by Ashley Hohmann
Sport Administration Master’s Student
More than 40 undergraduate and graduate students in Georgia State University’s sport administration program volunteered at the SEC Championship Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Dec. 2. The game featured a highly anticipated matchup between No. 1 Georgia and No. 8 Alabama.
Georgia State students put their classroom experiences to work, working at a variety of events throughout the weekend. A large group of students volunteered with the SEC at Mercedes-Benz Stadium prior to the game, where they worked alongside SEC stadium staff to guide guests into the facility and assisted with digital ticketing issues at the gate.
Professor Beth Cianfrone and doctoral student instructors Natalie Bunch and Jackson Sears also volunteered at the event with the students in their classes.
Several students volunteered at the SEC Fanfare, an interactive fan experience held at the Georgia World Congress Center. There, they assisted with ESPN’s College GameDay show and volunteer coordination.
Georgia State’s sport administration program has partnered with the SEC on football championship events in a variety of capacities since 2007.
“Volunteering at the SEC Championship Game was a great experience to observe firsthand and apply what we have learned in class,” said first-year master’s student Rachel Moss. “The environment of the SEC Championship is unmatched, and I feel so lucky to have played a small part in contributing to that. I am already looking forward to next year.”
“We’ve really enjoyed the partnership with the SEC, which allows our students to assist with the championship and gain meaningful sport industry experience,” Cianfrone added.
The sport administration program is housed in the College of Education & Human Development’s Department of Kinesiology and Health. The program offers a Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Sport Administration, a Master of Science in Sport Administration and a Ph.D. in Kinesiology with a concentration in sport administration. The M.S. program is currently ranked No. 12 in the United States by Sport Business International. The sport administration program is home to the Center for Sport and Urban Policy and the Rankin Cooter Bureau for Sport Business Research.
For program information, contact Cianfrone at [email protected]. For the latest information, follow the program on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @GSUSportAdmin.