2012 Issue

The purpose of this study was to explore Division III athletic administrator perceptions of organizational values through a lens of core value culturalization literature. Survey methodology was utilized to garner responses from 192 Division III head athletic directors [n = 75] and lower level (senior, associate, or assistant) athletic directors [n = 117]. Cumulative administrator emphasis on the "student-athlete experience" and "academic excellence" as top priorities demonstrates support that the mission of these Division III departments is to provide student-athletes with a high quality educational experience both in the classroom and in athletic competition (NCAA Division III, 2011). Analysis of lower-level administrator responses and open-ended responses, however, reveal insight into the lack of value-culturalization within the departments in this sample. The significant differences between athletic directors and lowerlevel administrators on all but four of the core values point toward an internal disparity in shared values. In order to fully maximize the educational potential of intercollegiate athletics, further concentrated efforts need to be made to imbed these values into the daily processes of these Division III organizations.

The purpose of this study was to identify whether athletic scholarships play a role in academic success by determining if there was a difference in academic performance between male and female athletic scholarship student-athletes and non-athletic scholarship student-athletes as measured by cumulative collegiate GPA. A secondary purpose of the study was to compare male and female athletic scholarship student-athletes and non-athletic scholarship student-athletes as measured by cumulative collegiate GPA. The chi-square test of homogeneity was used to determine that a significant difference in GPA of scholarship and non-scholarship student-athletes does exist. The results also identified a significant difference existed in GPA of female student-athletes in both the scholarship and non-scholarship categories when compared to male student-athletes in the same categories. This study has several implications for the intercollegiate athletics department at this particular institution and perhaps upon further research on intercollegiate athletics.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of relationship quality and calculative commitment on sport consumers' game attendance, donation intentions, and customer referral in the context of intercollegiate athletics. Relationship quality was operationalized as a higher-order construct containing trust, satisfaction, and affective commitment (De Wulf, Odekerken-Schröder, & Iacobucci, 2001). Calculative commitment, on the other hand, was conceptualized as a cost-induced commitment between relationship partners (Geyskens, Steenkamp, Scheer, & Kumar, 1996). Based on previous studies, a 29-item instrument was developed, and modifications were made to adapt it to intercollegiate athletics. Research participants (N = 350) were consumers of a Division I intercollegiate athletic program located in the southeast region of the United States. The result of a confirmatory factor analysis suggested that the measurement model fit the data well. In addition, the result of a structural equation modeling indicated that both relationship quality and calculative commitment are predictive of sport consumer behaviors at the intercollegiate level. Finally, the theoretical and managerial implications of this study's findings are discussed.

Due to the varied community service opportunities offered to intercollegiate student-athletes at many institutions in the United States (NCAA, 2011), it is important to understand the effects and perceptions of these experiences on these student-athletes. Yet, despite the vast opportunities for student-athletes, there is a lack of research on the results and impact of student-athlete participation in community service. This case study presents data that highlights the outcomes of community service participation as specified by the participants, which are categorized in eight themes: Coach Support, Enjoyment, Helping Hand, Leadership, Lessons Learned, Motivation, Staying Connected, and Togetherness. These themes were generated as a result of analysis of the responses taken directly from transcription. Using a grounded theory approach, data collected from this study was analyzed using open and axial coding. Results indicate that community service participation evokes benefits to both the individual student-athlete and the team as a whole, with administrative support (i.e. coaches) playing a key role in experiences of these athletes. In addition, responses from the participants revealed student-athletes should provide input (i.e. selection) on community service projects, community service should occur regularly within the athletic program, require student-athletes to work together, and elicit a meaningful experience.

The topic of social justice within intercollegiate sport has focused primarily on administrator perceptions. To better understand the athletes’ perspective and the impact of athletic identity on social justice, 166 current and former NCAA athletes participated in a survey related to their perceptions of inequities during their collegiate athletic experiences. Results indicated that although no significant difference existed between current and former athletes and their levels of athletic identity, former athletes were more likely to perceive inequities. Thus, the data suggests that a shift in perspective, unrelated to athletic identity, may occur once an athlete leaves college. The results further suggest that former athletes may provide a more critical perspective that is needed to further advance social justice within intercollegiate athletics. The theoretical and practical implications of this research are discussed.

