Research Blog #10: Final Abstract, Bibliography, and Link to Paper

https://docs.google.com/document/d/15v9_KUBcBgDc9SjdIWG7H3w9U82UJdidouFYdxMNrpg/edit?usp=sharing

In present-day American culture, because there is such an obsession with college athletics, it is becoming widely believed by the constituents of higher education that the reputation of a university and the overall success of the university’s brand is directly correlated to a premiere intercollegiate athletics program.  This is centered on the idea that a successful athletics programs will create a recognizable national image that promotes the university as a place for ‘all-American’ students, whether student-athletes or other, to attend.  Intercollegiate athletics is a controversial topic that is continuously debated among the constituent hierarchy of higher education; prospective students, recruits, current students and student-athletes, alumni, the presidents and board-members of the universities, and even the fans.  The focus of this project will be on the premise that the University’s primary mission should be to educate each student in ways that allow them to reach their fullest academic potential.  However, an identifiable problem has emerged with the current system of intercollegiate sports that seems more concerned with creating a recognizable university brand by pouring millions of dollars into athletic programs, at the expense of its core academic values.  By doing so, the entertainment and revenue stream have more clout and meaning than securing the student-athlete’s education process for the future.  This system has drawn attention to many universities for its specific lack of moral responsibility of advocating the student-athlete to reach his/her academic potential by falling into the trap of what has essentially become an ‘arms race’ to create premiere athletic programs.  Quite often, the athlete is granted academic leeway that the general student population is not, and the discussion of a double standard and questionable ethical behavior appears forefront.  This project will begin by establishing, in length, the structure of this system and demonstrate the strict primary emphasis on athletics through the allocation of significant amounts of much needed funds being redirected away from academics in favor of creating brand recognition through sports.  Then in turn move on to demonstrate that because of this emphasis, a powerful Role Conflict is created for student-athletes.  The student-athlete, when caught in this system, struggles to distinguish between being a ‘student’ and being an ‘athlete’.  Lastly, this project will address how this system affects the university’s moral code of behavior that leads to academic fraud and dishonesty, further comprising the university’s core educational values.

Bibliography

Anonymous. "How Do You View Athletics and Academics from the Student-Athlete

Perspective." Interview by Jason F. Salm.

Bozman, Carl S., Daniel Friesner, Matthew Q. McPherson, and Nancy M. Chase. "Intangible and Tangible Value: Brand Equity Benefits Associated with Collegiate Athletics." International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship (2015): 261-84. Web.

Cham, Jorge. "Academic" Salaries. Digital image. PHD Comics. N.p., 20 Oct. 2008. Web. 8 Dec. 2015. <http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1086>.

Christensen, James. Estimated Probability of Competing in Athletics Beyond the High School Interscholastic Level. Digital image. Tank Wire. N.p., 26 Mar. 2011. Web. 8 Dec. 2015. <http://www.tankwire.com/2011/03/dreaming-of-becoming-college-or.html>.

Cole, John. UNC: Academic Cheating Scandal. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Dec. 2015. <http://media.cagle.com/20/2012/08/20/117205_600.jpg>.

"Contemporary American Politics and Society: Issues and Controversies." Sport in Society (2003): n. pag. Web. 11 Dec. 2015. <http://instructional1.calstatela.edu/dfrankl/CURR/kin385/PDF/Ch14-Varsity_Athletics.pdf>.

Desrochers, Donna M. "Academic Spending Versus Athletic Spending: Who Wins?" Delta Cost Project at American Institutes for Research (2013): n. pag. Web. 8 Dec. 2015. <http://www.deltacostproject.org/sites/default/files/products/DeltaCostAIR_AthleticAcademic_Spending_IssueBrief.pdf>.

"Division I Schools Spend More on Athletes than Education." USA Today. Gannett, 14 July 2013. Web. 08 Dec. 2015. <http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2013/01/15/division-i-colleges-spend-more-on-athletes-than-education/1837721/>.

Gaston-Gayles, Joy L. "Examining Academic and Athletic Motivation Among Student Athletes at a Division I University." Journal of College Student Development 45.1 (2004): 75-83. Web.

Gregory, Sean. "In Defense of One-and-Done U Kentucky Cracks the NCAA Code." The Culture (2015): 62. Web.

Hobson, Will, and Steven Rich. "Why Students Foot the Bill for College Sports, and How Some Are Fighting Back." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 30 Nov. 2015. Web. 08 Dec. 2015. <https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/why-students-foot-the-bill-for-college-sports-and-how-some-are-fighting-back/2015/11/30/7ca47476-8d3e-11e5-ae1f-af46b7df8483_story.html>.

