Asllani et al.1.
Rilind Asllani, Daniel Burkhardt, Nathan Fukumitsu, Jeramie McDonough, Chandler Thornton
Jennifer Courtney
WRTG 2010-062
October 10, 2015
Research in Higher Education and College Athletics
Adler, Peter, and Patricia A. Adler. "From Idealism to Pragmatic Detachment: The
Academic Performance of College Athletes." Sociology of Education 58.4 (1985):
241. Print.
This study published in 1985 looked at the relationship between athletic participation and
academic performance. Specifically this study tracked basketball players at major
universities and saw a decrease in theses student athletes academic aspirations and
performance. This study also examines the implications of these findings.
Bachman, Rachel. "College Football's Grid of Shame." Wall Street Journal 29 Aug. 2013:
D6. Print.
This article charts 125 teams in college football rating their performance based on player
academic performance, school violations of NCAA regulations, and arrest of players in
the off season.
Broadhead, Scott A. "The Student-Athlete Crisis: Does The University Have A Duty To
Educate?." Brigham Young University Education & Law Journal 1 (1992):
113.Academic Search Premier. Web. 5 Oct. 2015.
This article tackles the question of whether universities have a duty to education the
student athletes or not. Many of these student athletes weren't eligible to attend the school
in the first place and don't end up receiving the education promised. Then, instead of
providing study time, encourage the athletes to take classes solely to remain eligible for
their sports. The author also talks about cheating and how this isn't new but colleges are
doing it more now.
Cullen, Francis T., Edward J. Latessa and Joseph T. Byrne. "Scandal and Reform in
Collegiate Athletics: Implications from a National Survey of Head Football
Coaches." The Journal of Higher Education (1990).
This piece analyzes all types of rules infractions that are very apparent in “big time”
college athletics. The article touches on the fact that colleges repeatedly make this rules
infraction and that this exposure has made people challenge the place of athletics within
academia. This is an important article to have because it ties the problem of academic
fraud in college athletics into the even bigger argument of whether or not athletics has a
place in academia.
Donnelly, Harrison. "College Sports Under Fire." Editorial Research Reports 1986.Vol. II.
Washington: CQ Press, 1986. 589- 608. CQ Researcher. Web. 4 Oct. 2015.
As the name implies, this article is about the criticisms of college sports. It talks about
how student athletes sometimes leave college without a degree or a chance to go pro. The
author mentions the hardships for many universities as college football and basketball are
often the main source of income for universities and how money has began shaping
college sports, making reform difficult. It also talks about the special treatment for
student athletes grade wise and how university presidents don't have that much control
over college sports.
Eckard, E. Woodrow. "NCAA Athlete Graduation Rates: Less Than Meets The Eye."
Journal Of Sport Management 24.1 (2010): 45-58.Academic Search Premier. Web. 5
Oct. 2015.
This piece talks about the graduation rates of college athletes and how NCAA masks the
athlete's' poor performances. The NCAA touts that the student athletes graduation rate is
similar to that of the general student body. However, in that statistic are part time
students as well as full time and since part time take longer to graduate, makes the
athletes look good. The athletes are full time so they should be compared to the full time
students only for an accurate statistic. This is mainly what the journal talks about.
*Gayles, Joy Gaston. "The Student Athlete Experience." New Directions For Institutional
Research 2009.144 (2009): 33-41. Academic Search Premier. Web. 4 Oct. 2015.
In this article the author gives us critical information on who student athletes really are.
Gayles mentions that athletes spend an average of over twenty hours per week practicing
or playing. In addition to this Gayles mentions that these athletes usually miss a fair
number of classes when their sport is in season. Gayle states that these athletes are
expected to do all this and still maintain grades strong enough to keep them eligible for
their sports. This article will come prove useful when we discuss what constraints are on
athletes in the academic environment.
Groth, Richard Arthur “A Survey of University of Utah varsity football athletes”
University of Utah J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections (1969).
The article separates football players who graduated from the U in the 60’s into two
groups: those who played professionally and those who didn’t. They gave a survey to
about 100 of these student athletes to find out their current occupation and income, where
they reside, marital status and other things. It is found that a much larger percentage of
the group that did not play professional football graduated from college and are making
more income than those who played professionally.
Hernández-Julián, Rey, and Kurt W. Rotthoff. "The Impact of College Football on
Academic Achievement." Economics of Education Review 43 (2014): 141-47. Print.
The authors of this article examine the negative relationship between the success of the
University of Oregon football team and the performance of students academically. That is
to say that the better the football program did the worst academic performance was as
measured by GPA. The study also found that this phenomenon did not end after the
football season was over it continued into the spring semester.
James, Emily. "SMU commits men’s basketball and golf violations." NCAA (2015).
This article references the recent scandal at SMU University involving academic fraud in
their college athletics. Specifically, one of the assistant basketball coaches encouraged a
player to enroll in an online course to get his grades up. After the player enrolled, an
administrative assistant received the login information and completed the course for the
player. This is an important piece to include in our research as it is yet another example
of academic fraud but it also involves a hall of fame basketball coach in Larry Brown.