Over time, the roles, tasks, and even titles of the senior woman administrator (SWA) have evolved in a direction to suggest greater involvement with department decisions and governance. However, thirty years after the inception of the designation, a discrepancy persists between senior woman administrators and athletic directors (AD) regarding the extent to which SWAs are and should be involved in decision-making within athletic departments. Further discrepancies are noted towards training and mentoring support for SWAs. The purpose of this longitudinal study is to explore the current roles, tasks and support of the Senior Woman Administrator (SWA) from the perspective of both the SWA and the AD in a follow-up to a study completed in 2005. Perceptions of SWAs involvement in roles and tasks deemed important to the operational and strategic management of collegiate athletic departments were reported by SWAs (n= 681) and ADs (n= 601). The results indicated ADs more often perceived the SWA has greater involvement in nearly all 17 categories of administrative roles than SWAs perceive for themselves. The greatest discrepancies existed in the areas of budgetary planning and management and oversight of all (especially men’s) programs. Results also indicated that financial support for training and mentoring is not widely available or used by SWAs to enhance their career skills and advancement. Recommendations include continued efforts to involve the SWA in all areas of management, and to provide the necessary training and mentoring to enhance SWA effectiveness not only for their future, but also in their current position.

Collegiate athletic department personnel must be aware of student-athletes’ college-choice factors so they can recruit and retain athletes that enhance the brands of their sport programs, athletic department, and institution (Mixon, Trevino, & Minto, 2004). The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the college-choice factors of current NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) football players at a southeastern university (n = 73) while focusing on segmentation by median annual household income. Using a modified version of the Student-Athlete College-Choice Profile (Gabert, Hale, & Montalvo, 1999), the research utilized theories of brand equity, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and human capital to guide the discussion of attracting student-athletes who are a perceived fit for their program (Bolman & Deal, 2008; Dumond, Lynch, & Platania, 2008; Kotler, 2004). An analysis of the results illustrated that the list of the most influential college-choice factors varied depending on respondents’ median annual household income; however, a combination of academically-related and athletically-related college-choice factors were rated in the top ten regardless of median annual household income. Therefore, it is vital that collegiate athletic personnel use these results to enhance efficiency in the recruiting process and engage in CSR to holistically develop college athletes.

The purpose of this research was to investigate variables that predict success in the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Directors’ Cup. The NACDA Directors’ Cup awards points to institutions based on national place finish in a variety of sports. Point totals from the 2006-07 NACDA Directors’ Cup, along with Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act (EADA) data were collected for statistical analysis. Results indicated differences among variables predicting success among all NCAA divisions as well as the NAIA. University presidents and athletic directors can use this data when making tough decisions about resource allocation.

Gendered leadership stereotypes are possibly one of women’s largest barriers to attaining leadership positions in sport organizations. While much research is available to address the decline of women in leadership positions in intercollegiate athletics, situational cues have largely been ignored. Two samples were collected using student-athletes and non student-athletes to test the hypotheses constructed from previous research on situational cues and gendered leadership stereotypes. Overall, the previous evidence supports the notion gender stereotypes overcome situational cues for women depicted in various scenarios while men are endorsed as leaders the majority of the time regardless of situational cues. The current analysis of situational cues’ and gender stereotypes’ impact on coaching endorsement demonstrates situational cues are salient for men and mixed results for women. A pro-gender bias was present in the male sample but not the females, and the results suggested individuals’ sexist views impact coaching endorsement.