Hochfield, George. "The Incompatibility of Athletic and Academic Excellence." Academe 73.4 (1987): 39. Web.

Madsen, Nancy. "Jim Moran Says Only 20 Colleges Make a Profit from Sports." Politifact. N.p., 22 Dec. 2014. Web. 08 Dec. 2015. <http://www.politifact.com/virginia/statements/2014/dec/22/jim-moran/moran-says-only-20-colleges-make-profit-sports/>.

Mahoney, Michelle L. "Student-athletes' Perceptions of Their Academic and Athletic Roles: Intersections amongst Their Athletic Role, Academic Motivation, Choice of Major, and Career Decision Making."ProQuest. N.p., May 2011. Web. 8 Dec. 2015. <http://search.proquest.com.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/docview/903700328>.

Marx, Jonathan, Scott Huffmon, and Andrew Doyle. "The Student-Athlete Model and the Socialization of Intercollegiate Athletes." Athletic Insight: The Online Journal of Sport Psychology (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 8 Dec. 2015. <http://www.athleticinsight.com/Vol10Iss1/StudentAthleteModel.htm>.

McCormick, Richard L. "Intercollegiate Athletics." Raised at Rutgers: A President's Story. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 132-35. Print.

New, Jake. "College Athletes Greatly Overestimate Their Chances of Playing Professionally | Inside Higher Ed." College Athletes Greatly Overestimate Their Chances of Playing Professionally | Inside Higher Ed. N.p., 27 Jan. 2015. Web. 08 Dec. 2015. <https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/01/27/college-athletes-greatly-overestimate-their-chances-playing-professionally>.

Overman, Steven J. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Sport: How Calvinism and Capitalism Shaped America's Games. Macon, GA: Mercer UP, 2011. 271. Print.

Proffitt, Jennifer M., and Thomas F. Corrigan. "Penn State's." "Success With Honor": How Institutional Structure and Brand Logic Disincentivized Disclosure. 2012 Sage Publications, n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2015. <http://www.academia.edu/4081711/Penn_State_s_Success_With_Honor_How_Institutional_Structure_and_Brand_Logic_Disincentivized_Disclosure>.

Sanders, Sam. "Report Says UNC Grade-Boosting Scandal Involved Fake Classes." NPR. NPR, 23 Oct. 2014. Web. 08 Dec. 2015. <http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/10/23/358310267/report-says-unc-grade-boosting-scandal-involved-fake-classes>.

Smith, D. R. "It Pays to Bend the Rules: The Consequences of NCAA Athletic Sanctions." Sociological Perspectives 58.1 (2015): 97-119. Web.

Sperber, Murray A. "The Flutie Factor." Beer and Circus: How Big-time College Sports Is Crippling Undergraduate Education. New York: H. Holt, 2000. 56-68. Print.

Steinbach, Paul. "Record NCAA Graduation Rates Don't Tell the Whole Story." Athletic Business: The Resource for Athletic Fitness, and Recreation Professionals. N.p., Dec. 2011. Web. 8 Dec. 2015. <http://www.athleticbusiness.com/Governing-Bodies/record-ncaa-graduation-rates-don-t-tell-the-whole-story.html>.

ZHAO, EMMELINE. "Gulf Between College Spending on Academics, Athletics Grows." Real Time Economics RSS. N.p., 28 June 2010. Web. 09 Dec. 2015. <http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/06/18/gulf-between-college-spending-on-academics-athletics-grows/>.

Literary Review #5

Smith, D. R. "It Pays to Bend the Rules: The Consequences of NCAA Athletic Sanctions." 
Sociological Perspectives 58.1 (2015): 97-119. Web.

The author of this study is D. Randall Smith, an Associate Professor of Sociology at Rutgers University - New Brunswick, the State University of New Jersey. He has conducted research on sociological aspects of big-time intercollegiate athletics including the "indirect effects of high-profile sports and universities and how athletics contribute to higher education."

In summary, the study focuses on how scandals in big-time college sports receive considerable attention in the national media, potentially damaging the reputation of the specific university. He focuses on that because the penalties issues by the NCAA do not affect the outcomes of the investigation, but that sanctions for "poor academic performance are slightly more effect" (97). He provides evidence that suggests as a result, "colleges and universities suffer little economic or reputational damage when penalized for rule violations. He points towards the idea of "Deprivation Theory", which he defines as the prediction "that athletes and coaches who view themselves at a disadvantage either in society generally or when compared with others at their school or to other athletic programs, are more likely to engage in behavior that runs counter to NCAA expectation" (98). This describes the arms-race that universities partake in to establish premiere and successful athletic programs in order to establish brand equity and generate mass revenue. He suggests, because of this obsession with creating a successful athletic department in the form of winning games, the "Winning-at-all-cost notion produces a context that increases the likelihood of rule violations" (99). Essentially, because the focus is on establishing a successful athletic program, and eventually a brand equity, athletic departments, and the entire university constituency, tolerate and partake in academic fraud and dishonesty.

