Curriculum Requirements
This 63-hour undergraduate degree focuses on practical and business skills needed for employment in the rapidly growing field of sport management. Sport professionals with skills and experience related to sport management are extremely marketable, and this degree provides the skills necessary to become a professional in the field.
The program requires students to complete an application to gain admission. Students will initially be registered at WKU as Sport Management-Prep majors. While in this status, students must earn a minimum of 2.25 GPA and complete 5 prerequisite courses with a grade of "C" or better (see course list below). Upon completion of these requirements, students complete an SPM admission application to gain full admission to the program. Until admission is given, prep students are not permitted to register for any of the SPM 400 level courses; these courses are reserved for Sport Management majors only.
As indicated below, the program consists of 48 hours of required core courses and 15 hours of required electives. Complete descriptions of these courses can be found in the Undergraduate Catalog.
For more information about the Sport Management Program, please contact Dr. Stacey Forsythe; Sport Management Program Coordinator.
Admission Requirements
To be admitted to the program, students must have
- a minimum of an overall WKU GPA of 2.25.
- completed the following courses with a grade of C or higher: COMM 145, ECON 202, MKT 220, SPM 200, and MGT 210.
- submitted a complete application including resume.
Program Requirements (63 hours)
A baccalaureate degree requires a minimum of 120 unduplicated semester hours. More information can be found at www.wku.edu/registrar/degree_certification.php. Students who began WKU in the Fall 2014 and thereafter should review the Colonnade requirements located at: https://www.wku.edu/colonnade/colonnaderequirements.php.
| Core Courses | 48 | |
| SPM 200 | Introduction to Sport Management | 3 |
| SPM 290 | Sport Management Seminar | 3 |
| SPM 310 | Sport Ethics and Moral Issues | 3 |
| SPM 404 | Sport Facility Management | 3 |
| SPM 402 | Fiscal Practices in Sport Management | 3 |
| SPM 450 | Sport Law | 3 |
| SPM 452 | Sport Leadership and Management | 3 |
| SPM 454 | Sport Governance | 3 |
| SPM 490 | Internship in Sport | 12 |
| COMM 145 | Fundamentals of Public Speaking and Communication | 3 |
| ECON 202 | Principles of Economics (Micro) | 3 |
| MKT 220 | Basic Marketing Concepts | 3 |
| MGT 210 | Organization and Management | 3 |
| Electives | ||
| Select 15 hours of the following: | 15 | |
| Fundamentals of Public Relations | ||
| Understanding the Nonprofit Sector | ||
| Recreation and Tourism | ||
| Campus Recreation | ||
| Travel-Based Learning in Recreation and Tourism | ||
| Public Policy in Sport | ||
| Sport Event Management | ||
| Advance Studies in Sport | ||
| Sports Economics | ||
| Entrepreneurship | ||
| Sports Marketing | ||
| Social Media Marketing | ||
| Sociology of Sport | ||
| Sport Communication | ||
| Sport Psychology | ||
| Total Hours: |
63 | |
Prior to being allowed to take the SPM 490 course, students must have completed all courses required in the major except SPM 490 and must have a minimum 2.8 GPA in all major courses. The remaining hours required to meet the university’s requirement of 120 hours should be used to either: 1) take other electives of interest to the student or 2) select a minor that best prepares them for entry-level positions related to their interest within the sport industry. Complementary minors include but are not limited to: athletic coaching, broadcasting, business administration, economics, finance, nonprofit administration, and facility and event management.
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