After launching a new Master’s in Education in Neuroscience in Trauma, Tabor College is set to unveil a new Master in Business Administration. Its focus will be Sports Management & Leadership, launching for the 2021 fall semester and continuing for two years.
Amy Ratzlaff, assistant professor of health and human performance, assistant athletic director, and associate dean of the school of professional studies, will serve as director for the new MBA degree. She will be assisted by Jim Moore, who is an associate professor of health and human performance and department chair of athletic training.
The two-year program was officially approved this spring, and the opening cohort will begin in August. The courses will consist of eight weeks of online sessions.
Ratzlaff spoke of the number of health and human performance majors, many of whom choose to advance to graduate school and can now stay at Tabor.
“There are students who are going to be juniors in the classroom and freshmen in eligibility,” she said. “To help them progress academically and athletically, we had to have a solution, and we had to have it right away.”
With its combination as an MBA, the program can also connect with students who aspire to work in athletics in fields such as accounting, finance, and marketing.
“Placing it under an MBA will give a broader sense to somebody going into sports leadership,” Ratzlaff said. “You can budget, manage them and be able to tell an institution that you have a business sense about you.”
With an additional year of eligibility because of COVID-19, athletes can extend their stay at Tabor. A high number of these athletes have majors that correlate with this master’s degree, opening another door to expand their portfolio.
With the combination of athletics and business, Ratzlaff said this degree will be a key ticket if they want to pursue a career in collegiate or professional sports.
“Perhaps athletes will choose not to finish out their eligibility, but we need to have an option for students (who want to expand) into the sports industry,” Ratzlaff said. “A master’s will be required to get into the door collegiately.”
Thank you for reading a story from our 2021 summer edition of the Tabor College Connection. To see more from this issue + others, click HERE.