Who's Eligible to Submit?

As part of Athletic Business and NIRSA's commitment to empowering the future generation of campus recreation professionals, we are looking for undergraduate students working in campus rec who have an anticipated graduation date between December 2020 and May 2021, and are looking to stay within the industry post-graduation. We believe that these students have a fresh perspective on the industry and we want to allow them a platform to share their insights and experience working in the field. 

Article Prompts

Articles should answer a selection of questions posed below from your point of view as a student staff member in campus recreation:

Study, work and play

• What is your major?
• How has that field of study influenced your approach to working in campus recreation?
• Conversely, how has working in campus recreation impacted your academic career?
• What do you like to do in your spare time?

 
Working in the rec department

• How did you learn about the opportunity to work for your campus recreation center?
• Would you recommend working in the rec center to your fellow undergraduates?
• What do you love most about working in campus recreation?
• What values do you think are promoted through recreational opportunities?
• What skills would you say you’ve strengthened most by working in campus recreation?

 
About the future

• What are your plans after graduation?
• What excites you most about the prospect of working in the athletic business industry?
• What is your ultimate dream job?
• How has your job working in campus recreation helped to prepare you for your future career?

 
What’s next for campus recreation

• What features or programs do you think will be must haves for the next generation of campus rec centers?
• What do you think your rec center does that’s innovative or especially compelling for students?
• Where do you see as the next frontier for pioneers in the campus recreation or health club professions?

Preferred article length is 700-800 words. High-quality articles will present answers to the questions above in a consistent and natural flow. If you have questions, you may reach out to editors@athleticbusiness.com for further guidance.

Benefits of Winning

Each selected winner will have his/her article published in a standard issue of Athletic Business, a highly regarded industry publication, in 2020

• As a benefit of contributing to editorial content, each winner will receive a contributor fee of $200
• Up to 10 copies of issue with published article to be included in his/her portfolio

Winners will be granted an Instagram takeover of both AB's account for a day during the month of his/her published article

• Show AB's audience what a day-in-the-life looks like for you, some of your favorite spots in your campus recreation facility, or your favorite programming options available
• We'll save your content as a highlight for the remainder of the month

​The first place winner will win an all-expenses paid trip to NIRSA 2020 (April 18-21 in Phoenix), including:

• A meet and greet with AB staff
• Airfare to and from the event
• Hotel reservation for the duration the event
• A one-on-one feature in the April 2020 issue (bonus distribution at NIRSA event)

What Happen's After Submitting?

Winners will be notified by November 8, 2019. Each of the eight winners will have the opportunity to work with the Athletic Business editorial staff for a full review and approval process. This will ensure that your article is in impeccable shape in terms of grammar, flow and consistency.

Scheduling of the Instagram takeover will be determined with the AB staff a month prior to the winner's published issue. Issues of article inclusion will be: January/February, April, May, June, July/August, September, October, November/December.