Recent Public Announcements by Athletes About Sexual Orientation Over the past two weeks three current collegiate student-athletes have publicly announced that they were either homosexual or bisexual. The most recent, Michael Sam of University of Missouri, is a high profile Division I football player with an almost certain NFL career. [Read the NY Times article […]
Expecting Athletics Integration
[Part 3 of 3. You can find Part 1- Stop Treating Coaches Like Adjunct Professors, and find Part 2- Stop Treating Collegiate Athletics Like High School Sports here.] The concept of integrating athletics and student-athletes into the overall campus experience is discussed often, and more often it is misunderstood. Much of the misunderstanding is caused […]
Stop Treating Coaches Like Adjunct Professors
Part 1 of 3 All coaches are expected to recruit, mentor, develop and support student-athletes. These are all essential elements of collegiate coaching and also part of any institution’s core mission. Tenured professors do research, publish and advise students because adjuncts are not expected to perform these core institutional functions. Coaches, especially part-timers, are often […]
PoA #017: Complaints Happen, Are You Ready?
No matter how sound your management and leadership practices are, things happen. With hundreds of student-athletes participating each year, it’s inevitable that some will have concerns, complaints or issues they will express to the Athletics Director (or higher authority). So what do you do? Do you have a plan in place? Are there policies or […]
Challenges and Opportunities Supporting Student-Athletes
Interview with Nate Bell, Vanderbilt Senior Academic Counselor Nate Bell is a former NCAA Division III basketball student-athlete at Wabash College (IN) and currently is a senior academic counselor in the Vanderbilt University department of athletics. He recently completed his doctoral degree from Vanderbilt in Higher Education Leadership. Nate brings a broad perspective on the […]
Student-Athlete Transition Support Programs
It may be too long ago for many of us to clearly recall our own experiences, but incoming student-athletes go through a major transition when they arrive on your campus. Most are first-year students, recently graduated from high school, living away from home for the first time. Adjusting to a new environment presents student-athletes with […]
Putting Your Mission in Motion
Most athletic department mission statements sound the same: “…support the mission of the college… develop student-athletes… promote diversity, tolerance and acceptance… build champions on and off the playing field…. academic success…” and several other catch phrases. These all represent valid goals, but what do they really mean for each institution? Are they real, pursuable goal […]
Part-time Job, Full-time Expectations
An on-going battle for most small college athletics programs involves part-time staffing. Most often it’s coaching positions but can extend to administrative staff as well. The challenge is balancing expectations for the job with the realities of paying a person less than a livable wage, which often requires him or her to supplement income with […]