Do you regularly collect feedback from your student-athletes? More and more senior administrators are asking to see evidence of athletics’ impact on student learning. This comes as a response to accreditation, budget justification or simply a campus commitment to assessment of student affairs units.
The old adage “ask a silly question, get a silly answer” applies to athletics surveys. If you truly seek meaningful data to help improve your program, you must ask the right questions.
For example, asking a student-athlete “Were you satisfied with your experience?” can provide a “yes” or “no” answer. But what does yes, or no, really mean?
Similarly, you may ask “How satisfied were you with your experience?” and provide a Likert scale for responses (very dissatisfied to very satisfied). But again, what does “very satisfied” mean?
So how can we get meaningful feedback that demonstrates the impact athletics participation has on student-athletes?
Good survey design must start with defining objectives:
• What is the athletics program trying to achieve (desired outcomes)? Are your department mission statement and its goals supported by stated objectives and actions?
• Exactly what are you trying to measure (inquiry)? Are you interested in satisfaction? Impact of time commitment? Integration into campus life? Coaching effectiveness?
• What will results tell you (progress)? Are you benchmarking against divisional or departmental expectations? Is there longitudinal data on each cohort of student-athletes? Will the data be honest and unfiltered?
• How will you use the information collected (action, improvement)? Will it support a budget presentation, a fundraising initiative or your accreditation report?
These simple questions are the backbone of assessment design, including surveys. Investing a small amount of time before you dive into survey writing and distribution will provide much better results that show the meaningful impact of athletics on student-athletes.
So, what now? Athletic directors rarely have the expertise or time to conduct meaningful assessment of their programs. A school’s institutional research staff can be helpful in designing and conducting surveys, but this office can be backlogged with similar requests. Often a faculty member can be of assistance in developing a good survey instrument.
Using a survey to assess athletics and the student-athlete experience can be an effective, powerful tool if conducted properly. Keep in mind the following five steps to make your survey project useful:
1. Define objectives of the survey.
2. Design an effective instrument.
3. Invite student-athletes to participate.
4. Summarize and analyze the data.
5. Identify actions to improve the student-athlete experience.
There are more ways to fully assess the student-athlete experience, including focus groups, interviews and observation. A comprehensive assessment incorporated multiple methods of inquiry and data collection. A a minimum, surveys will provide you with feedback to help better understand student-athlete needs, motivations and satisfaction.