NEW YORK – The BIG EAST Conference will once again host BIG EAST University, a virtual educational series designed to enhance the student-athlete experience with career and professional development programming.
 
In partnership with the BIG EAST Career Consortium, the Conference will begin its fall lineup with a four-part webinar series that focuses on topics related to Name, Image and Likeness.
 
The first BIG EAST University webinar, Developing a Social Media Strategy, will be held on Tuesday, September 28, at 7:00 p.m. ET and will feature Becca Greenwell from Facebook Sports Partnerships. More information on upcoming webinars and guest speakers can be found at www.bigeast.com/bigeastu.     
 
“BIG EAST University was originally designed to complement the academic curricula of our great institutions and connect our student-athletes to prominent alumni and experts across many industry sectors,” said BIG EAST Commissioner Val Ackerman. “This year, we plan to take it a step further by acknowledging the progressive expansion of opportunities brought about by NIL and providing our student-athletes access to educational programming that can help navigate these changes and take advantage of options that have never before been available to them.”
 
BIG EAST University is an extension of two existing annual student-athlete development programs currently conducted by the Conference:  Freshmen Fundamentals, which assists freshmen men’s basketball student-athletes in the transition from high school to college and the rigors of competition in the BIG EAST; and Transition Game, which assists junior and senior women’s basketball student-athletes in the transition from college to emerging professional, on and off the court.
 
At the conclusion of the NIL programming track, the Conference will also offer a series of Career Discovery panels during the spring semester. These webinars will be open to all students attending BIG EAST institutions and will provide an opportunity to engage with panel experts in the fields of Music and Entertainment, STEM and Data Analytics, Sports Business and Esports.
 
“The BIG EAST continues to be a great partner as we prepare our student-athletes for their professional journey.  In addition to the impressive slate of presenters that the Conference has curated to address topics relevant to NIL and our students’ development this fall, we look forward to inviting students of all 11 schools to participate in an exciting campus-wide Career Discovery series to learn more about careers in highly desired fields this spring,” said Paulette Gonzalez-Sierchio, BIG EAST Career Consortium President and Executive Director of University Career Services, St. John’s University.
 
For BIG EAST University, the BIG EAST Career Consortium will assist the Conference in identifying and recruiting high-profile professionals, university professors, staff and alumni to engage with BIG EAST student-athletes during each of the online sessions.  In addition, the Career Consortium annually sponsors a career networking event for BIG EAST students during the BIG EAST men’s basketball tournament at Madison Square Garden.
 
The BIG EAST:
 
The BIG EAST Conference is an association of 11 nationally prominent colleges and universities that foster healthy athletic competition, community service and the pursuit of excellence in academic environments.  The athletic programs of BIG EAST institutions provide national-caliber participation opportunities for more than 4,100 student-athletes on over 200 men’s and women’s teams in 22 sports.  Established in 1979 and headquartered in New York City, the BIG EAST’s members are located in eight of the country’s top 37 largest media markets and include Butler University, University of Connecticut, Creighton University, DePaul University, Georgetown University, Marquette University, Providence College, St. John’s University, Seton Hall University, Villanova University and Xavier University.  For more information, visit www.bigeast.com.