Sean Phelps, PhD, teaches various sports management courses at CMU. He spent eight years in New Zealand teaching sport management courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels while at the Auckland University of Technology. His broad research is in sports governance with a particular interest in organizational theory, and event management as it applies to National Governing Bodies and International Federations.
Phelps has been a guest editor for a special edition of the International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship he has also been published in journals such as the: Asian Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, International Journal of Sports Management and Marketing and Sports Management Review. Additionally, he has worked on NZ government-funded projects involving using mass participation sports events to initiate and sustain physical activity levels in individuals. Phelps also researched how high profile events can be used to better train volunteers and increase the overall numbers of volunteers in particular sports.
Finally, Phelps has extensive practitioner experience in sports, having worked for USA Triathlon, Big Sky State Games, Sunshine State Games, Florida Senior Games, Montana Special Olympics and the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. While in NZ, he was an age group team manager for the 2011 Kiwi team in Beijing as well as the 2012 team in Auckland. His passion is the sport of triathlon and he has been competing himself since 1982. He is also a volunteer coach with the CMU women's triathlon team.
Phelps' teaching philosophy includes high expectations of students. The sports industry is a hyper-competitive job market and most organizations seek ways to disqualify applicants. If a student cannot write effectively, cannot communicate effectively and cannot contribute to the discussion, this will allow potential employers to reject his or her application. Phelps wants students to write properly, to communicate effectively. Phelps will do all he can to provide his students with the resources to succeed if they make the effort.