Karaim, Reed. "Paying College Athletes." CQ Researcher 11 July 2014: 577-600. Web. 5
Oct. 2015.
This article talks about whether college athletes should be payed or not. It mentions a
specific instance when 76 scholarship players on the Northwestern University football
team voted whether to unionize. The author goes on to say how student athletes are
employees for the university. The sports teams bring in so much money for the
university, and the players are like the gears in this machine so they should be
compensated for all the money they're making the college.
Long, James E. and Caudill, Steven B. “The Impact of Participation in Intercollegiate
Athletics on Income and Graduation” The Review of Economics and Statistics.
MIT press. (August 1991).
This is a report on a study done to compare income of student athletes vs. non-athlete
students. The evidence shows that the athletes’ income in the survey is higher than the
regular students’. And athletics is shown to produce character and behavior traits that are
valuable in the workplace.
Mccan, Zach. “Athletes more prepared for real world?” ESPN. Web. (1 March, 2012).
Two professors at Indiana State University who were quoted as saying that they
previously looked down upon athletics in the education process saw that though student
athletes had lower GPAs and graduation rates (proved by many studies) they performed
better in tests of: critical thinking, self-awareness, communication, diversity, citizenship,
relationships and leadership. Which characteristics the two professors thought would be
more indicative of future success. Mccan goes into what about an athlete’s lifestyle might
produce these positive results.
McCormick, R., & McCormick, A. (2006). The Myth of The Student-Athlete: The College
Athlete As Employee. Washington Law Review Association, 81(1), 71-157.
This journal has some strong points criticizing the NCAA. In fact, the first chapter is
titled "The NCAA Created The Term Student Athlete to Deny Athletes Employee
Status". The journal looks back in time at how and why this phrase student athlete came
to be and analyzes its meaning and sense today. It talks about the limitations of the
student athlete, basically proving the employee employer relationship with the school.
Miller, Michael T., & Daniel B. Kissinger. “College Student-Athletes : Challenges,
Opportunities, And Policy Implications”. Charlotte, NC: Information Age
Publishing, 2009. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 4 Oct. 2015.
This long article provides a general understanding of the topic. It talks about the history
of student athletes, from recruitment all the way through to the end of their careers. The
author also goes in more depth talking about, international athletes in particular, female
athletes, and most importantly to our topic, involvement in learning and athletic
participation. In this section, he talks about the history of the subject, how NCAA's rules
have changed and what student athletes have been doing differently over the years.
Miller, Patricia S., and Gretchen Kerr. "The Athletic, Academic And Social Experiences
Of Intercollegiate Student-Athletes." Journal Of Sport Behavior 25.4 (2002): 346.
Academic Search Premier. Web. 4 Oct. 2015.
This article tried to answer research questions about athletes that have been investigated
by researchers for the past 80 years. The article reflects upon considerable data, which
gives this article a great deal of credibility for viewing many different sources and
gathering critical information. The studies also state that they had conducted 1 on 1
interviews with senior male and female students. This article will help us answer many
questions about student athletes and the compromises they are forced to make, from the
day they enter college to graduation.
Navarro, Kristina M. "An examination of the alignment of Student-athletes'
undergraduate major choices and career field aspirations in life after sports." (2015,
May).
The article finds that many student athletes, especially in revenue producing sports like
football and basketball, are choosing majors that don’t align well with career aspirations.
Many times, athletes said they picked a degree because the schedule of classes worked
with their athletics schedule. Also, most student athletes aspired to careers related to
sports, and careers that don’t make a lot of money.
NPR. "Report Says UNC Grade-Boosting Scandal Involved Fake Classes." NPR 3 October
2014.
Athletes at the University of North Carolina were enrolled in “paper classes” in which
high scoring grades are easy to achieve or the class isn’t even real at all. The report says
Crowder "believed it was her duty to lend a helping hand to struggling students, and in
particular to that subset of student-athletes who came to campus without adequate
academic preparation for Chapel Hill's demanding curriculum." This is an important
piece to include as it is a specific example of a very reputable institution giving academic
favor to the athletes.
Pennington, Bill. "N.C.A.A. Set To Put Teeth In Academic Guidelines." New York Times 29
Apr. 2004: D1. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 5 Oct. 2015.
In this article we gain a new perspective on student athletes and the pressures they are put
under with the standards they are expected to meet to play according to the NCAA.
Although this article is a bit old many of the guidelines are still in place today, and will
help researchers determine what the underlying force is that give college athletes
incentive/disincentives to keep up with their academic careers. This source will prove
useful by providing a new perspective on the situation that is college athletics.
Renick, Jobyann. "The Use and Misuse of College Athletics." The Journal of Higher
Education (1974).
While college athletics are supposedly maintained as an integral part of the educational
program for the student-athletes who participate in them, an examination of the practices
within the system provides quite a different view. Some of the universities use athletics
as an indication of institutional prowess and encourage practices which are not in the best
academic interests of student-athletes. This entry shows that in order to keep a player
eligible, some shortcuts and unethical academic methods are used.
