Showing papers in "Journal of Intercollegiate Sport in 2011"
TL;DR: In the midst of an economic crisis leading to extensive cuts in college athletics, at least 38 colleges in the past five years have either added or have plans to add football to their athletic programs as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In the midst of an economic crisis leading to extensive cuts in college athletics, at least 38 colleges in the past five years have either added or have plans to add football to their athletic programs. Of particular interest are schools that have traditionally been known as “commuter universities.” In response to increased competition from other colleges, many of these schools are adding football as a part of a larger strategic vision for creating a “better college product.” Using resource-based (Barney, 1991) and institutional theories (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983), this study seeks to understand the strategic arguments used and the benefits sought by universities adding football on their campuses. This study employs qualitative content analysis methodology (Marshall & Rossman, 2006; Miles & Huberman, 1994) using publically available football feasibility studies from six NCAA Division I universities that have added (or have advertised plans to add) football over the past five years. Results indicate that fo...
27 citations
TL;DR: For example, this article found that most college coaches do not have a basic knowledge of the application and extent of the law, have not been educated about Title IX through reliable educational mediums, and possess a desire to learn more and have candid and meaningful discussions about these issues.
Abstract: Celebrated by many and lamented by a vocal few, Title IX holds the distinction of being one of the few pieces of legislation passed by the United States Congress that has emerged as an iconic symbol unto itself. Despite broad familiarity with the term, it remains much less clear how many Americans have more than a superficial understanding of what the law requires. This study was pursued to determine the level of Title IX literacy among a constituency directly impacted by compliance or noncompliance with the legislation, that being college coaches. Results reveal that most college coaches do not have a basic knowledge of the application and extent of the law, have not been educated about Title IX through reliable educational mediums, and possess a desire to learn more and have candid and meaningful discussions about these issues. The lack of consistent and systematic education mechanisms may explain the tensions that arise so frequently around gender equity issues within college and university athletic de...
17 citations
TL;DR: The highly-publicized case of Caster Semenya is a symptom of deeper problems that continue to plague women athletes at all levels, such as bias gender identification and a belief that sport and femininity do not mesh.
Abstract: The highly-publicized case of Caster Semenya is a symptom of deeper problems that continue to plague women athletes at all levels—biased gender identification and a belief that sport and femininity do not mesh. I trace my own path through the thickets of “angry feminism,” a love of sports, stereotypes of the “fair” sex, and a 4-year-old nephew’s confused claim that Aunt Susan is a man. I examine symbols, body parts, gestures, clothing and other means by which men and women are unevenly (and often inaccurately and unfairly) identified. I note that in spite of new opportunities enjoyed by women to run, jump, compete and otherwise celebrate their physicality, female athletes still struggle to maintain their identity as “normal.” I see dangers in a world that forces its citizens into one of two gender boxes, but I also acknowledge gender as an important part of human identity and sporting opportunity. I conclude that I do not have any solutions, only questions. But I am certain that we should be able to play ...
16 citations
TL;DR: The authors explored the theory of escalation of commitment within the context of intercollegiate athletics and found that unsubstantiated outcomes regarding the benefits of Division I athletics, strained finances, presidential leadership, and perceived roles of a small, liberal arts institution.
Abstract: This case study will explore the theory of escalation of commitment within the context of intercollegiate athletics. This management-based theory has been used within business and foreign policy literature, but has yet to be explored through a sport management context. Recently, Birmingham-Southern College chose to reclassify its athletics programs from the Division I classification to the Division III classification. Utilizing qualitative methodology, interviews (N = 11) were conducted with a variety of university constituents. Findings revealed the following four themes: a) unsubstantiated outcomes regarding the benefits of Division I athletics, b) strained finances, c) presidential leadership, and d) perceived roles of a small, liberal arts institution. Discussion and application of the resulting thematic emergences with the escalation of commitment determinants will be discussed.
15 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a study was conducted to gain an understanding of the non-revenue, Olympic program elements that were most highly valued by NCAA Division I, II, and III athletic administrators.
