What Intercollegiate Athletes Wish Faculty Knew

Abstract

Intercollegiate student - athletes in the United States are in an unusual position as both students admitted to the university with declared majors and as athletes under contract with the athletic team to which they have been selected. As such, and much more so than students from other categories, intercollegiate student - athletes are expected to maintain a satisfactory grade point average and make satisfactory progress toward their degree in order to maintain athletic eligibility. This is done while practicing around 20 hours a week and traveling to competitions on a regular basis. This study surveyed 250 student - athletes at two universities to determine if these student - athletes had recommendations for faculty and if they felt faculty were aware of their unique academic needs. One open ended question and three Likert scale questions were asked. The findings indicated that faculty do not create assignments with student - athlete needs in mind. Recommendations were then made for how faculty might better meet the needs of student athletes.

Keywords: Intercollegiate athletics, Student - athlete, Academic success, Higher education