Full Sail University Spotlights Stacy Gerke, Game Business & Esports Course Director

Full Sail Turns the Camera on Its Esports Faculty

Full Sail University has put faculty member Stacy Gerke front and center in its latest faculty spotlight, drawing attention to the educator who serves as Course Director for the school's Game Business and Esports program. The feature is part of Full Sail's ongoing effort to showcase the professionals shaping its specialized curriculum in one of higher education's fastest-growing program areas.

Gerke's role as Course Director places her at the intersection of two industries that have converged rapidly over the past decade. Game business covers the commercial, legal, and strategic side of game development and publishing, while esports spans competitive gaming, team management, event production, and media rights. Together, they form a discipline that did not exist in most universities just a few years ago.

Full Sail, based in Winter Park, Florida, has built a reputation for career-focused programs aimed at the entertainment, media, and technology sectors. Its Game Business and Esports degree is designed to prepare students for roles on the business side of the industry rather than on the development or design side.

What a Course Director Does in an Emerging Field

The Course Director title at Full Sail carries responsibility for shaping how a subject is taught across the program, not just delivering lectures. Faculty in these roles typically work on curriculum development, coordinate with industry partners, and help ensure that coursework stays current with a sector that changes quickly.

Esports in particular presents a moving target for educators. Sponsorship structures, media deals, game title lifecycles, and competitive formats shift constantly. A Course Director in this space has to balance foundational business education with content that reflects where the industry actually is right now.

For students entering the esports workforce, that grounding matters. Entry-level roles in esports organizations, game publishers, and tournament operators require familiarity with both traditional business principles and the specific economics of competitive gaming, including streaming revenue, brand partnerships, and player contracts.

Full Sail's Faculty Spotlight Series

Full Sail regularly publishes faculty spotlights as part of its content and outreach strategy. The features give prospective students a look at the people who will be teaching them and signal the professional backgrounds the university values in its instructors.

Highlighting Gerke reflects Full Sail's positioning of its Game Business and Esports program as a serious academic offering led by people with relevant expertise. The esports education market has grown crowded in recent years, with community colleges, state universities, and private institutions all launching programs. Standing out increasingly depends on the credibility of faculty, not just the curriculum on paper.

For Gerke, the spotlight also represents recognition within a field where women remain underrepresented, both in faculty roles and in industry leadership. Esports and game business have faced sustained criticism over diversity gaps, and visible faculty members in course director roles can influence who applies to and feels welcome in these programs.

Full Sail has not released additional details about Gerke's professional background or prior industry experience beyond the spotlight designation itself. The university attributed the feature to its standard faculty recognition series.