Election for International Athletics Council

I am currently the Assistant Dean for Practicum Education at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work, a Clinical Associate Professor, and a Provost Teaching Fellow for the university. I was a student at UT Austin from 1998-2001 and an adjunct faculty from 2012-2017, at which time I was hired as a full-time faculty member. I am interested in the Student Athletes and Activities Committee to learn more about the intersection of social work/mental health and student athletes. I would also like to play a larger role at UT by bringing my social work experience to university-wide committees. In addition, I am a marathon runner and would like to promote lifelong movement, sports, and activities across the campus for students, faculty, staff, and administrators, as I know the personal benefits of fitness. Thank you for your consideration! 

As the Associate Director for Research for the UT Center for Sports Communication & Media, I have led an interdisciplinary research team for the past four years to produce sports communication research. I have authored 48 peer reviewed journal articles and book chapters, often at the intersection of sports, digital media, and crisis communication. I have received early career research awards from the sports divisions of both the International Communication Association and the National Communication Association. To bridge my connections with the sports industry, I have also been working with the National Football League on a case study project.  Lastly, I teach a Sports and Social Media Strategy course. Before coming to UT, I worked in advertising for a sporting-retail brand and managed all testing and analytics solutions associated with their $20m annual advertising spend. 

Joshua Childs is an associate professor of education policy in the College of Education. A former Division I track & field athlete, one of Joshua's research strands focuses on the intersection of interscholastic and intercollegiate coaches' influence on student athlete experiences. Joshua currently leads a national longitudinal study on education-based athletics, surveying over 50,000 student-athletes nationwide on the role athletics play on academic, social-emotional, and mental outcomes. Joshua partners with the Texas High School Coaches Association and the Texas A&M Coaching Academy, leading an evaluation of a statewide mentoring program that was created to retain high school coaches in Texas.

Entering my twenty-fifth year at UT, I am the Senior Associate Dean of Liberal Arts and a professor of Sociology and Psychology, and I have been Chair of the Department of Sociology and served on the Faculty Council as Liberal Arts representative. My research focuses on the health and education of adolescents and young adults, including their sports participation.

My research interests includes the intersection of sports and human rights law. I also served as a member and chair of the SB student athlete committee. Finally I am an avid Longhorn fan.

I have been on the faculty at UT since 1999 and am the Warren S. Bellows Centennial Professor in Civil Engineering.  I am a former college basketball player, an avid sports fan, and fervent support of UT athletics.  I previously served on the Men's Intercollegiate Athletics Council from 2015-2019 and believe that my previous experience will help me to effectively contribute to the Intercollegiate Athletics Council, which now oversees both Men's and Women's Athletics.  I have also actively assisted in the recruitment of several student-athletes over the years, including my direct assistance in recruiting Joseph Ossai to UT in 2018.  Joseph Ossai was a consensus All-American in 2020 and currently plays for the Cincinnati Bengals.

I teach sports-related classes in the Moody College of Communication and I've also taught Sports Law at UT School of Law. Most of us understand that intercollegiate athletics is at a critical juncture where the rights of student-athletes to earn compensation and transfer must be balanced with the academic and athletic interests of their schools and conferences. Will the House v NCAA settlement be approved and if so, how will it affect competitive balance among FBS schools and the economics of intercollegiate athletics? Last fall I spearheaded a lawsuit against the NCAA in an attempt to enable individual sport college athletes to retain prize money earned in non-NCAA events because in a nutshell, it makes no sense that a college football player who earn millions of dollars in NIL is an "amateur" for NCAA eligibility purposes but a college tennis player who plays in the US Open and keeps $50K in prize money is a "professional" and should be excluded from playing tennis in college.

I welcome the opportunity to serve on the Intercollegiate Athletics Council. As a faculty member in Sport Management, former president of the B-4 Student Athletes and Activities Committee, and former NCAA athlete, I believe I have the requisite experience, knowledge, and perspective to add value to this important group.

As Chief Clinical Officer at UT Health Austin, I oversee strategic operations and clinical programs, leveraging my background in medicine and organizational leadership to support institutional excellence. I'm a proud alumnus of the University of Texas, and I am deeply connected to our community and passionate about fostering the success of student-athletes. While my primary focus has been in healthcare, my interest in athletics stems from a lifelong appreciation for sports and their role in personal development. I look forward to contributing to the Intercollegiate Athletics Council by advocating for the holistic growth and wellbeing of our student-athletes.

I have been at UT since 2007 and teach mostly courses in Germanic linguistics (history of the German language, dialects of German, etc.), German language and literature, and fairy tales (Grimms' fairy tales and fairy tales in America). My administrative service is considerable; I am in my second year as chair of the Department of Germanic Studies and also serve on the Academics Curriculum Advisory Committee. I previously served on the Faculty Council and the Graduate Assembly. My main current research project is a book on the history of Germanic linguistics in North America, focusing on what happens when national traditions and different theoretical perspectives bump into each other. I am interested in serving on the Intercollegiate Athletics Council because of the important role of athletics at UT and beyond and the need to help student athletes succeed both on and off the playing field.

I have had the good fortune to teach more than two dozen varsity student athletes during my tenure on the UT faculty, including three this semester. I am also a former sports broadcaster, having served as play-by-play and color commentator across multiple sports during my undergraduate years.

I am an associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education. My research and teaching focus on the history and philosophy of sport, health and exercise from Ancient Greece to the present. Prior to my academic career, I worked professionally as a strength and conditioning coach for UCLA Athletics. As a coach, I worked with football and 6 other varsity teams. As both a professor of Kinesiology and as a former Division 1 NCAA coach, I understand the unique demands placed upon coaches, teachers, and student-athletes. Given my career trajectory as both a coach and professor at the university level, it is part of my mission to facilitate deeper connections between sport and education here at UT.

I am a former collegiate soccer player and love college sports! As an associate professor for Exercise Physiology I teach and conduct research on exercise in health and disease. I have experience serving on the Rec Sports committee for several years as well as Faculty Council and Graduate Assembly. 

As Associate Chair for Graduate Education in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin, I lead curriculum development and program administration. My research focuses on understanding metabolism and its relevance to cancer and autoimmune diseases. With a background in competitive sports and ongoing involvement in coaching and supporting youth athletics, I recognize the profound impact of sports on personal growth and academic success. My interest in the Intercollegiate Athletics Council stems from a commitment to supporting student-athletes, ensuring they have the resources to thrive both academically and athletically.