Scott Gwozdz

Scott Gwozdz
University of Colorado at Boulder

Scott.Gwozdz@colorado.edu

I became the University of Colorado’s COIA representative this year. The Wake Forest meeting this year was my first COIA event. I believe deeply in the mission and I’m looking forward to getting more involved with the organization. I recognize that COIA’s work to engage and empower the faculty voice in support of student athletics is more important today than ever.

I was a student athlete myself and I am familiar with the challenges athletes face from both the student and faculty perspective. I believe that sports can and should be a great learning experience for student athletes, but I also understand that these dedicated individuals can often struggle to balance the demands of their sport with the demands of the classroom.

I am currently an Instructor at the University of Colorado’s Leeds School of Business. I am in the ethics department, called the Center for Education on Social Responsibility. In addition to Entrepreneurship and Introduction to Business, I also teach an introductory class in our Business of Sports Certificate Program called “Introduction to Sports Management and Marketing.” This will be my 4th summer teaching this class. It’s my favorite class and I feel as though I am prepping for it all year long…

On my first day of teaching in the business school at CU in 2009, I walked over to our Athletic Academic Support office and asked how I might be able to help out. For the next five years, I both worked and volunteered as a tutor for athletes in business classes. My first student was the captain of the men’s basketball team. One memorable summer (2011) I worked with five football players, two soccer players and two volleyball players, helping them study smart.

I am currently involved as a Faculty Affiliate of the new and emerging Center for Sports Governance here at CU run by Roger Pielke. This academic effort, championed by our athletic department, is thriving in its second year. I have attended a number of events with this affiliation including recent campus visits from Lance Armstrong, Travis Tygart among others. As more courses are offered in this program, I look forward to teaching another sport class in the near future that will go deeper in exploring issues of sport and society.

I attend an athletics meeting monthly as the COIA Representative, and have seen so far how important the faculty perspective is on athletics at CU. My service work as a faculty member is focused almost entirely on athletics – I have both the time and the determination to help COIA succeed in the near future and beyond. I feel that my background in marketing and branding can also be an asset in this work as we interact with the numerous stakeholders and interest groups.

If given the chance, I will work hard on these important issues that affect both student athletes and faculty. Thank you for your consideration.