Abstract: The presence of the arms race in intercollegiate athletics has led to extensive spending on major, revenue-producing sports (Knight Commission, 2004) Despite the fact that only a handful of men’s basketball and football programs produce profits (NCAA, 2009), administrators continue to embrace a commercial model that has coincided with the elimination of nonrevenue, Olympic sports in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletic departments With this in mind, the purpose of the study was to gain an understanding of the nonrevenue, Olympic program elements that were most highly valued by NCAA Division I, II, and III athletic administrators (N = 435) to facilitate an effort to develop strategic measures to counter program discontinuation Despite small differences in divisional responses, the results supported the existence of institutional isomorphism when unified program values (eg, academics, conduct, community involvement) were consistent across all NCAA divisions
13 citations
TL;DR: McKindra et al. as discussed by the authors found that fan identity detracts from a student's overall social capital and showed no contribution to one's bridging social capital, while maintaining a prominent athletics program contributes to the social capital of students on campus who follow those teams.
Abstract: Intercollegiate athletics in the United States have been linked with enhancing the sense of community between students on campus (Clopton, 2008). Still, little evidence confirms that maintaining a prominent athletics program contributes to the social capital of students on campus who follow those teams. Consisting of networks of relationships based on trust and norms of reciprocity, social capital is disaggregated into bonding (tightening connections between similar individuals) or bridging (establishing new connections with other members of the campus community) varieties (Putnam, 2000). Results suggest that fan identity detracts from a student’s overall social capital and showed no contribution to one’s bridging social capital. This notion has potential ramification in higher education policy development as the connection between student affairs and athletics is increasingly encouraged (McKindra, 2008).
10 citations
TL;DR: This article explored how women in college sports public relations cope with their minority status and the related notion of a glass ceiling in the workplace, arguing that many may deny a gender identity altogether, instead blaming discrimination on exterior factors or women themselves.
Abstract: This research explores how women in college sports public relations cope with their minority status and the related notion of a glass ceiling in the workplace. Drawing from a socialist feminist perspective and Wrigley’s (2002) “negotiated resignation” model, we explore how these women negotiate the tension of working in an industry with a glass ceiling, arguing that many may deny a gender identity altogether, instead blaming discrimination on exterior factors or women themselves.
9 citations
7 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the history of NCAA rules governing the activities of sport psychology consultants working with student-athletes, particularly at the Division I (D-I) level.
Abstract: Over the past 20 years the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division-I (NCAA) has restricted the activities of sport psychology consultants (SPCs) working with student-athletes, particularly at the Division I (D-I) level. In some cases, the restrictions have been based on the assumption that what SPCs do is actually “coaching.” Thus, if SPCs are permitted to interact with student-athletes during practices and competitions they must be considered as “countable” coaches. In this paper, we briefly discuss the history of NCAA rules governing the activities of SPCs, provide excerpts from the sport psychology literature and the NCAA D-I Manual that illustrate how the specialized work of SPCs is different from that of coaches, suggest reasons why allowing student-athletes and coaches access to SPCs during practices and competitions would be beneficial to both groups, and propose ways NCAA legislation might be amended to allow SPCs to work with student-athletes in a manner similar to the ways other athlet...
7 citations
TL;DR: The authors investigated the impact of the recession on Canadian Interuniversity sport (CIS) and found that the greatest financial impacts were experienced in general University as well as athletic-specific endowments.
Abstract: There is a paucity of research that addresses the impact of the recent economic recession on Intercollegiate Athletics programs in Canada. This study investigated the impact of the recession as it relates to Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), the national governing body for university sport in Canada. Telephone interviews were conducted with the Director of Athletics at eight universities across the country, as well as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the CIS. Results of the study indicated that very few schools had been asked to make dramatic reductions to programming. Athletic programs have proceeded cautiously with budget spending, suspicious that the worst may not be over. The greatest financial impacts were experienced in general University as well as athletic-specific endowments.
6 citations
TL;DR: A survey and analysis of social, cultural and political factors and forces contouring and configuring the state and trajectory of African-American Sports involvement as we enter the second decade of the 21st Century is provided in this paper.
Abstract: This essay includes a survey and analysis of social, cultural and political factors and forces contouring and configuring the state and trajectory of African-American Sports involvement as we enter the second decade of the 21st Century. These factors include the circumstances and conditions of the traditional Black community; Black educational challenges; the issue of race, justice, and power; and the “collegiate athletic arms race” in the age of globalization in sport and society.