This will serve as a very valuable source and idea for my paper in the sense that once I establish the system of collegiate athletics, I will use the examples and evidence provided in this study to demonstrate how that system affects academic values and promotes academic fraud and dishonesty.

Literary Review #4

Bozman, Carl S., Daniel Friesner, Matthew Q. McPherson, and Nancy M. Chase. "Intangible and Tangible Value: Brand Equity Benefits Associated with Collegiate Athletics." International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship (2015): 261-84. Web.

The authors of this study include Carl Bozman, a Professor of Marketing at Gonzaga University's School of

Business Administration, Daniel Friesner, an Associate Dean and Professor of Social Administrative

Science at North Daokate State's College of Pharmacy, Nursing and Allies Sciences, Matthew McPherson,

an Associate Professor of Finance at Gonzaga's School of Business Administration, and lastly Nancy

Chase, an Associate Professor of Management Information Systems at Gonzaga's School of Business

Administration. In summary, their study focuses on the brand equity associated with collegiate athletics 

and the benefits that come with it. The study defines brand equity as "the additional value (beyond all 

characteristics) that accrues to a product as result of its name" (265). It emphasizes that the university's 

primary mission in establishing an athletics program is centered on this brand equity in the hopes of 

generating greater sources of mass revenue to compound the immediate revenue the athletic program 

garners. It argues that because programs typically lose money, the university cannot value its athletic 

program based on its immediate revenue. The justification is then said to be associated with the benefits 

and revenue that an established brand equity brings to the university. These additional revenues come in 

the from of increased student retention (tuition), donor retention, fundraising events, sponsorship , 

merchandise and ticket sales, etc. In addition to generating greater sources of revenue, the study also 

argues that the brand equity advances the community perception, both within the school and it's specific 

town/city location, by creating an image and appeal that the university/location is a "more attractive place 

tlive, establish a business, or visit" (263). As a result, it is argued that the athletic departments brand equity 

further enhances the overall economic impact within the school and local community. This defines it as an 

"indirect effect" of community members as a whole spend their money on goods and services that stimulate 

the local economy.

This source will serve as a significant source in my paper by establishing the reason why so much money is redirected away from academics, and allocated to athletics. It will serve as the backbone in the system of collegiate athletics that I will describe in my paper as the main reason/issue behind why college athletics compromises academic values.

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Research Blog #9 : Argument and Counter-Argument

The main argument focuses on the system of college athletics being centered on universities' attempts to create national recognition, marketability, and greater sources of mass revenue through establishing brand equity.  In order to do this, the universities put a strict emphasis on athletic spending by allocating significant funds towards coaching salaries and the programs as a whole, completely redirecting the much needed funds away from academics.  The university mission is evidently in favor of creating brand recognition through sports, at the expense of its academic values.  In turn, the argument transitions into how this emphasis creates a powerful Role Conflict for student-athletes and causes them to struggle to distinguish between being a student and being an athlete.  Additionally, the argument extends even further in describing how this system affects the university's moral code of behavior, leading to academic fraud and dishonesty.  All of this demonstrates and points to the fact that college athletics compromise universities educational/academic values.

The counter arguments are generally focused on the fact that most of these student-athletes are rewarded scholarships that act as a means for them to attend college they otherwise would probably be unable to attend.  They further emphasize that the NCAA continuously implements reforms and regulations that are meant to send messages to high-schools and universities that academic achievement does in fact matter.  They set new minimum academic requirements and provide additional academic advising and support.  However, to counter this, those who oppose college athletics as it stands now argue that these programs focus on maintaining eligibility, not learning.  These programs are administered by the athletic departments rather than the academic faculty.

They furthermore argue that sports are an important component of American education, in that it increases school spirit among the fan community, and also that it generates such significant revenue that can subsequently be redistributed to athletics.  However, as my paper and argument emphasizes, the gap between spending per athlete and spending per student is so significant that this redistribution is simply a farce.

Research Blog #8: Interview/Primary Source Material

For my primary source, I have conducted an interview with an old friend and student-athlete at the University of Louisville. I asked questions to see which aspect student-athletes put their focus on more, athletics or academics, and how the university's attitudes towards its athletic program affect their direction of motivation.  Because of the recent scandal(s) at this specific university, I was asked to keep the student-athlete's identity anonymous.  

