Dr. Jonathan E. Howe, an assistant professor in Temple University’s School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management, and Dr. Leonard Moore, a University of Texas at Austin professor and founder of the Black Student-Athlete Summit, have launched a new certificate program, Sport Leadership and Innovation. The program is particularly relevant in the rapidly changing world of college athletics.
“This certificate program is designed for professionals in college athletics administration,” said Howe. “This program is one of the first of its kind to provide a platform for learning, for critical insight that will push them to be better managers, and be better leaders. We all know that the landscape of college athletics is changing by the minute, so we want to provide a platform to critically challenge how they lead and think about innovation and creativity within their specific sport organization.”
Howe anticipates those taking part in this initial cohort will be administrators, although the program is also open to coaches and student-athletes near graduation and desirous of entering athletic administration. The program will be held on an online platform, with two modules, six lessons in each. There will also be video content created by Howe and Moore.
“There will be a series of professional development and leadership assignments,” said Howe, author of “Playing the Game, Self-Presentation, and Black Male College Athletes: A Critical Understanding of the Holistic Experience.” “We designed these assignments … for participants to really be introspective. Encouraging them to write out goals for how they’re going to be a better leader. Thinking about specific examples that they’ve gone through in their athletic department … and how after learning this content, they can potentially go about those situations in a different manner.”
Officially launching this week, the program is designed so that participants can complete it at their own pace. The goal for this initial group of 25 is to complete the program by the time of the 2026 Black Student-Athlete Summit, which will take place May 20-23 at the University of Oregon, so the certificates can be presented then. Howe noted that the forum is a place for discussing a range of issues in college sports, and this certificate program promotes thought leaders.
“We will have a series of online check-ins when we’ll host live sessions for all of the cohort to be able to use that as a community building space, but participants can log on to the platform whenever they have time to complete the work,” said Howe. “We want to build something that’s sustainable.”
