In September of 2020, the Brandeis University Department of Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation unveiled it's three year strategic action plan. The action plan is a broad-ranging set of goals and aspirations focusing on the future of Brandeis Athletics centering around four main strategic priorities. While the pandemic created new challenges for the department during the 2020-2021 academic year, the staff and coaches within the department were able to still make significant progress on the goals set forth in the action plan. Below is an outline of the accomplishments for each of the four strategic priorities made during year one of Brandeis Athletics' three year strategic plan.
INCLUSIVE EXCELLENCE
Goal:
The department strives to be a leader on campus and in the community in developing an inclusive community in which all can learn, play, compete and work.
- Student-athletes and staff completed an educational series on bias, systemic racism, white privilege, and LGBTQIA inclusion throughout the year
- Seven members of the Athletics community (student-athletes, staff and alumni) submitted personal reflections as a part of the UAA Race and Racism series.
- Utilizing the NCAA Sports Sponsorship and Demographic Form, the department created a baseline student-athlete and staff ethnicity dataset.
- URM students represented 19.1% of the varsity student-athlete class of 2025 (compared to 16.47% of the full incoming class). This represented an increase in ethnic diversity from 12.5% in the class of 2024 and 18.5% in the class of 2023.
- In conjunction with Offices of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Human Resources, the department has developed and implemented a standardized, inclusive hiring process
- In conjunction with students, various campus office and Boston GLAD, the department drafted a transgender student inclusion policy
RESOURCES AND FACILITIES
Goal:
The department strives to ensure our resources and facilities provide all students with the ability to maximize their full potential.
Year 1 Progress:
- With help from the Office of the Provost, Division of Student Affairs and Department of Facilities Services, Athletics was able to fund multiple facility improvements including:
- Creation or repurposing of multiple new areas including the Class of 2020 Refueling Station, new varsity weight room, photo/media room, and climbing wall area
- Multiple improvements in Linsey Pool, including regrouting, and replacement of lighting, timing mechanisms and scoreboard
- Enhancements to each of the 11 team locker rooms through either the creation of new spaces or improvements to existing rooms
- Cosmetic and functionality improvements to the dance studio, athletic training room and indoor track
- Addition of a part-time assistant strength and conditioning position.
- Completion of a review of equipment needs and ideal meal money allocation utilizing feedback from coaching staff.
- Strengthened alumni engagement and ran a successful Giving DeisDay fundraising campaign, with over $94,000 raised by the athletics community in a single day.
STUDENT EXPERIENCE
Goal:
The department strives to complement the educational mission of the university by providing opportunities for students to enrich their current and future lives through sport, fitness and wellness offerings.
- Despite the challenges caused by COVID, the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center remained open and available for use by the entire Brandeis community since mid-August 2020.
- A student-athlete development team was created in order to coordinate collective programming for the department.
- Utilizing the Home Fitness platform, the department provided online content (9 semester-long classes) focused on physical and mental well-being for students taking classes and faculty/staff working remotely during the pandemic
- Meaningful engagement opportunities were offered for intramural sports, fitness programming and club sports student-athletes during the pandemic.
- In the fall, intramural sports offered 27 distinct physically distanced or virtual activities. Full intramural league play resumed in April 2021.
- A total of 18 in-person fitness classes were offered during the academic year.
- During the fall semester, 11 of 19 club sports were able to participate in physically-distanced, masked practice sessions. In the spring, all 19 club sports were able to resume practice activities
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Goal:
The department strives to align our operations and values with the Brandeis University Framework for Our Future, and elevate our brand to be a source of pride for the university community.
- The department completed and is currently reviewing a survey of coaches and staff regarding community service opportunities. In conjunction with the Office of Community Service, an implementation plan for a department service program is forthcoming.
- In October, the department organized Virtual Homecoming including a Sports Captains Town Hall, alumni events for each program, dedication of the Jim Zotz Wall of Recognition, and the announcement of the 2021 Athletics Hall of Fame class. The virtual event featured 12 virtual events and yielded over 200 alumni participants.
- The "We B Wellness" campaign kicked off Feb 8, 2021, and finished with over 600 total check-ins to fitness/wellness events and over 110 active users during the month-long campaign.
- The department created and provided resources and templates for coaches to use in alumni correspondence and special outreach campaigns including Giving DeisDay and the Student-Athlete Wellbeing Campaign.
- The department organized an Alumni-Athlete Virtual Networking event via zoom, which involved multiple members of the FOBA executive committee and sport captains, which can serve as a template for expansion in the future.