When asked if student-athletes tend to focus more on succeeding in academics or their sport, the student-athlete answered "I personally tend to focus more on my academics, but I would have to say that 90% of my team primarily focuses on sport."  

The student-athlete followed this up by saying "I think managing my time is one of the hardest things for me. Balancing the 20+ hours of athletics, along with commitments through the team surrounding the community and academics is a hard thing to do. I always try to put academics first but sometimes that just isn’t possible."

In regards to one of the greater revenue sports, football, this student-athlete noted that "when I got to school my freshman year" when football players were asked what their majors were "they replied 'football' and that they never planned on fully finishing their degree but rather getting drafted before that happened."

Research Blog #7: Your Case

My chief argument/case is that the attitudes of universities towards its intercollegiate athletics has direct effects on student-athletes and their ability to succeed academically.  Each university puts a larger focus on beefing up its athletic's department and spend a significantly larger amount of money in its athletics than its academics.  They are focused on creating a revenue stream in order to become a "first-rate university" through their athletics, at the complete expense of its academic standards and chief principle of educating its students and allowing them to reach their fullest academic potential.

Research Blog 6: Visual

The first graph shows the amount of spending per athlete(blue) compared to the amount of spending per student(red) at a university.  The data is from the KCIA and clearly shows that there is a significant difference in the amount of spending per student vs athlete.  Universities are spending around 6-7 times more on athletes compared to students over the span of 4 years from 2005-2008.  The numbers continue to increase as the years go on. 

This second graph shows the significant difference in salaries for 6 academic positions, including the University President/CEO, compared to Football coaches.  Football coaches are making around 3 times more than the University President/CEO's and even more than deans and teachers. This clearly shows that a university invests more into and values its athletics over its academics.  

Literature Review Blog #3

Citation:

Kamusoko, Sibongile D., Ed.D, and Cynthia Lee A. Pemberton, Ed. D. "Student-Athlete 

Wellbeing and Persistence: An In-depth Look at Student-Athlete Perceptions." Student-Athlete Wellbeing 1 (2012): n. pag. ERIC [OCLC]. Web. 26 Oct. 2015. <http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED528482.pdf>.

Summary:
The study conducted by Kamusoko focuses on student-athletes "perceptions of well-being, delimited to satisfaction regarding Athletic Department Policies and Practices, Educational Characteristics, Institutional Facilities and Services, and intent to academically persist."  The research conducted involved seven student-athletes, 5 male and 2 female.  Of the 7, 4 were team-sports while the other 3 were individual sports.  The study found four underlying themes that the student athletes 1) recognized their role, responsibilities, and agency in terms of their academic progress and relationships with faculty; 2) acknowledged reliance on the Athletic Department in terms of assistance in understanding and complying with NCAA rules, regulations, and eligibility requirements; 3) were aware of and made at least limited use of institution-based academic content support services, and 4) saw and valued themselves as students and student-athletes.

Author:
Sibongile D. Kamusoko and Cynthia Lee Pemberton, both were graduates of Idaho University.  Pemberton had publishes 2 books, and 31 papers.  Kamusoko is now a PE Adjunct Instructor at Idaho University and has published multiple papers as well.

Key Terms/Quotes
"Over time the NCAA developed from an exclusively men’s
sport organization concerned with establishing rules to minimize violent behavior, to a multi
division (D-I, D-II, and D-III) sport governance organization that has assumed fiscal
management, certification, and administrative control of most college sports (Maxcy, 2004).
Today, the NCAA describes itself as being “…[f]ounded more than one hundred years ago as a
way to protect student-athletes…[implementing] that principle with increased emphasis on both
athletics and academic excellence”"

"The problems student-athletes faced continued to escalate over the next two and a half
decades leading to the formation of a 1952 Presidential Committee by the American Council of
Education (ACE) (Thelin, 1994). This committee investigated and reported on ethics in
collegiate sport. More recently, the 1999 and the 2001 Knight Foundation Commission on
Intercollegiate Athletics (KFCIA) published reports that revealed and substantiated ongoing
conflicts between academic and athletic goals, such as admission practices for intercollegiate
athletes being at odds with institutional education goals"


" At each stage of reform the NCAA hoped that by better aligning the standards used to
admit student-athletes with those used by the institution for non-athletes, when student-athletes
arrived on a college campus they would be better able to meet athletic and academic demands.
This ideal was consistent with the 1991 KFCIA report that stated, “student-athletes will be
students as well as athletes” (p. 62). Despite NCAA legislative measures and requirements,
recent literature confirms that student-athletes still confront conflicting roles associated with
education and athletics (Hyatt, 2003; Nordeen, 2005; Suggs, 2003; Suggs, 2005; Wolverton,
2008). In addition, cases of academic fraud, in the form of altering athlete transcripts, acceptance
of lower admission standards, awarding grades for classes that athletes had not attended,
dishonesty, unethical practices, use of improper incentives from alumni, smear campaigns and
attacking programs at other institutions persist (Ferris, et al., 2004; Kelo, 2005; KFCIA, 1991,
2001, 2010; Maxcy, 2004; Thelin, 2004; Zimbalist, 1999)."


