Abstract
Abstract The focus of this study was to understand perceptions of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I athletic director (ADs) skills and experiences and their relative importance to their current position. Division I ADs hold the highest position of authority in intercollegiate athletic departments at the highest level of competition in the NCAA (Swift, 2011). What once was seen as a job for retired coaches, has now transformed into a role that attracts some of the top executives both in and outside the sports industry (Belzer, 2015). Indeed, universities have begun to resemble a corporate culture, with ADs frequently considered to be CEOs of their department and the universities they serve (Hardin, Cooper & Huffman, 2013). Since much of the research on AD career paths has employed a content analysis methodology, examining biographies of ADs to establish patterns, (e.g., Fitzgerald, Sagaria, & Nelson, 1994; Hardin et al., 2013; Lumpkin, Achen & Hyland, 2015), the current study sought to understand ADs perceptions of requisite skills and experiences by directly surveying the group. Results indicate current ADs place a high emphasis on developing skills relative to revenue generation, fundraising and development, while considering internal experiences such as working with academic services and life skills not nearly as important.
Highlights
The focus of this study was to understand perceptions of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I athletic director (ADs) skills and experiences and their relative importance to their current position
This position requires a professional who can put the athletic department in a financial position that would reduce the need to tap into already strained university budgets
The present study extends the work of Hardin et al (2013), Wong et al (2015), and Belzer (2015) by focusing on skills and experiences that ADs believe have been helpful in their career progressions, while pointing out differences among Division I AD subgroups
Summary
The focus of this study was to understand perceptions of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I athletic director (ADs) skills and experiences and their relative importance to their current position. The roles ADs play vary from hiring decisions, budget oversight, supervision, compliance (with institutional/conference/NCAA regulation), as well as fundraising efforts (Marburger, 2015) In other words, this position requires a professional who can put the athletic department in a financial position that would reduce the need to tap into already strained university budgets. Over the past 30 years, the competitive landscape of colleges and universities, and athletic departments within them, has changed dramatically due to governmental legislation and a number of economic factors that have increased the exposure and visibility of NCAA Division I schools (Fram & Frampton, 2012) These factors include everything from compliance violations, Title IX legislation, academic eligibility, drug testing, increasing television revenues, and anti-trust legislation (Hatfield, Wrenn, & Bretting, 1987). Studentathletes’ attempts at unionization, NCAA image and likeness legislation, multiyear athletic scholarships, proposals for pay-for-play, cost of attendance, as well as the formation of the College
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