Perspektiven des Hochschulsports als Marke der Universität

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Academic Sport Services are an essential part of university culture, student life and academic education at many institutions of higher education, while at some places such as the University of Göttingen they have been existing ever since the institution’s foundation. Even though University Sport as a secondary institutional service is legitimated by educational law, provides impressive range of influence, serves as a potential instrument fostering identification and emotional connection with the university and represents one of the most important academic platforms of interaction and social integration this service is only very rarely developed as a profile element or image factor at universities in Germany. Considering the current educational circumstances the author is posing the question, if University Sport meets the relevant prerequisites and criteria to be developed and positioned as a university brand. This also implies its corresponding role and function for the institution in general. In order to answer these questions the structural and organizational conditions of University Sport in Germany are presented, basics of university marketing and special conditions of the academic sport market are discussed and its institutional as well as target group related benefit is systematically analyzed. The empirical part is designed as an international comparison between the Academic Sport Service Departments at the University of Göttingen, Germany and the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada focusing on brand related aspects of University Sport. Aside from extensive examinations of scientific literature about those aspects mentioned above the stated argumentations also include the author’s national and international experience from voluntary and professional work as senior executive for the German University Sport Federation (adh) and the European University Sport Association (EUSA) during the last decade. The empi-rical study comparing the Academic Sport Services in Göttingen and London is based on an extensive survey of service customers and non-customers carried out in 2001/02. It can be stated as one of the major conclusions of this thesis that a developed University Sport delivers substantial benefit. Depending on the specific focus of a sport program in relation to the university’s brand characteristics University Sport can support the realization of the institution’s educational function or contribute to a more intense internationalization. Similar effects can also be observed towards its potential to create and increase identification and connection to the university. Academic Sport Services might deliver specific input to personal qualifications and allow individuals to make practical use of acquired knowledge and skills. Furthermore, aspects of personal well-being and health are strengthened, while University Sport finally contributes to social integration into the local academic society delivering an option for recreational activities inside the university setting. For the mother institution University Sport can produce substantial public awareness as a profile element and as an image factor. In addition, with respect to aspects of quality orientation and excellence in mind and body Academic Sport Services add value to the university brand. Especially from the students’ point of view University Sport serves as an additional field to acquire and test competencies, to establish peer and scientific networks and to develop an active health and stress reduction management. Therefore, University Sport displays important elements adequate to support the maturation of individual holistic personality, to apply theoretically acquired knowledge and skills in real life situations and also to contribute to the educational goal of developing employability of university graduates. Considering the essential question about the brand potential of University Sport the author comes to the conclusion that the service contains all requirements to be positioned as a university brand preferably under the roof of an umbrella brand. University Sport has the potential to substantially contribute to the university’s marketing strategy, if its particular role, the program’s core areas and the strategic infrastructure development directly serve specific elements of the university’s marketing position such as competitive, health or fun orientation. In order for University Sport to play this role, a certain level of development is needed which allows this service to be recognized as a unique feature of the university. This implies that only a limited number of institutions of higher education have the means to provide the necessary conditions and to realistically make use of the service as a university brand. On a still insufficiently differentiated third sector educational market like in Germany University Sport provides a unique potential of organizational differentiation with considerable options to be developed.