Value:
This source will be incredibly valuable for my research topic as it analyzes the structure of college sports and how the NCAA and other organizations have attempted to create strict guidelines on emphasizing the "student" aspect of a student-athlete.  There are some quality information and statistics presented in this paper that I can use to analyze a student-athlete's motivation and how it relates to their academic and athletic roles at a university.  By using the guidelines and regulations enforced by the institutions themselves, as well as the NCAA, it will be more simple to draw a picture of how the mind of a student-athlete works.

Literature Review Blog #2

Citation:

Mahoney, Michelle L. "Student-athletes' Perceptions of Their Academic and Athletic Roles: 
Intersections amongst Their Athletic Role, Academic Motivation, Choice of Major, and Career Decision Making."ProQuest. N.p., May 2011. Web. 8 Dec. 2015. <http://search.proquest.com.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/docview/903700328>.

Summary:
The Research conducted by Mahoney focuses on the intersections between a student-athlete's athletic and academic role.  She interviewed 18 student-athletes and found that some main themes emerged such as the athletic role being more reinforced than the academic role, and that student-athletes are part of an "elite group" in the eyes of the university.  She examines how the Role Theory and Role Conflict affect a student-athlete's view on their academic and athletic success.  What was interesting about Mahoney's study was that she found most of her subjects didn't view their responsibilities as academic or athletic, but as one interconnected responsibility.  It was almost as if they felt the burden to succeed academically and athletically as a way to "give back" to the university for giving them a scholarship.  This is where she examines how the stress levels for student-athletes sky rocket compared to non-athletes because of the pressure they face by being given a scholarship and being expected to succeed both academically and athletically.

Author:
Michelle L Mahoney.  She is a graduate from California State University-Long Beach where she received a Ed. D for Educational Leadership.  I am using her dissertation as a source.  She served at her alma mater as an Academic Counselor for Student-Athletes for 10 years from August 2003-January 2014.  She was an Athletic Academic Counselor at Mount San Antonio College for two years.  She has bounced around between colleges in California as an Adjunct Counselor.

Key Terms/Quotes:
Role Theory- a perspective in sociology and in social psychology that considers most of everyday activity to be the acting out of socially defined categories (e.g., mother, manager, teacher). Each social role is a set of rights, duties, expectations, norms and behaviours that a person has to face and fulfill.

Role Conflict-Role conflict occurs when there are incompatible demands placed upon an employee such that compliance with both would be difficult.

" Unlike other college students, student-athletes experience conflict between the competing time 
and energy demands of their academic role and their athletic role (Sack, 1987; Simons & 
Van Rheenen, 2000). "

"The numerous responsibilities, expectations, demands, and pressures produced by 
student-athletes' academic and athletic roles have implications for their college 
experiences. How student-athletes perceive their academic and athletic roles as well as 
strategies they employ to successfully navigate these multiple roles have only been 
explored in a limited manner. As such, an exploration of their perceptions is pertinent. 
Gaining knowledge about student-athletes' perceptions of, and ways in which they 
negotiate their multiple roles, could prove valuable for those working with the college 
student-athlete population, as well as beneficial to the creation and implementation of 
collegiate policy"



"Student-athletes fulfill a variety of roles, with the most prevalent being their 
academic and athletic roles. When fulfilling multiple roles, the potential to encounter 
role conflict exists. Such conflict can generally be thought of as the simultaneous 
manifestation of two or more incompatible expectations for the behavior of an individual 
(Biddle, 1986). "

Value:
This source will help explore my research problem by analyzing the sociology concept of Role theory and Role conflict and how it can be applied to student-athletes.  It focuses on the stresses student-athletes face in balancing their academic and athletic roles at a university and how they might handle such stresses.  It breaks down the roles of student-athletes to the very core by exploring the individual student-athlete and his/her motivation for academic success, how faculty interactions plays a factor, how the NCAA eligibility requirements influence choice of major, how student-athletes view their two roles as interconnected with push and pull components, how the student-athlete is viewed as a member of an "elite group" at the university, etc.

Literature Review Blog #1

Citation:

Gaston-Gayles, Joy L. "Examining Academic and Athletic Motivation Among Student Athletes at a Division I University." Journal of College Student Development 45.1 (2004): 75-83. Web.