Private consumption benefits arise when the cost an individual is willing to pay to attend a sporting event is greater than the actual cost incurred by the individual. The amount of money the individual is willing to pay above actual expenditures is a benefit or welfare gain to the individual (i.e., consumer surplus). The purpose of this study was to estimate the value of private consumption benefits derived by individuals from the college football game experience. The study’s response rate was 56.9% with a sample size of n=769. Results revealed state residents visiting a southeastern university to participate in the college football game experience derived $168.80 per person per game in private consumption benefits. Aggregating the private consumption benefits derived by state residents suggest the utilization of public resources (e.g., institutional support) to support the university’s athletic program would be justified. In addition, management applications are provided to assist decision makers in the utilization of these findings.

The Academic Progress Rate (APR) was created in 2004 to measure the real-time academic culture of NCAA Division I college athletic teams. During its short existence, the APR has become one of the leading academic metrics from which teams are evaluated. Given the lack of empirical data on APR, the purpose of this study was to determine if selected variables were correlated with, and were significant predictors of, single year APR scores. Ten independent variables were used to evaluate the dependent variable of APR from a sample of 652 NCAA Division I first-year student-athletes. Pearson correlations revealed APR scores were significantly related to gender, race, high school GPA, standardized tests, major, sport, coaching change, playing time, and team winning percentage. Least squares linear regression analysis demonstrated that gender, race, sport, coaching change, and winning percentage significantly predicted 38.7% of the variance observed in APR scores. These results could aid in programming efforts of first-year student-athletes while contributing to the APR body of knowledge.

Collegiate athletics have become increasingly attractive for sponsorship investments, a trend that has also created some potentially negative side effects. How university stakeholders, such as students, perceive and respond to stadium naming rights sponsorship is a major concern to administrators of both athletic programs and business corporations. This study investigates students’ beliefs about naming rights sponsorship, their attitudes toward commercialization, team and stadium identification, and perception of financial status, as well as how these factors affect naming rights sponsorship outcomes regarding attitude toward sponsor, purchase intention of sponsor’s product, and willingness to attend sporting events. A theoretical model was proposed and tested, where the hierarchical paradigm of belief-attitude-behavior intention was confirmed to be relevant and applicable. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed significant (p < .05) influences of beliefs about naming rights, attitude toward commercialization, stadium identification, and perception of financial status on attitudes toward sponsor; attitudes toward sponsor and team identification on purchase intention of sponsor’s product; and team identification, stadium identification, attitudes toward sponsor, and beliefs about naming rights sponsorships on willingness to attend sporting events. Stadium identification was identified as playing an important role in evaluating the effectiveness of a naming rights sponsorship. The study provides preliminary insight into the potential viability of naming rights sponsorships for intercollegiate athletics.

Opinions from the various stakeholders of the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), such as conference commissioners, university presidents/chancellors, bowl executives, and coaches, are numerous and well documented by the popular media since the establishment of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) in 1998. The public discourse offered by the various popular media sources significantly influenced the behaviors and perspectives of others on the prospects of a Division I FBS playoff before the BCS. Few academic and historical reviews of the core event stakeholders (i.e., athletic directors, coaches, and players) involved with the playoff debate have been formally organized prior to the establishment of the BCS. This research effort analyzed the public discourse generated by the core event stakeholders from 1960 to 1998 and compared the rationale of those supporting a Division I FBS playoff versus those arguments which created a specific culture overtime to prevent the facilitation of a national elimination tournament. Finally, this work discusses whether these anti-playoff concerns, still advocated today, are legitimate.

