Greetings from Iowa City! As I write this, campus is returning from the holiday break, students are preparing for exam week and the UISRM program will soon be holding its Graduation Celebration event at the Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame Building. All of us on the faculty are beyond excited to recognize our newest crop of graduates and meet their family and friends at one final gathering before they take the next steps in their journeys.

In the spirit of graduation, the theme of this newsletter edition is student success. You’ll find several stories of student success and a few examples of the many ways faculty are supporting students through new classes they developed and other service to the program. One student who’s profiled is Jailene Bernal. Jailene was selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins to be a Media Relations Intern this season, which necessitated an abrupt change of academic plans to accept a once-in-a-lifetime offer. Thanks to the SRM program’s online degree option, Jailene was able to pivot her enrollment to online coursework at the beginning of the fall semester, which allowed her to move to Pittsburgh for the internship while continuing progress toward her degree. 

You’ll also read stories about faculty members Adam Kempenaar and Sarah Hardin. Adam and Sarah developed new courses that are supporting students interested in sport media and in recreation, and they’re providing service outside of their teaching for co-curricular and extracurricular experiences that support student professional development.

Don’t miss reading about our planned spring field trip to the Big Ten Conference headquarters in the Why We Give feature. UISRM’s tradition of annual field trips has supported hundreds of student success stories over the years. In Why We Give, three alumni are featured whose success stories began with their participation in UISRM field trips as students, and A.J. Edds, former Hawkeye linebacker and now Vice President of Football Administration at the Big Ten Conference, shared a video message about how you can support student access to the field trip this year.

For plenty of feel-good student success quick hits, be sure to read the Achievements section of the newsletter where we’ve compiled dozens of updates on all that our students, alumni and faculty are up to. 

Please enjoy and share the newsletter with others. If you have feedback, questions, achievements, story recommendations or updated contact information, please contact one of the UISRM newsletter committee members listed below:

Alex Voss:  alex-voss@uiowa.edu  -  Anna Jensen:  anna-jensen@uiowa.edu  -  Kara Kehe: kara-kehe@uiowa.edu 

Thanks for reading and being a part of the UISRM community!

Dan Matheson

Professor of Instruction and Program Director

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