Summary:
This sources examines academic motivation as a predictor of academic performance for college athletes.  The research study conducted in this source focuses on the "utility of academic and athletic motivation as a key variable in predicting academic performance among 211 college athletes at a Division I institution in the Midwest."  The study found that ACT/SAT scores, ethnicity, background characteristics, and pure academic motivation were significant factors in the "regression model."  The paper begins by examining graduation rates of student-athletes compared to non-athletes, as well as the percentages of the different demographics that make up the student-athletes (white basketball players, black basketball players, white football players, black football players, etc).  It goes on to examine certain predictors of academic success (such as the factors mentioned above) and how each one plays in to a student-athletes academic motivation.

Author:
Joy L. Gaston-Gayles is currently a professor at Florida State University with a focus in the Psychiatry and Psychology field of study.  She has published three research studies; two on student-athletes and their motivation toward academic success, and one on the experiences of a new faculty member in their first three years of employment in higher education administration institution.

Key Terms/Quotes:
"The most recent graduation rate report published by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) indicates that athletes reached an all-time high graduation rate of 60%, compared to 58% for the non-athlete population (NCAA, 2002b). Despite the academic support services that are strongly encouraged and available for student athletes, not all groups of athletes are graduating at the national rate. For example, White basketball players graduated at a rate of 53%, but Black basketball players graduated at a rate of 35%. White football players' graduation rate was 62% and Black football players experienced a 45% graduation rate." Page 1

"The most common predictors of academic performance have traditionally been high school GPA and rank, standardized test scores, and parental education" Page 1

"The seven non-cognitive variables assessed through the Non-Cognitive Questionnaire (NCQ) and reported to be related to academic success are: (a) positive self-concept, (b) realistic self-appraisal, (c) understanding and dealing with racism, (d) setting long-term goals, (e) strong support system, (f) leadership experiences, and (g) community service experience. Further, when SAT scores were combined with non-cognitive variables, predictions of success were more accurate. Non-cognitive variables accurately predict academic performance across 4 years, whereas standardized test scores are only predictive of the first year of college performance." Page 1


This material will help me explore my research question by providing hard facts and statistics on predicting academic success for student-athletes.  It takes a unique approach by analyzing a student-athletes background and demographic in predicting their academic success over the course of four years of undergraduate studying.  This differs from some of my other sources that focus on the present circumstances of a student-athlete at a university and how their current situation plays a role in their academic/athletic success.  It allows for a different perspective of analysis, which is only more beneficial to my research paper.

Reseach Blog #5: Bibliography with Five Schoalrly Sources

Working Bibliography

Gaston-Gayles, Joy L. "Examining Academic and Athletic Motivation Among Student Athletes

at a Division 1 University." Journal of College Student Development 45.1 (2004): 75-83. Web. 27 Oct. 2015. <http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_college_student_development/v045/45.1gaston-gayles.pdf>.

Hochfield, George. "The Incompatibility of Athletic and Academic Excellence." N.p., n.d. Web.

20 Oct. 2015. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/40249961?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents>.

Kamusoko, Sibongile D., Ed.D, and Cynthia Lee A. Pemberton, Ed. D. "Student-Athlete

Wellbeing and Persistence: An In-depth Look at Student-Athlete Perceptions." Student-Athlete Wellbeing 1 (2012): n. pag. ERIC [OCLC]. Web. 26 Oct. 2015. <http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED528482.pdf>.

Mahoney, Michelle L. "Student-Athletes' Perceptions of their Academic and Athletic Roles:

Intersections Amongst their Athletic Role, Academic Motivation, Choice of Major, and Career Decision Making." Order No. 3483946 California State University, Long Beach, 2011. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. <http://search.proquest.com/docview/903700328> Web. 26 Oct. 2015.

Shulman, James Lawrence, and William G. Bowen. The Game of Life: College Sports and

Educational Values. Princeton, N.J. ; Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2001.

Simons, Herbert D., Derek Van Rheenen, and Martin V. Covington. "Academic Motivation."

SpringerReference (2011): n. pag. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.

<http://leep.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/users/derek-van-rheenen/Covington,%20Simons%20%26%20Van%20Rheenen,%20Academic%20motivation%20and%20the%20student%20athlete.pdf>.

Research Blog #4: Research Proposal

Topic:

In my research paper, I plan to explore in which direction a college athlete’s motivation is used, whether it is towards their academic or their athletic success.  This topic ties into privatization of college with the central question of how much money does the university actually make off of exploiting student-athletes and how they view the student athlete in terms of these academic/athletic responsibilities.  Do student athletes fear losing their scholarship and having to find a way to afford the increased tuition costs?  Do they fear the idea of joining the “student loan bubble”?  

