Loading...
CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT AND THE ROLE OF FACULTY ATHLETICS REPRESENTATIVES
Mullen, Austin Matthew
Mullen, Austin Matthew
Citations
Altmetric:
Genre
Thesis/Dissertation
Date
2025-05
Advisor
Committee member
Group
Department
Policy, Organizational and Leadership Studies
Permanent link to this record
Collections
Files
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
DOI
https://doi.org/10.34944/qw00-xy59
Abstract
This study explored the role faculty athletics representatives (FARs) play in conference realignment decisions and the ensuing transition to a new conference. Conference realignment is not a new phenomenon but the speed at which, quantity of, and magnitude of these decisions fiscally, regionally, and the impact on student-athletes has continued to increase. Recent realignment decisions have impacted athletic department bottom lines (Hoffer & Pincin, 2015; Kramer II, 2016; Pincin & Hoffer, 2013), institutional prestige (Kramer II, 2016), historic rivalries (Havard & Eddy, 2013; Havard et al., 2013), and increased cross-country travel for student-athletes which impacts academic pursuits (Cleveland, 2022), athletic performance (Heller et al., 2024), and personal relationships (Paule-Koba et al., 2021).For the substantial impact modern conference realignment has on the student-athlete experience and higher education institutions there has been no research targeted on the involvement, roles, perspectives, and responsibilities of FARs in the conference realignment process. Afterall, FARs have self-identified their three key responsibilities as ensuring institutional control of the athletic department, maintaining academic integrity, and guarding the welfare of student-athletes (Munger, 2014) all three pertaining to conference realignment and conference membership decisions.
The phenomenological study employed academic capitalism theory (Slaughter & Leslie, 1997) to identify the role of FARs before, during, and after conference realignment decisions. Eleven of 12 FARs played no role in the decision to change athletic conferences, yet all 12 played important roles in serving student-athletes, fellow faculty members, and institutional leaders during the conference transition. The next round of conference realignment is imminent, and it is important for FARs to learn from those that experienced the most recent round of realignment to implement best practices to effectively serve student-athletes and their institution.
Description
Citation
Citation to related work
Has part
ADA compliance
For Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodation, including help with reading this content, please contact scholarshare@temple.edu
Embedded videos
License
IN COPYRIGHT- This Rights Statement can be used for an Item that is in copyright. Using this statement implies that the organization making this Item available has determined that the Item is in copyright and either is the rights-holder, has obtained permission from the rights-holder(s) to make their Work(s) available, or makes the Item available under an exception or limitation to copyright (including Fair Use) that entitles it to make the Item available.