Rees, D. I., and K. T. Schnepel. "College Football Games and Crime." Journal of Sports
Economics (2009): 68-87. Print.
This article studies the relationship between college football and crime. The study
examines 26 Division I schools and incidents reported to the National Incident-Based
Reporting System. The study indicates that host cities experience increase in assaults,
vandalism, arrest for disorderly conduct and alcohol related offensive.
Sack, Allen L.; Thiel, Robert. “College Football and Social Mobility: A Case Study of Notre
Dame Football Players” Sociology of Education Vol. 52, No. 1 (Jan., 1979),
Sack and Thiel look at socio-economic status of athletes and other regular students before
college (mainly by looking at their father's’ income and careers) and then looked at these
students who had graduated in the 60’s and compared their status now with where they
were before (student athletes made a more positive climb up the social ladder than nonstudent athletes, but they also started a lot lower). It also compares income and status
after sports of first team athletes, with players that didn’t get in the game a lot, finding
that the first-teamers make more money after sports.
Schafer, Walter E., and Richard A. Rehberg. "Athletic Participation, College Aspirations
and College Encouragement." Vol. 13: University of California Press, 1970. 186.
Print.
This article reviews the sociological standpoint of athletes in college. Schafer and
Rehberg define a few reasons why athletics increase educational enhancements. They
refer to certain studies done that should a positive correlation between senior athletes and
overall academic performance. This article could pose as a useful resources in the
assignments to come. This article could prove an invaluable resource to help us answer
our questions about athletes and standards. Furthermore the article also states that these
athlete students also tended to value extracurricular activities just as much as the sports
the does, such as student government and honor clubs.
Scott, Brianna “In-Season Vs. Out-of-Season Academic
Performance of College Student-Athletes” Journal of Intercollegiate Sports. 2008.
Print.
In this article the authors study the overall GPAs of student athletes while they are in
season and out of season. These studies are conducted to assess whether there is a
positive or negative correlation between the two. This article gives our research paper a
better understand of whether or not college athletics hinder student athlete’s abilities to
maintain a high GPA or Average compared to their non athlete peers. It will prove useful
in many ways by providing a resource for us to use in later discussions about college
standards for athletes.
Simmons, Herbert D., Derek Van Rheenen and Martin V. Covington. "Academic
Motivation and the Student Athlete." Journal of College Student Development
(1999).
This is a large scale study of college athletes from 361 Division I colleges. The
researchers analyzed the relationship of motivation and academic performance using a
self-worth theory. Fear of failure and the relative commitment to athletics was found to
play important roles in the academic motivation of both revenue and non revenue student
athletes. This is another piece important to our studies as it not only shows reasons of
motivation for the athletes but brings up the question to whether or not college athletes
should be compensated.
Strain, Jeremy, BS; Didehbani, Nyaz, PhD; Cullum, C. Munro, PhD; Sethesh
Mansinghani, BS; Heather Conover, BS Kraut, Michael A., MD; Hart, John Jr,
MD and Womack, Kyle B., MD. “Depressive symptoms and white matter
dysfunction in retired NFL players with concussion history” web.
Neurology.
(May 24, 2013).
This article studies former NFL players who experience long-term depressive symptoms
as well as decline in neurocognitive performance. The article is valuable for our topic in
describing the long-term effects of concussions which are sustained by many collegiate
athletics. Athletes with multiple concussions experience long term depression. The study
performed required athletes to look back to the immediate and also long run effects their
concussions had, studies showed athletes with histories of concussions had “white
matter” in the brain which shows a correlation to depression. If an athlete is depressed, he
will not do well in school, nor in the workplace.
"The Struggle Between Athletics and Academic Values." Chronicle of Higher Education
47.24 (2001). Print.
This article is an interview with James L. Shulman, the CFO of the Andrew W. Mellon
Foundation. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation provides grants to institutions of higher
education and is currently endowed with 6.1 billion. It’s core areas of interest are the
humanities, libraries, museums, performing arts, and conservation. The interview looks at
the problems facing Division I universities in prioritizing sports programs over academic
achievement.
Watt, Sherry K., and James L. Moore III. "Who Are student athletes?". 2001 (2001). Web.
15 NOV 2002.
This article is discusses students in the college environment, and how they are influenced
by their experiences as athletes. It goes into some depth about how to best assist these
student athletes in furthering their careers, noting several different recommendations.
Although this article just looks at who the student athletes are it will prove to be useful by
giving our research paper a better understanding of who we are talking about. In the next
few assignments that we will be doing.
Watt, Sherry. "Who Are Student Athletes?" New Directions for Student Services (2001).
This journal article attempts to distinguish the differences between a college athlete and
the normal college student. The author goes into detail about the addition responsibilities
that a college athlete must deal with every day in addition to the things that an average
college student has to deal with. This article is helpful for our research as it shows why
academics is so hard for students and why an athlete might be persuaded to take an easier
route because of it.