Although the concern for fostering opportunities for women and people of color in college athletics expanded under the leadership of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) president Myles Brand, significant challenges in hiring decisions remain. Brand said, "Though there has been some modest recent progress, there is an intolerable lack…

In 2008-2009, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) generated television and marketing revenues of approximately $591 million, college sports apparel sales topped $4 billion, and several schools signed multimedia-rights deals for more than $100 million (Berkowitz, 2009; National Collegiate Athletic Association, 2009). At the Division…

Intercollegiate athletics is no longer an area of interest solely for coaches and athletic administrators; increasingly, this field has captured the curiosity of faculty, researchers, and the general public. Such attention has the potential to greatly affect the course the field of intercollegiate athletics takes in the years to come.…

Prior to the 1980s, the literature on the experiences of collegiate student athletes was rather scarce. Since that time the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has passed several eligibility rules to address concerns about the academic performance and the overall experience of student athletes on college campuses. As such, the…

As the pressure to win in select collegiate sports escalates, financial pressures mount, and the need to comply with Title IX regulations and gender equity policies continues, athletics administrators are faced with having to make difficult decisions regarding their sport programs. To assist in the decision-making process regarding sport programs,…

In 1989, John S. and James L. Knight established the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. Although it has no regulatory authority or oversight responsibilities, the Knight Commission's periodic reports are widely read and taken into account by decision-making bodies. Beginning in 1991, the Knight Commission called for greater faculty…

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation funded the College Sports Project (CSP) in 2003 to focus on academics and athletics within Division III. The CSP includes a longitudinal data collection effort comparing athletes to nonathletes at over 80 Division III institutions in the United States. This chapter draws on the CSP to highlight the challenges small…

Putting data-driven decision making into practice requires the use of consistent and reliable data that are easily accessible. The systematic collection and maintenance of accurate information is an important component in developing policy and evaluating outcomes. Since 1982, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has been collecting…

The college president of a Division I university must have accurate and timely information on intercollegiate athletics to be able to represent it to the institution's constituencies. Information needed includes the admissions process for recruits, classroom performance of student athletes, and personal conduct of team members and coaches.…

Lead news stories on intercollegiate athletics in newspapers and on television are increasingly common. If the media are to report accurately on college sports, campus leaders must be willing and prepared to share information on the related educational and fiscal issues, including graduation rates, admissions information, and program financial…

Historically, statistics have been important in intercollegiate sports. At first, the data were kept as game statistics, but more recently they have been used for institutional research, accountability, compliance with regulations, and public relations. (MSE)

The level and caliber of athletics in some 2-year colleges equal or exceed that of 4-year colleges 30 years ago. Because of the nature of the two-year college, participation for its own sake should be fostered. Monitoring and reporting academic progress by athletes is important to program success. (MSE)

Involvement of the institutional research office at the University of Texas at Austin in integration of student-athlete data into the central database is described, including identification of data maintained in different offices, internal and external data reporting needs, and expansion of central files. Lessons learned from the effort are…

The experience of Coastal Carolina College (South Carolina) suggests that, although the small college often has the same academic reporting demands for intercollegiate athletics as a large institution, the nature of the institution creates different recordkeeping and reporting challenges. Computerization and active institutional research staff…

Intercollegiate athletics is receiving more attention from the federal government because an institution's academic information is seen as consumer information for prospective student-athletes. The Student Athlete Right-to-Know Act, enacted as part of the Campus Security Act of 1990, requires federally funded institutions to report detailed…