Informative Interview of Athletic Director

Conduct an in-person informational interview of a current high school or middle school athletic director. If you are currently an athletic director yourself, interview a colleague from another school.

Visit about.com to find guidance on conducting an informational interview. In particular, look at Informational Interview Questions. You do not need to ask every suggested question – your primary goal should be to ask questions that will help you complete the Module 2 Challenge (hint: look ahead to that assignment).

Your paper should be no more than 3 pages (excluding title page). Include the following information at the beginning of the paper: the date and location of the interview; the name and job title of the person interviewed; and a summary of the response to each question (do not include an exact transcript of the responses, and do not repeat the questions asked – these should be evident from the summary). No reference page or in-text citations are necessary (you are effectively citing the source in your introductory information).

Submit your informational interview document through Blackboard (see the following link), AND post your completed informational interview document in the shared Google Drive folder (that your group created in Module 1) for your group members to view. The interviews will serve as a resource for the group in the Challenge assignment.

You will be graded according to the attached rubric.

See your Course Schedule for the Module 2 Assignment 1 due date.

Paper Format

Create a title page that includes the assignment title, your name, your group number, the course name, and date of submission. Do not follow APA paper format (no running head). Insert a page header, starting on p. 2, that includes the assignment title and page number.

Single-space the text of each paragraph. Left align the text, with no indent at the beginning of the paragraph, and an extra line between paragraphs (equivalent to full block in letter formats).

Informational Interview

3

Module 2, Assignment 1: Informational Interview

Chad M. Rose

Group 5

SASM 6100

Summary

I was able to sit down with Amy Rose, who recently finished a tenure as the Athletic Director at Kelly Walsh High School in Casper, Wyoming. After the addition of Thunder Basin High School in Gillette, WY, Kelly Walsh is now Wyoming’s largest high school with over 2100 students 9-12.

Amy started her career as a volunteer volleyball coach and English teacher at Niobrara County High School in Lusk, WY. NCHS is the only high school in the least populated county in Wyoming, which is the least populated state in the USA. The student population averages 105 students 9-12. She coins the community as “the literal middle of nowhere”. After spending one year there, she followed her husband to Buffalo High School, where she spent ten years teaching physical education while coaching Volleyball and Track and Field. During this time, she was promoted to head coach in both sports. After being passed over for the Activites Director position in favor of a less qualified candidate, she chose to apply for other opportunities. She was offered three different Activities Director positions in Wyoming, and selected Kelly Walsh as her professional home.

While competing as a two-sport athlete at Chadron State College, Amy obtained teaching certificates in both English and Physical Education. After her seventh year of teaching, Amy was awarded a master’s degree in teaching from Grand Canyon University. She competed her principal endorsement through the University of Wyoming after her tenth year of teaching. When asked about what type of work experience or internship was needed to be considered for the position, she candidly stated that no experience was needed for any of the positions she has been offered. Wyoming Professional Teaching Standards Board does not have a certification for Athletic or Activities Directors. If a future athletic director was interested in obtaining work experience, they could do so by simply offering their volunteer services to the Activities Director, as they are most often overworked and understaffed. Amy feels that the skills needed to be successful in this field are adaptability, the ability to deal with stress, excellent listening skills, professional drive, a well-balanced personality, and a willingness to be in front of people in a leadership role. It is as important to be able to laugh and be personable as it is to be resilient. In addition, knowledge of the technology inherent to the position is very important. The activities director must be in constant contact with the information technology department to avoid any mistakes or errors while using Star Scheduler and Bus Scheduler. The games at KW are broadcast on live feeds, which need to be monitored and staffed. The website must be maintained so that stakeholders can find pertinent information.

At Kelly Walsh, the athletic director is also in charge of oversight for the school interscholastic activities. Between the responsibilities for the 23 sports and 16 additional interscholastic activities, her position requires a work week of between 55 and 65 hours. The contracted number of days were greater than the number of days required for teachers. The typical contract of 185 days for full-time teachers was raised to 220 days for activity directors, though the application of those days is flexible. Amy stated that compensation for these positions differs depending on the school district, but that two types of compensation are typical. Some schools will pay the activities director with a principal’s starting salary while others will offer three head coach stipends to the activities director. She was not aware of any districts in Wyoming that had an individual employed to manage athletics alone. To her knowledge, all positions were

activities director positions.

While working as an activities director, one can expect to still be taking care of student needs. Sometimes that could include discipline, fielding complaints, managing transfer students or exchange students, and many other tasks. It is not unusual to have multiple activities or sports with local events that occur simultaneously and require the oversight of the activities director. The activities director is charged with supporting and growing the coaches and teachers under their supervision through a variety of professional development opportunities that can be formal and occasionally specifically geared to a specific coach or sponsor. Daily communication is expected of the activities director at KW. This is done at the building level, the student and parent level, and also through many social media outlets. The activities director must increase advocacy for the program in the school, throughout the district, and amongst state leadership.

The chain of command that she followed at Kelly Walsh was typical of most 4A classified schools in Wyoming. The player reports to the coach, who reports to the activities director. The activities director reports to the head principal, who reports to one of the assistant superintendents. All of the assistant superintendents report to the district superintendent, who is held responsible to the school board. In a smaller school district, some of these positions have been consolidated, and the chain of command is reduced in size.

The most difficult problems that an activities director has to face are problems that deal with an issue or “trouble” with kids and coaches. When the mistakes have been made by students, and the parents don’t agree with the assigned consequence or follow through, that can be especially difficult. As Amy said, “The goal is really to like the people more than the process, but sometimes that gets trumped by” being consistent with the application of the rules for each child. She continued, “but if you don’t waiver, your integrity is never questioned because fair is equal in those situations.” Perfection will be demanded by the stake holders. “The community and parents want an error-free 1000 foot view, which is impossible. Things are going to happen, and someone will not be happy.” Amy sees each event as a show. Any misstep is an inevitable reflection of her. Any missing officials, table workers, or other support staff causes great amounts of stress. Optimal planning is necessary for a smooth production, but the pressure from unforeseen circumstances create the highest levels of frustration.

Though the job can be quite difficult and stressful, Amy looks forward to opportunities to see the goals of her constituents met through success and growth. This has become her passion. She really looks forward to building relationships with her coaches and sponsors through their common drive for success and their passion for working with students.