Date of Award

8-1973

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Department

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

Dr. William P. Viall

Second Advisor

Dr. Adrian Edwards

Third Advisor

Dr. Joseph Hoy

Fourth Advisor

Dr. Rodney Roth

Abstract

This study investigated the attitudes of faculty members toward the role of intercollegiate athletics in selected institutions of higher education. The perceptions of the faculty members were collected by means of a questionnaire comprised of three sections: Section 1 requested demographic data; Section 2 requested responses to forty-eight items relating to intercollegiate athletics, and Section 3 requested additional comments, A five-point Likert scale containing five response categories including strongly agree, agree, undecided, disagree, and strongly disagree was utilized in Section 2.

The forty-eight items included in the questionnaire were formulated primarily through the literature review, and from discussions with leading experts in the field. These items were divided into one of the five following topic areas: policies and policy determination, financial considerations, coaching staff, current trends, and philosophical considerations.

The colleges and universities used in the study were chosen on a random basis from within the Big-Ten Athletic Conference, the MidAmerican Athletic Conference, and The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association. These Conferences were selected on the basis of the diverse range in enrollments and athletic philosophies of the member institutions as well as the geographic proximity. Over 1,000 questionnaires were sent to randomly selected full-time faculty members at the selected colleges and universities, with a return of slightly better than 51%.

Analysis of the data included a total frequency count for each item as well as an item mean. A one-way analysis of variance was computed to test for significant differences between the mean responses of faculty member's at institutions within one conference when compared to the mean responses of those faculty members at institutions within the other two conferences. When the one-way analysis of variance indicated significant differences between the three groups beyond the .05 level, the T-method developed by Tukey was utilized to determine if there were significant differences between all of the means.

The findings of the study indicate that intercollegiate athletics appear to be an integral part of the total educational program at the college and university level. However, it is apparent from the data that there is need for constant evaluation and control of intercollegiate athletic programs to maintain a philosophy of athletics consistent with educational goals. The "big-buslness" aura of intercollegiate athletics present in many institutions of higher education was seen as highly undesirable. A reduced emphasis on intercollegiate athletics and an increased emphasis on intramural programs was stressed.

Access Setting

Dissertation-Open Access

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