Unique in the region, Rowan launches BA in Sports Communication & Media

Rowan University’s College of Communication & Creative Arts (CCCA) today announced the launch of a Bachelor of Arts in Sports Communication & Media (Sports CAM) degree, a unique-in-the-region program that focuses on the role communication and media play within the sports industry.

The program offers four sports communication-related concentrations: communication studies; journalism; public relations/advertising; and radio, television & film.

CCCA Dean Sanford Tweedie said the college, which for generations has prepared students for a variety of communication and media careers, created the 39-credit baccalaureate program and a shorter-sequenced minor to position graduates for an important market segment.

“The American appetite for sports is nearly insatiable,” Tweedie said. “Trained sports communicators not only create content but help tell the human stories behind, within and of the games—analyzing, reporting, promoting and delivering content to consumers. In addition, media help bring focus not only to the competitive but to the social issues of sport and, by exploring these issues, our students will grow professionally and can positively impact society.”

Emil Steiner, a former reporter and editor at The Washington Post, has joined Rowan as coordinator of the Sports CAM program and is the first full-time faculty member hired to support it. Steiner was part of the Post newsroom team that won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news reporting and was founding editor of the paper’s NFL-focused section The League.

The program is supported by Rowan’s new Center for Sports Communication & Social Impact, whose founding director is Dr. John Giannini, former men’s basketball coach of La Salle University, the University of Maine and Rowan, where his team won the 1996 Division III national championship.

Created initially to teach good writing, CCCA for more than 50 years has prepared students for a variety of rewarding careers in journalism, broadcasting, television, film, radio, advertising, public relations, art, the writing arts and communication studies.

For more information on the new program, visit go.rowan.edu/sportscam.