Research Question:

What motivates a student athlete, and is that motivation used towards their academic responsibilities or athletic responsibilities? How does a university view the student athlete in terms of these responsibilities?

Theoretical Frame:

Michelle Mahoney of Cal State University analyzes the intersections between a student-athlete’s athletic and academic role by interviewing 18 student-athletes and finding that there were some main themes that emerged: Athletic role is more reinforced than academic role, they are part of an “elite group” in the eyes of the university, among others.  She employs that the Role Theory and role conflict affect a student-athlete’s view on their academic and athletic success.  She notes that many of her subjects didn’t view their responsibilities as academic or athletic, but that they are interconnected.  She notes that the additional stress student-athletes face sometimes cause a significant decline in their academic or athletic success, sometimes even both.  In danger of losing their scholarship, student-athletes often feel the necessity to succeed academically, but then struggle to perform as expected in their athletic role.  Because of this, their role conflict of student-athletes is dramatically increased and becomes problematic for the individual.  Sibongile Kamusoko finds that this increased stress on a student-athlete without a doubt leads to poor academics, which in turn hinders their athletic eligibility and ultimately their ability to graduate.  A student athlete is under pressure to succeed both academically and athletically, causing them to self-motivate, generally leaning more towards one or the other.  If they over compensate towards one or both responsibilities, they probably won’t be successful in both.  It’s a slippery slope and an incredibly difficult task managing both.  Kamusoko puts a focus on how colleges exploit athletes and how universities maximize the financial gain at the expense of these student-athletes.  He cites the Carnegie Foundation of Advancement of Teachers (CFAT) where Howard Savage performed a study that confirmed inconsistencies associated with intercollegiate athletics and the role and mission of colleges in terms of their core business of education students.  This lead to the formation of the Presidential Committee by the American Council of Education, where they investigated the ethics of college sports and how it affects student-athlete’s college experience.  He even cites the Knight Foundation Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics (KFCIA) that published reports revealing conflicts between academic and athletic goals;  attributing the increased gap to a “business model of intercollegiate athletics that has led to unattainable economic demands for most institutions, compromising their academic values.”  The idea of decreased admission standards has been a topic of concern for many of these studies. It even led the NCAA to institute a legislative reform to strengthen admission standards for prospective student-athletes by mandating minimal GPA and SAT scores.  This legislature has been modified multiple times, but it has not fixed the problem of where a student-athlete’s true motivation is used towards.  This only led to the issue of academic dishonesty across the nation for universities to bypass this legislation to boost their athletic success and financial gains.  I hope to explain how the university’s attitudes towards their student-athletes affects their motivations towards their academic and athletic responsibilities.  

Case:

The scholarly articles cited above by Michelle Mahoney and Sibongile Kamusoko, entitled “Student-Athletes’ Perceptions of Their Academic and Athletic Roles; Intersections Amongst Their Athletic Role, Academic Motivation, Choice of Major and Career Decision Making” and “Student-Athlete Wellbeing and Persistence: An In-depth Look a Student-Athlete perceptions” respectively.  Both provide substantial evidence in how universities, due to their privatization and focus on athletic success, affect a student-athlete’s college experience and motivation towards their athletic and academic roles at the university.  A great primary source is an interview with Professor George Hochfield at SUNY-Buffalo entitled “We’re all Playing Games:  The Incompatibility of Athletic and Academic Excellence” where he talks on lengths about his opposition of Division 1 athletics altogether, and how it completely hinders a student-athlete to succeed academically and become a successful part in society post college.  He talks about the complete incompatibility of being able to succeed athletically and academically for most student-athletes and that the odds of them succeeding in their future through their athletic ability is slim.  Compared to most views, this is definitely a radical approach towards college sports, which I definitely want to explore in it’s connection to my topic/question.  I do not necessarily agree with everything Professor Hochfield says, but he makes some very valid points in how incredibly difficult it is for a student-athlete to succeed academically and athletically under the circumstances thrust upon them by the university.  Most universities focus on their sports programs as a financial gain, all at the expense of a student-athlete’s overall well-being and complete disregard of the “student” aspect.   Joy L. Gaston-Gayles work in “Examining Academic and Athletic Motivation Among Student Athletes at a Division I University” talks heavily about predicting academic performance among 211 college athletes at a Division 1 Institute in the Midwest.  She examines that ACT scores, ethnicity, and academic motivation were significant in expression her model.  James Lawrence Shulman examines how Division 1 athletics is a powerhouse money making machine, at the expense of a student-athlete.  It focuses on data that shows how a school might take advantage of the overall positives sports brings them, and how that may or may not endanger the core of their educational missions.  He notes that colleges and universities are “dependent upon a broad range of constituencies (students, parents, fans, alumni/ae, staff) and over the long term, policy decisions affecting admissions play a crucial role” in the success of a university academically and athletically.  His work focuses on how sports plays a role in a university's academic mission, and how different divisional levels affects a school’s attitude towards their academics, ultimately affecting the student-athlete’s attitude as well.  For example, the difference between playing football at Vanderbilt University or playing football at Oberlin College.  It’s a unique take on how the struggles can be handled by the student-athlete by choosing which school to attend, based on that school’s academic mission and place in college sports’ hierarchy.  

