How to Program for Student Athletes: A Resource Guide for Student Affairs Practitioners

One of the goals of the Student-Athlete Knowledge Community is to “empower student-affairs professionals with knowledge about athletics and the unique needs of student-athletes to enhance cross-campus collaboration…” As a faculty liaison for the Student-Athlete Knowledge Community, my role is to advance scholarship as it pertains to the intersection of higher education and intercollegiate athletics, while providing resources to educate and inform our constituents. In the summer of 2016, I had the opportunity to return to my alma mater, The George Washington University, to teach a special topics course to higher education administration graduate students on student-athlete identity. The course required students to explore the barriers for student-athlete populations to healthy identity development that should occur in post-secondary education. In addition, they were to develop strategies for addressing it. With the exception of one student, none of them worked directly with student-athletes, and it became apparent that information on how to engage this unique population of college students is not readily available for those who work outside of athletic departments.

I challenged the students to think about the departments in which they work, or aspire to work, and to consider circumstances that may limit or pose challenges to student-athletes.  Using Astin’s Theory of Involvement as a conceptual framework and other common theoretical frameworks to higher education scholarship, the students were able to identify potential deficiencies in the student-athlete experience and propose ways to address them.

The findings from their work along with suggestions from other practitioners, including members of the Student-Athlete Knowledge Community Leadership Team, was compiled in a guide “How to Program for Student-Athletes.” In this document, NASPA members can learn of ways to be more inclusive in campus initiatives to involve student-athletes, who may at times have limited participation in campus life due to their demanding schedules. One misconception of those who are external to athletic departments is the idea that student-athletes have everything they need because the athletic department provides them with resources. While at many institutions, resources such as tutoring and advising are available to student-athletes, it is impossible to engage in every aspect of student development in a single department. Furthermore, isolating student-athletes from their non-athletic peers has also proven detrimental to their development. One suggestion included in the guide is to consider adding a student-athlete representative to an institution’s programming board, student-government panel, or other leadership organizations. This would provide them a voice in non-athletic matters, thus providing an opportunity to become more engaged in campus life outside of their sport. Another example is to consider the times programming is offered on campus and work in conjunction with the athletic department to include some programming at times that do not conflict with student-athlete schedules. This gives student-athletes an opportunity to engage with non-athletic peers. Deliberate program planning and intentional outreach to student-athletes are necessary to ensure they are included in the initiatives of your unit. 

The Student Athlete Knowledge Community Education Plan contains suggestions and best practices for supporting student-athletes. It includes resources for understanding the culture of intercollegiate athletics, meeting the needs of student-athletes, and ways in which athletics and student affairs can better collaborate.