A Description and Comparison of the Perceptions of NCAA Division II and Division III College Presidents regarding the Impacts of Intercollegiate Athletics at their Institutions

A Description and Comparison of the Perceptions of NCAA Division II and Division III College Presidents regarding the Impacts of Intercollegiate Athletics at their Institutions Aaron C. Huffman The purpose of this study was to describe and compare the perceptions of NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III college and university presidents regarding the impacts of intercollegiate athletics at their institutions. The data were collected with an anonymous online survey instrument developed by the researcher and sent via email using SurveyMonkey. The survey included Likert-type items that were divided into four subscales constructed from phenomena that were gleaned from the literature: (1) Financial Impact subscale, (2) Enrollment Impact subscale, (3) Marketing Impact subscale, and (4) Student Impact subscale. The survey was emailed to the entire population of all NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III college and university presidents (N=760). When data collection was complete, 323 responses (42.5%) were determined to be usable—147 NCAA Division II responses and 176 NCAA Division III responses. Four separate independent samples t-tests were used to compare the presidents’ perceptions regarding the impacts of athletics on each of the four subscales. The t-tests revealed that statistically significant differences do not exist between the two groups on the Financial Impact subscale and the Student Impact subscale, but a statistically significant difference between the two groups does exist for both the Enrollment Impact subscale (p=.014) and for the Marketing Impact subscale (p<.001). Descriptive statistics revealed that both the NCAA Division II presidents and the NCAA Division III presidents perceive that intercollegiate athletics impacts their institutions positively. The items from each subscale to which the presidents responded most strongly are also reported. Descriptive statistics also revealed that the presidents’ perceptions do not always align with the literature regarding athletics in higher education. Finally, descriptive statistics revealed that the NCAA Division III presidents’ perceptions are more divided regarding these issues than the NCAA Division II presidents. Implications for practice and future research are provided. NCAA DII AND DIII COLLEGE PRESIDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF ATHLETICS iii Acknowledgements First, I would like to thank my doctoral committee for all of your time and contributions to this project. Dr. Sebastián Díaz, Dr. Ernest Goeres, Dr. Paul Chapman, Dr. Jack Watson, and Dr. Gonzalo Bravo—you have been an incredible team. Each of you has contributed to this culmination in important and unique ways. I can’t imagine having a better committee. I want to especially express my gratitude to Dr. Díaz for serving as my committee chairperson and all of the guidance and expertise that you have provided throughout this whole process. You have been the “rock” of my doctoral career from start to finish—throughout the coursework, comps, prospectus, and dissertation. You have been my teacher, my mentor, and my advisor—and now my friend and colleague. Thank you for everything. I will always be grateful. Thank you, Dr. Goeres, for always being there for guidance and keeping our cohort on track through all of the transitions. Thank you, Dr. Chapman, for all of the extra help navigating the new IRB system and the general guidance and support along the way. Thank you, Dr. Watson, for your expertise, extra availability, and guidance, especially with survey design and implementation. I am very grateful for all of your extra time you spent with me. Thank you, Dr. Bravo, for your willingness to serve on my committee and the guidance and advice you have provided. I want to thank my doctoral cohort colleagues and friends—Dan Filer, Carrie White, Brad Cox, Jacob Sanwidi, and Jeff Terpstra—for all of the laughs, good times, jokes, and camaraderie. You actually made me look forward to all those trips to Morgantown! I want to thank Dr. Rhonda Noble, Dr. John McCullough, and Jim Watson from West Liberty University—thank you for all of your encouragement and support with this endeavor. I want to say a special thank you to my parents, Rad and Ruth Huffman, for always guiding, loving, and supporting me throughout my whole life. I want to thank my three children, Jacob, Jillian, and Joshua Huffman, for being my three little blessings. You mean the world to me and I love you. Finally, I want to thank my loving wife Courtney Huffman for everything you have done and sacrificed in order for this to be accomplished. Thank you for taking care of our children during this process and showering our home with your love. You are my best friend—my “other half”—my blessing. I love you! NCAA DII AND DIII COLLEGE PRESIDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF ATHLETICS iv Table of