A program the University of Ottawa will host in the fall may not have the excitement of the Olympic Games, but it aims to help students from around the world manage events like it.
Starting in September, the university’s Telfer School of Management will host an international program supported by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), making it the first school outside of Europe to do so in the program’s 30-year history.
The program, an executive master’s in sport organization management (MEMOS), aims to help professionals working in national and international sports organizations gain the knowledge and skills to better manage them. National bodies are limited to submitting one candidate per country, with less than half of the over 80 applications accepted yearly, the press release stated.
The program is offered in English, French and Spanish. The University of Ottawa will administer the English version of the program.
Students helping fix real problems in global sports organizations
MEMOS is supported by Olympic Solidarity, the IOC’s global development initiative that aims to support National Olympic Committees across the world.
“When the decision was made to look beyond Europe for a MEMOS host, Telfer and uOttawa became a very attractive option since the university is bilingual,” said Stéphane Brutus, dean of the Telfer School of Management, in a news release Tuesday.
Students complete modules focusing on governance, marketing, finance, human resources, leadership and events, concluding their studies with an applied research project where they work with professors to solve a problem in their organization.
Tuition sits at over $9,000, plus travel and accommodation expenses. However, most students receive funding from Olympic Solidarity, with others being independently funded by themselves or their organization.
Program welcomes 1st woman director
Leading the program is Milena Parent, a professor at Telfer and the School of Human Kinetics at the faculty of health sciences. Her career has focused on organization theory and strategic management, primarily in the context of major sports events.
Parent said she had to think hard about putting her name forward for the global leadership position.
“If you look at the geopolitics in the world, not every country accepts a female in a leadership role or (a) woman as a leader,” she said.
“That is something I had to consider, whether I would be ready to be at that forefront and potentially challenge those traditions and some customs while still being, obviously, respectful of local culture and local customs.”
Prior to being elected as the first woman director of the program in February, she lectured in the project and event management module in the French and English MEMOS programs.
She added that during International Women’s Day in March she received messages thanking her for her work in the Olympic Movement that convinced her to run.
“That really touched me and I realized how much impact I could have by being in this role.”
This year’s students will begin the academic year in Olympia, Greece, site of the ancient Games, and finish their year at the home of the modern Games at Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland.