Scheduled for Research Consortium Poster Session: Thematic Sport Posters, Thursday, March 15, 2007, 12:45 PM - 2:15 PM, Convention Center: Exhibit Hall Poster Area I


Factors Influencing College Student-Athlete Overall Satisfaction

Bryan L. Finch1, Michael Sagas1, Aaron W. Clopton2 and John Thornton1, (1)Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, (2)Marshall University, Huntington, WV

Measuring organizational effectiveness (OE) in intercollegiate athletics is a difficult and convoluted task. According to Chelladurai (1987) the prime beneficiary approach, taken from Blau and Scott (1962), would be a viable alternative when assessing OE in a multidimensional and multi-constituency setting. Using this framework, an organization should attempt to satisfy as many constituent's needs as possible, all the while with the focus on the benefits of their actions to the prime beneficiaries (Chelladurai, 1987). In an intercollegiate athletics setting, a strong argument can be made that the prime beneficiary is the student-athlete (Chelladurai & Reimer, 1997). Further, according to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), their core purpose is to govern competition and to ensure that the “educational experience of the student-athlete is paramount” (NCAA Core, 2005). Further, Chelladurai and Reimer (1997) argue that since the athletes are the prime beneficiaries of collegiate athletics, that their satisfaction should be the primary outcome to measure the effectiveness of an intercollegiate athletic organization. This study aimed to explore the influence of three important experiences of student-athletes (integration with the student body, relationships with coaches, and satisfaction with academic and career support, see Thornton, 1997) on to their overall satisfaction with their experience as a student-athlete. Over a three-year period, 155 Division I-A athletes who had exhausted their eligibility were surveyed upon their exit from a large southern university. Using the data provided in this research program, a best-fit model was constructed using structural equation modeling to assess the relationships and adequacy of the data. The hypothesized model fit the data well (c2= 72, p < .01; CFI = .95, PNFI = .56, RMSEA = .05) and indicated positive and significant impacts of both integration into the student body (β = .32, p < .05) and relationships with coaches (β = .47, p< .001) on overall satisfaction. The results thus suggest that the student-athletes perception and satisfaction with academic and career services had no significant effect on their overall satisfaction. Based on these findings, in order to better enhance student-athletes experiences, college athletic scholars, administrators, and counselors should improve their understanding of the relationship between student-athletes, coaches, and the student body, as these concepts are likely influencing the effectiveness of the collegiate athletic organization.
Keyword(s): college level issues, sport management

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