculty. Its purpose is to provide information to the certificate faculty and Grady’s Journalism department concerning the effectiveness of the Sports Media Certificate curriculum at achieving the educational goals established by certificate faculty and to identify areas of excellence as well as areas that need improvement.

Learning objectives for Sports Media Certificate recipients

1. Students will gather information using best practices in journalism ethics, background research, interpreting sports statistics, sourcing and interviewing.

2. Students will tell sports stories on multiple platforms, such as: basic audio, photo and video; text; infographics; and social media. 3. Students will develop enough competency with fact-checking, AP style (especially sports-specific style), grammar and punctuation to effectively line-edit content. 4. Students will follow best practices in social promotion of content. 5. Students will demonstrate the ability to work professionally and responsibly, including meeting deadlines, in the high-stress work environment of sports media.

Direct Measures

1. Digital Portfolios. Each Sports Media Certificate candidate is required to build a digital portfolio during her or his first semester in the program, via the course JRLC 3850: Introduction to Sports Reporting and Writing, and provide the URL to certificate faculty upon completion of JRLC 5900: Sports Media Capstone. Each advanced skills class in the program provides opportunities for students to add new projects to the portfolio. Panels of faculty and practitioners assess the portfolio for quality and adherence to best practices. Assessed: Years 1, 2 and3 Learning objectives: 1, 2, 3

2. Capstone supervisor evaluations. Sports Media Certificate candidates are required to complete JRLC 5900: Sports Media Capstone. The course is essentially an internship with a professional sports media outlet or sports organization. It requires students to use the information-gathering, storytelling and editing skills they have acquired in the certificate program in a professional environment. Capstone supervisors at each outlet or organization assess, in evaluations submitted to certificate faculty members, the students’ work and abilities. Assessed: Years 1, 2 and 3 Learning objectives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 3. Class assessment. Sports Media Certificate candidates in JRLC 3850: Introduction to Sports Reporting and Writing, a course required in their first semester in the program, and JRLC 4800: Multiplatform Storytelling for Sports, an advanced course in the program, will be given a short quiz, survey and/or assignment, developed by certificate program faculty, to assess their knowledge of student learning objectives Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4. Assessed: Years 1, 2 and 3 Learning objectives: 1, 2, 3, 4

Indirect Measures

1. Senior Survey. A survey of graduating seniors asks for student responses to the Sports Media Certificate program, including teaching effectiveness and preparation for the professional work in sports media. Assessed: Years 1, 2 and 3 Learning Objectives: 1, 2, 3, 4

2. Alumni Survey. A survey of recent graduates assesses the effectiveness of the Sports Media Certificate program for alumni as they negotiate their early-stage careers. Assessed: Year 3 Learning Objectives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

3. Student Achievements. Sports Media Certificate program faculty and staff track and review student achievements, including sports media internships and honors and awards, to determine whether certificate candidates are demonstrating success in the university and professional communities. Assessed: Years 1, 2 and 3

Summary: In addition to these direct and indirect measures, the Sports Media Certificate program collects student evaluations for all courses, allowing the Grady Journalism department head and certificate faculty to consider curriculum strengths and weaknesses. Course evaluations are examined to assess each student’s perception of the utility and relevance of courses, as well as the level of intellectual challenge. Certificate faculty convene every three years to consider all input, as well as make observations regarding trends in academe and the sports media industry, to identify needs for curricular improvement.

Assessment Cycle

The assessment plan will follow a three-year cycle as outlined below. Year 1  Review capstone supervisor evaluations  Review digital portfolios  Senior surveys  Student achievements  Class assessment Year 2:  Review capstone supervisor evaluations  Review digital portfolios  Senior surveys  Student achievements  Class assessment

Year 3:  Review capstone supervisor evaluations  Review digital portfolios  Senior surveys  Student achievements  Class assessment  Alumni surveys

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