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Midterm Reflection
Derrick Sherman
Georgia Southern University
EDLD 8735, Fall 2015
October 10, 2015

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I am completing my practicum assignment with Marissa Poppe, Assistant Athletic
Director at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas. Mrs Poppe is in charge of Community
outreach and Strategic Partnerships with businesses and organizations around the community.
Pittsburg State University is located in Southeastern Kansas where it is home to just under 8,000
students. The university has 10 university-sponsored athletic teams with nearly 500 student
athletes combined within those teams. The athletic teams compete on the NCAA Division 2
level. The number of student athletes as well as overall student population continues to grow
although the staff has not seemed to keep up. Therefore, many employees within this
organization have many different job responsibilities. Some of those responsibilities, at other
institutions, usually have other personnel or departments to handle such duties. This requires
great communication between everyone throughout the campus and also the community. The
small school structure also has great perks, such as being able to work relatively closely with the
president and his staff. Because athletics are a very important part of the success of the
university, Dr Scott and his staff work actively with the administrators in athletics to ensure
Pittsburg State maximizes every opportunity to market and show off our university in the correct
manner.
There's a lot of continuity throughout the entire institution as far as the faculty and staff is
concerned. In fact, within the immediate organization I am working with, I am the only person
that did not graduate from Pittsburg State University. Gaining acceptance was not very difficult
initially, I have been welcomed with opened arms from the very beginning. I began to orient
myself within the organization by offering input with ideas and experiences that I have from
attending and working at other institutions. The staff has been very receptive to my point of view
therefore I would have to rate my experience thus far as "outstanding." I began this internship to

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gain experience and it has gone better than I have ever expected as I have recently had the
pleasure of joining the Student Athlete Advisory Committee. This committee serves as the voice
and liaison between student athletes at the university and university administration. This will
surely add to the experience and knowledge I set out to gain through the practicum.

My portfolio consists of many projects, articles, and essays. One in particular stood out to me in
regards to my practicum experience. In the Higher Education Finance course, I completed an
essay examining the role of intercollegiate athletics and its role in higher education. In the early
20th century, college athletics began to become more and more popular. Many believed that it
would be a detriment to college academics but it has actually proved to be the exact opposite.
Through media coverage, institutions are able to build a brand through athletics. Although on a
smaller scale, I am witnessing this theory firsthand. Pittsburg State University, although it has
great academic programs, is known more for the football championships they have won which
has created more media coverage and exposure, especially regionally. This consequently makes
more prospective students apply to the institution and allows for the university to both grow their
enrollment as well as be more selective as to who they admit into their institution.

The biggest "eye-opener" has been the amount of work that goes in to running a successful
program. Like everything else in our world, it takes a great deal of time and money which is
usually difficult to come by. As a former college athlete, I can remember playing in a football
game and afterwards being handed a boxed meal from a local restaurant and proceeded to eat as
if I had not eaten in years. Not once did I ever think of the work someone went through to assure
that I was able to have that meal and actually have more food than I could actually eat all at

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once. I have been fortunate enough to be a part of meetings and negotiations recently to assure
that our student athletes have the proper equipment and nutrition to be successful on and off the
field.

The most alarming aspect I have come across so far is how many people have their "hands in"
and want to benefit just as much, as if not more than, our organization. I understand that many
athletic programs survive off of donations whether monetary or material. There are some donors
that aren't necessarily helping out of the goodness of their hearts, more for their pockets. For
example, a local business has been upset because their profits have not grown since deciding to
become a sponsor of Pittsburg State athletics while similar businesses continue to grow. I
understand that the organizations need to be compensated but I do not agree with those particular
merchants who would like to prosper using the likeness of individual athletes and the athletic
program as a whole.

I enjoy working with my mentor and others in the organization, each encounter is very
enlightening for me. My mentors administrative philosophy is very similar to my own in the
sense of allowing everyone's participation and valuing each and everyone's ideas. Although each
individual has their turn to offer insight there is never a question as to who is in charge. Mrs.
Poppe appreciates all input and takes everything into consideration butt the ultimate decision
comes down to her decision and what she thinks is best. This is a trait I hope to acquire during
my practicum and perfect down the road. The trait I believe can also be attributed to her
effectiveness as a leader. She is very energetic and seeks to get the best out of every individual
from undergraduate student workers to fellow associate athletic directors.

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Mrs Poppe and I are not the same when it comes to the tone and aggression in which she
conducts business. Being around Mrs Poppe during meetings with clients can be very alarming
with loud voices and stern talking, almost to the point of being uncomfortable. This aggressive
nature does not necessarily end up in verbal fights or arguments, my mentor just dominates a
meeting or conference call, once again taking charge. This is my first time working in this
particular organization and I am unsure as to whether this philosophy needs to be that way or not.
Maybe this is a trait that I will eventually have to conquer if I were to travel down this career
path. I also believe in the theory that there is always more than one way to accomplish a task, if it
were up to me, I would probably try other actions before I adopt this philosophy.

I am enjoying my practicum experience, planning and operating events, as well as the

discussions that occur prior. There are some aspects in which I wish I was more knowledgeable.
The example that sticks out the most would be creating partnerships with merchants around the
community. This involves a substantial amount of negotiating to ensure both sides are
compensated properly. Negotiating is a skill that can be acquired and developed as time passes.
More importantly, I would like to gain more knowledge on these particular relationships which
will allow to understand what each side intends to accomplish and ultimately allow me to
negotiate and take control of potential partnerships myself. This has been a very interesting and
difficult aspect of my practicum because it came completely unexpectedly. Almost every other
aspect of the internship I had some sort of prior experience with or insight into, but the
partnerships and negotiations completely caught me by surprise and I have yet to catch up to
speed. I have, however, been fortunate enough to sit in on some conference calls with Mrs Poppe
and sponsors.