Research Blog #3: How might Privatization connect to your topic?

Privatization, as discussed in class, definitely ties into my topic of what motivates a college athlete who has a scholarship.  Increased tuition and the student loan bubble absolutely relates to scholarships given to student-athletes.  It cancels out their issue of tuition, but what if that scholarship is revoked under certain circumstances...will that student pay tuition or take out student loans in order to remain at a higher education institution?  The idea of outsourcing, noted by the NEA, also plays a role with sports.  The amenities, like planes, buses, Gatorade jugs, vending machines, etc. that student-athletes have access to part are in all likelihood part of this outsourcing that a university partakes in through privatization.

Research Blog #2: Scouting the Territory

I still stand with my original topic of how scholarship athletes and college sports affect a students financial and academic responsibilities.  Basically, my question centers around the question: What motivates an athlete to succeed? I look to find what that motivation may be and in what aspect that motivation is used to succeed in (academically or athletically).  I found a lot of sources through the database provided to us by Rutgers and also through Google Scholar.  Some are scholarly sources, while others are different types of articles and even one primary source interview. 

Here are a few sources I found that seem like they can help with my paper.  I have a few more that I still need to read over and see how useful they can potentially be. 

Title:	Student-Athletes' Perceptions of Their Academic and Athletic Roles: Intersections Amongst Their Athletic Role, Academic Motivation, Choice of Major, and Career Decision Making
Source:	Mahoney, Michelle. Proquest LLC (2011-01-01) ISSN: ERIC-RIE0

Title:	Student-Athlete Wellbeing and Persistence: An In-Depth Look at Student-Athlete Perceptions
Source:	Kamusoko, Sibongile. Online Submission (2012-01-13) ISSN: ERIC-RIE0

Title:	The Transition Experience of First-Year University Track and Field Student Athletes.
Source:	Tracey, Jill. Journal Of The Freshman Year Experience Volume: 7 Issue: 2 (1995-01-01) p. 81-102. ISSN: 1053-203X

https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=JpS3OnBpcDMC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=sports+in+college&ots=TqELaOszCT&sig=ZzwRQLOicWCp6uHA9z37lWzd1ZU#v=onepage&q&f=false

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/csd/summary/v045/45.1gaston-gayles.html

I definitely found some more ideas on my topic and some vital research that covers ideas very similar to my topic.  They will no doubt be useful for my final paper.  Some of the sources are actual statistical analysis' of Division 1 college athletes in regards to my topic.  I wouldn't say there are controversy over my specific topic, but there is definitely controversy over college sports and whether a student-athlete should be financially compensated.  I definitely want to touch on this aspect in my paper, but not focus on it. 

Research Blog #1: Initial Topic Idea

For my final research project, I want to focus on the topic of college sports and how it affects an athlete's attitude towards their academic and financial responsibilities. 

1) In terms of academics:
Do athletes focus more on succeeding in their academics or succeeding in their sport? 
How do they decide to manage their time based on their focus of success? 
Are they banking on their athletic ability for career success (i.e. professional sports)?
Do athletes get more attention in succeeding academically (via free tutors, aid to cheat, easy grading, etc.) than regular students because they are receiving a scholarship? Which would lead to the question: Does the university focus more on the revenue drawn in from the sports team, or from the money they are losing through the scholarship?

2) In terms of finances:
Are athletes attending college because of their love for the sport or because of the scholarship that provides them a means of affording a college education?
Would they still attend college to play a sport if not given a scholarship?
If the scholarship was taken away from them(via academic failure or injury), would they drop out or find a means to afford tuition (student loans?) in order to still get a higher education.
If injured (i.e. concussion), would an athlete feel pressured to continue playing at the risk of further health damages in order to keep their scholarship, or quit and find an alternative means (student loans?) to afford tuition?
Because the university takes in revenue from college sports, would athletes agree to forfeit their scholarship in order to be paid?  Or would they want to be paid in addition to receiving a scholarship?