New faculty hired for sports management program
Assistant professor’s expertise to enhance young sports management program.
Janel Shoun-Smith | 615.966.7078 |
In light of the growth of its sports management program, the Department of Kinesiology has hired Assistant Professor Andrew Mauldin to continue the work of the late Lynn Griffith, who led the program from its inception in 2014 until his death in 2020.
Having grown to 34 majors, the sports management program, which prepares students to enter the business side of the sports arena, has gained its legs and become an important piece of the kinesiology program, said Ruth Henry, chair of the department.
Mauldin will bring sports management expertise with him, boasting a master’s degree in sports management from the University of North Alabama, and he is a Ph.D. candidate in sports and leisure from Middle Tennessee State University.
Mauldin will work to enhance the sports management internships available to students and serve as a personal contact for the sports management majors, Henry said.
Mauldin was drawn to Lipscomb in part due to his family roots in the Church of Christ. A self-described “preacher’s kid,” Mauldin has served as a youth minister and says that serving on the Lipscomb faculty brings together his four passions: sports, teaching, research and a love for Christ.
Has played golf and baseball growing up and worked in the Harding University campus intramural and recreation department during his undergraduate years.
“When I began pursuing a career, I wanted to work at a university that had a mission and that was encouraging to my Christian faith,” he said.
He hopes his students will learn that it is valuable to live a Christian life, no matter what career they pursue, he said.
For his dissertation work for his Ph.D., Mauldin is researching how religion impacts the stigma of mental health among collegiate athletes. He is exploring athlete’s willingness to seek treatment and how religion can impact their mental health.
“Athletes have an increased likelihood of suffering mental health illness because time constraints and expectations are so tough for athletes,” Mauldin said.
Mauldin has been published in the International Journal of Kinesiology in Higher Education and contributed to a chapter in Dimensions of Leisure for Life: Individuals and Society, second edition. He was part of a team who received a $60,000 grant to develop an outdoor recreation program for students visiting the Natchez Trace Parkway in Nashville.
He has presented his research at The Academy of Leisure Sciences and the Alabama State Association for Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance.
Lipscomb’s sports management program includes courses in business, sociology, finance and economics. The sports management field is growing at a rapid pace, Mauldin said.
“Graduates of the sports management program could work with professional sports leagues, parks and recreation, youth sports or collegiate athletics,” he said. “Another growing area that could interest Lipscomb students is becoming a sports chaplain. There are so many options.”