TL;DR: The results of a national survey that gauged the extent to which COIA's best practices have been adopted by schools participating in the Football Bowl Subdivision are reported in this paper.
Abstract: The Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics (COIA), an alliance of 57 university faculty senates, was founded in 2002 to provide a faculty voice in the national discussion about how to best maintain academic integrity in big-time college sports. COIA’s most recent white paper, Framing the Future: Reforming Intercollegiate Athletics (2007), proposes best practices for individual universities to help ensure that college sports are more fully integrated into their academic goals, values and missions. Reported here are the results of a national survey that gauged the extent to which COIA’s best practices have been adopted by schools participating in the Football Bowl Subdivision. The findings suggest that big-time athletics programs have a number of underutilized tools at their disposal that can assist them in protecting core academic values and standards at universities competing at the highest level of intercollegiate sport.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss methods that can be used to determine whether the NCAA is achieving its educational goals or merely using its mission statement as support for an unrelated business, and discuss the implications of the NCAA's statement of purpose for social justice and athletes' rights.
Abstract: Most major organizations have mission statements that define their purpose or reason for existing. A mission statement is meaningful only if it acts as a unifying force for guiding strategic decision making and achieving long term goals. Well defined mission statements also serve as a yardstick for measuring organizational effectiveness in attaining stated goals. With this is mind, the purpose of this paper is to discuss methods that can be used to determine whether the NCAA is achieving its educational goals or merely using its mission statement as support for an “unrelated business.” Differences between Federal Graduation Rates, Graduation Success Rates, and the Academic Progress Rate are examined. Implications of the NCAA’s statement of purpose for social justice and athletes’ rights are also discussed.
TL;DR: This paper conducted case studies of the six highest-scoring institutions in regard to the integration of athletics into academic institutions and found that these institutions implemented more of COIA's best practices than other surveyed schools.
Abstract: This research follows a 2009 survey jointly conducted by the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics (COIA) and the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State to assess the “best practices” of FBS institutions in regard to the integration of athletics into academics. Case studies of the six highest-scoring institutions—the University of Houston, University of Illinois, University of Maryland, Oklahoma State University, University of South Carolina, and Southern Methodist University—were conducted. The aim of these case studies was to highlight those institutions that implement more of COIA’s best practices than other surveyed schools. Further, the aim was to develop a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between COIA’s suggested practices, the “Athletics Integration into Academics” survey, and the local conditions of FBS institutions.
TL;DR: For example, the authors argues that the reintegration of sport in post-World War II America was motivated more by business and politics than brotherhood and that the selective one-way nature of the process has led to a plantation system in which whites control sport while African Americans are relegated to the less powerful position of athlete.
Abstract: Perhaps no one is better positioned than Professor Edwards to provide a critical assessment of the interconnection among sport, race and American culture. The man who organized the proposed boycott of the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City and has served for years as the conscience for an institution that has not always lived up to its professed ideals of fair play and equality, Professor Edwards has provided important insights into the racial realities of American sport through his many presentations, interviews, public pronouncements, articles, and such books as Black Students (1970), The Revolt of the Black Athlete (1969), The Struggle that Must Be: An Autobiography (1980), and Sociology of Sport (1973). In this plenary address Edwards furnishes an assessment of the status of African American athletes during the new age of globalization and current economic instability inflicting intercollegiate sport. Careful to put the topic in its proper historical context, Professor Edwards makes clear that the reintegration of sport in post-World War II America was motivated more by business and politics than brotherhood and that the selective one-way nature of the process has led to a plantation system in which whites control sport while African Americans are relegated to the less powerful position of athlete. The selective and one-way rather than two-way and structural process of reintegration successfully put an end to all black sports institutions while at once funneling a disproportionate number of African American male athletes into basketball and football and their female counterparts into basketball and track and field. Coinciding with the development of a plantation system in sport has been the outmigration of the more affluent members of the African American community that has led to the deepening material deterioration and resultant desperation and hopelessness of that community. No one has been more affected by this deterioration than young African American males who have increasingly been mired in poverty, limited in their access to a quality education, overrepresented in the criminal justice system, and with little hope of career success beyond that of dreaming of becoming a rap artist or professional athlete. Unfortunately, the chances of becoming an athlete at the highest level is severely limited and becoming increasingly so, especially now with more potentially great