In this episode we talk about the “student-athlete experience” and the misperceptions surrounding this critical element to athletics program administration. Many people consider the student-athlete experience to be the most important element of their athletics program. However, many can’t articulate what that experience is or does for student-athletes. Our research has revealed several common characteristics […]
Evaluating Coaches: Competitive Success
Part 3 of 3 Competitive Success: Growing into winning. So how does an athletic director evaluate coaching performance in a way that considers the less tangible outcomes? An evaluation must clarify expectations and consider more than just competitive success as a criteria. Three major components go into successful coaching: 1) Effective Program Management; 2) Positive […]
Evaluating Coaches: The Student-Athlete Experience
The Student-Athlete Experience So how does an athletic director evaluate coaching performance in a way that considers the less tangible outcomes? An evaluation must clarify expectations and consider more than just competitive success as a criteria. Three major components go into successful coaching: 1) Effective Program Management; 2) Positive Student-Athlete Experiences; and 3) Competitive Success. […]
Beyond Winning and Losing: Evaluating Coaches
PART 1 OF 3 Effective Program Management Athletics gives us one of the most objective measures of success: you either win or you lose. (Okay, soccer and a few other sports may allow ties, but we won’t go there.) Winning and losing are two concrete outcomes; they are easy to understand and evaluate. One of […]
Find The Pulse of Your Student-Athletes
Anecdotes Aren’t Enough Do you know what your student-athletes really think and feel about their athletics experiences? The student-athlete experience is widely considered a vital component to a successful athletics program. Yet few programs have evidence of how their program impacts student-athletes. Everybody’s got a story to tell about a student-athlete achieving success, but is […]
Five Ways to Demonstrate the Impact of Your Athletics Program
I have asked dozens of college athletics administrators, faculty athletic reps, coaches and student affairs professionals this question: ‘What is the student-athlete experience? ‘ While no two people answered the question the same way, all agreed that the student-athlete experience is the most important element of their athletics program. The second question I asked the same […]
Campus Insider: Do your student-athletes fit in?
At most small colleges, athletics plays an instrumental role in recruitment, admission, retention and graduation for the whole student body. Athletics also impacts the feel of a campus, often in terms of school spirit and pride. But do student-athletes fit in with the rest of their classmates? Are student-athletes engaged in campus activities and opportunities […]
Survey Says… What, Exactly?
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” […]