Among the myriad of experiential learning opportunities available to UISRM students, Guided Field Experience practicums provide one of the most immersive growth environments for students. As a result of their effectiveness and demand among students, the program planned to offer a record number of summer practicum courses. The addition of the Team USA practicum increased the number of planned summer 2020 practicum offerings to six.
However, shortly after instructors extended invitations to participate in summer practicums, the University of Iowa suspended in-person instruction for summer sessions as a result of COVID-19. Furthermore, many client partners faced postponement or cancellation of events and an alteration of typical operations that would have greatly impacted the students' practicum experiences.
Despite this, UISRM faculty persevered and altered the program’s practicum model to accommodate UI’s virtual instruction guidelines. The alterations offered students the opportunity to develop a unique skill set tailored to remote productivity and allowed them to maintain progress toward completion of their field experience degree requirements.
UISRM Program Director, Dan Matheson, quickly worked with the Chicago Blackhawks and Cedar Rapids Kernels to adjust his widely popular and successful practicum. UISRM faculty Packy Moran, Anna Jensen, Jeremy Parrish, Mia Richter, and Alex Voss collaborated to create the inaugural UISRM Agency practicum that served many of the planned practicum clients such as the Iowa Wild, USA Curling, and Think Iowa City.
A brief overview of each of the summer 2020 UISRM Guided Field Experience practicums is below. We also encourage you to watch the highlight videos that bring to life the students' experiences. Links to the highlight videos are provided below the images.
Chicago Blackhawks/Cedar Rapids Kernels Practicum
Our partners at the Kernels and Blackhawks generously adapted to the digital format to provide unparalleled opportunities to 33 students from four different UI academic programs in this seventh summer of the practicum. With executives working remotely and both organizations facing uncertain business operations due to the pandemic, they developed projects that reflected the real-time needs and working conditions of the professional sports industry. During the first three weeks working with Kernels marketing executives, students researched and presented recommendations for virtual and in-person events in place of baseball games, social media content and engagement strategies during the canceled season, and a potential new podcast venture by the Kernels. With the Blackhawks, students worked in project teams with executives on specific organizational needs related to digital and creative content, sponsorship, community relations and fundraising, online retail, and business analytics. Presentations of final project recommendations were met with resounding enthusiasm and assurances from both organizations that much of their work would be implemented. Students are already beginning to see evidence of their recommendations showing up on Kernels and Blackhawks social media.
Despite not traveling to Cedar Rapids and Chicago where networking typically takes place in person, students participated in a formal Zoom networking event with executives from the NCAA, Miami Dolphins, Indianapolis Colts and eight other organizations. To round out the networking experiences, professor Matheson plans to take the practicum students on a field trip to Chicago to shadow Blackhawks executives at the United Center when university travel is once again permitted.
Below are reflections from a few students on their experience in #UISRMChi20:
Fabiola Alsina, SRM senior: “What I really enjoyed about this practicum was the ability to interact with our assigned Blackhawks staff. It was a lot of fun and beneficial being able to interact with them so much as well as learning more about their jobs. This felt like we were beginning to develop a connection with them rather than a one-time client. They gave so much guidance and advice that I’ll be able to use in other jobs, internships or practicums.”
Sammy Sommerfeld, Journalism & Mass Communication and Sport Studies junior: “The Blackhawks project was very rewarding because for one of the first times in my life I finally felt challenged when working on a project. Working with the Blackhawks challenged my abilities to think more analytically than just relying on my creativity to develop research ideas that I believed in.”
Danny Papan, SRM senior: “Looking back at this course, the most beneficial experiences for me were definitely the days we presented to the Blackhawks and Kernels. It taught me both how to present professionally, along with what these professionals are looking for when presenting to them. These are once in a lifetime presentations, so the preparation and teamwork it took to get to that final goal took a ton of planning and practice that I will be proud of for the rest of my life.”
UISRM Agency Practicum
Program faculty Anna Jensen, Packy Moran, and Jeremy Parrish had discussed the possibility of creating a new Guided Field Experience practicum modeled after a sport marketing agency for some time. The concept was based on the idea that a large group of students within a practicum structure could be split into project teams of three to five students. Each of the project teams would support a separate UISRM program partner with various needs allowing more specialized experiential learning for each student. Changes to summer instruction and the needs of planned practicum partners led to the accelerated development of the UISRM Agency practicum.
In total, fifty-eight students became UISRM Agency Associates and earned between three and six credit hours toward their field experience coursework. The associates accomplished this by conducting research and developing creative solutions for the Iowa Wild, Eternal Fan, Iowa Club Hockey, Regina Softball Club and Hitting Facility, USA Curling, and Think Iowa City. Combined, the associates produced over 10,000 work hours in support of the sport and recreation clients identified.
With the work provided to UISRM Agency clients, associates also engaged in individualized professional development through the 'Paddle Your Own Canoe' framework. Furthermore, students contributed to 'Big Ideas' meant to develop future avenues of opportunity for the Agency such as sport expansion in Eastern Iowa and college student engagement on campus. Lastly, each associate left the practicum with demonstrated ability in using Microsoft Teams and the design thinking methodology which were used extensively throughout the UISRM Agency.
Below are reflections from a few students on their experience in the UISRM Agency:
Sabrinna Hegelheimer, SRM senior: "The UISRM Agency experience is going to help me as a student in that I learned a lot about presentation skills, branding, deliverables, and working with a team. As an associate in the practicum, I was able to experience what it's like working in an agency."
Dylan Mihalke, SRM senior: "The future of the UISRM Agency is bright! The ability to be in a virtual internship and gain experience with REAL client work is truly unmatched and doesn't compare to anything else out there. I went into the experience without truly realizing the amount of consistent commitment that an agency experience like this would require. In the end, this experience has prepared me for my work as a professional on any presentation or project that I'll be asked to take on."
Nathan Mylenek, SRM senior: "During the COVID-19 pandemic, when many were at home, I was continuing to advance my professional career thanks to the UISRM faculty. The UISRM Agency gave me the opportunity to work with real world clients, like the Iowa Hockey Club, to develop recommendations for challenges the club faces. The Agency challenged me to grow as an individual through professional development and as a team member through critical thinking and collaboration on big picture ideas, like the current and future state of public health in spectator sports."