The impact of identifying with one's organization has been linked positively with commitment (Carmelli, Gillat, & Weisberg, 2006) and social capital (Carmelli, 2007). These impacts are also connected with perceptions of external prestige (e.g. Carmelli et al., 2006). Notably, in higher education, this perception of prestige has been impacted by athletics when football success was linked with perceived academic prestige of an institution by external stakeholders (Goidel & Hamilton, 2006). No research, however, has looked at the connection between organizational identification, perceived organizational prestige, and the role of athletics success, from an internal perspective. The purpose of the current study, then, was to fill this gap by utilizing multiple measures of athletics success, university and team identification, and perceptions of university prestige among college students. Using responses from 633 students across 27 NCAA, Bowl Champion Series-level institutions, the study’s results found that broad-based athletics success impacted perceptions of external academic prestige, while high-profile athletics success in men’s basketball and football success did not. However, all measures of athletics success significantly contributed to perceptions of external athletic prestige and overall external prestige.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association recommends student athlete recruits be screened for academic preparation using high school grade point average (GPA) and college admission exam scores under the assumption these indicators will sufficiently predict college academic performance. In this study, the Student Athlete Pre-Screening Questionnaire (SA-PSQ) was developed based on a pre-existing measure of college readiness designed for high school students. The SA-PSQ allows for reliable and valid assessment of college readiness knowledge and skills that are aligned with the expectations of college faculty. Results of a discriminant function analysis revealed an optimal combination of 16 items that predict college GPA and probation status for current student athletes at two institutions (N = 216). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed these 16 items explained significant unique variance beyond typical precollege factors: gender, race, sport type (e.g., revenue/nonrevenue), high school GPA, and SAT scores. Implications for use in screening student athlete recruits for adequate academic preparation are discussed.

The purpose of this Literature review article is to examine the social, cultural, individual and institutional racist factors that pose challenges to many African American college athletes, both men and women, to develop skills outside sports that are necessary to succeed in college and life. The passion for athletics by Black youth has to be positioned within the wider racist environment that one is exposed to while growing up. The dominant presence of Blacks in the high profile sports of football, basketball and track and field while having lower graduation rates compared to White athletes deserves scholarly interrogation. This article uses the Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Student Involvement Theory frameworks to explain the phenomena of Black student athletes in College and the challenges that they encounter as they pursue both athletic and academic success. Based on Edwards’ (2000) contextualization of the Black athlete which is premised on the Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Astin’s (1984) Student Involvement Theory (SIT), this article examines the following issues: The legacy of racism and discrimination; Black athletes and labor on campus; sport and race ideology; graduation rates and the academic challenges faced by Black student athletes. The academic challenges that Black athletes face while pursuing a dual objective of excelling in athletics and getting a college education are situated within the racial laden learning environment characterizing the Predominantly White Colleges (PWC) in the U.S. This paper contends that society, institutions of higher learning and the individual student have to collaborate so as to put the athlete on a path to success in college and in life.

The sport culture may contribute to high levels of work-family conflict and to lower job and life satisfaction as well as higher job turnover. Work-family enrichment may contribute to greater levels of career and organizational commitment, as well as decreased turnover intent. The purpose of this study was to examine how work-family enrichment and work-family conflict simultaneously influence job and life outcomes for mothers and fathers who are coaches. Specifically, this study examined the unique contributions of work-family conflict and enrichment to life satisfaction, organizational commitment, and career commitment. The participants in the study (N = 282) were a random sample of male and female collegiate coaches in a familial relationship in the United States. This web-based survey used multiple regression to analyze six conceptual models with gender, age and the presence of children at home utilized as control variables, and work-family conflict and work-family enrichment (in each direction) as independent variables. Results indicate that collegiate coaches with families are experiencing both work-family conflict and work-family enrichment. The findings highlight the need for future theoretical models to include both work-family conflict and work-family enrichment as both contribute uniquely to career and life outcomes.

Limited research has been undertaken to understand the Division II level of college athletics and the challenges confronting universities and athletic departments operating at this level. Of particular importance, there is a paucity research examining the level of support that athletic departments and universities can offer their student-athletes for their overall growth and development. The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine some of challenges for an NCAA Division II athletic department regarding its ability to support the overall growth and development of its student-athletes. To achieve this, I conducted a qualitative case study at a private Division II university to achieve an in-depth understanding of operations within the athletic department. The findings from this study revealed that limited resources coupled with the pressure to win presented substantial challenges for the athletic department to support and foster the development of its student-athletes beyond the athletic realm of competition. The implications for practice and future research are discussed.