TARLETON STATE UNIVERSITY. Athletic Interest Survey

Transcription

1 TARLETON STATE UNIVERSITY Athletic Interest Survey May, 2006

2 Tarleton State University Spring 2006 Athletic Interest Survey ABSTRACT A spring 2006 survey administered to all Stephenville full-time, undergraduate students did not reveal sufficient interest in establishing new intercollegiate sport activities. With a sample size of 4,895 students, a response rate of 2.4% (119) was recorded. Of the 119 respondents, 85 indicated some interest in participation in a sport activity. The highest interest levels among intercollegiate sports not currently offered at Tarleton were noted by four students indicating an interest in participating in indoor track/field and soccer.

3 Tarleton State University Spring 2006 Athletic Interest Survey T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S Page I. Introduction... 1 II. Method... 1 III. Results... 2 IV. Discussion... 4 V. Appendix A Survey Results... A.1 A.188 VI. Appendix B Notifications...B.1 B.4

4 Tarleton State University Spring 2006 Athletic Interest Survey INTRODUCTION In January 2006, a committee consisting of Brad Chilton (Executive Director of the Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Institutional Research), Susan Burton (Assistant Athletic Director), Richard Denning (Chair, Athletic Council), and Tom Tallach (Director of Compliance) met to discuss ways to measure Stephenville student interest in athletic participation. At the meeting, it was determined a survey would be utilized to measure students thoughts concerning this topic. In April 2006, an athletic interest survey was administered to all full-time, undergraduate students enrolled in classes meeting on the Stephenville campus. The purpose of the survey was to determine if sufficient interest was present to offer additional intercollegiate athletic sports. The committee decided to use a survey prepared by the United States Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. The survey was administered using the Web Surveyor software package. METHOD In order to ascertain student athletic participation interest, an distribution list of all spring 2006 full-time Stephenville undergraduate students was extracted from the Banner student information system on March 26, The Tarleton address for each student was used as the method of contact. Students were considered to be Stephenville students if they were enrolled in at least one class meeting on the Stephenville campus and were registered for 12 or more semester credit hours. Three notifications were sent to the students inviting them to participate in the survey. These e- mails were sent on April 3 rd, April 11 th, and April 17 th. A link to the Web Surveyor survey was included in the s (See Appendix B). 1

5 RESULTS The sample consisted of 4,895 students. A response rate of 2.4% was noted as 119 responses were received to the three messages. Detailed results are shown in Appendix A. Of the respondents, 63.9% (76) were female and 36.1% (43) were male. The classification distribution showed 21.0% (25) freshmen, 23.5% (28) sophomores, 30.3% (36) juniors, and 25.2% (30) seniors. Concerning the reporting of prior athletic experience, participation, or interest, 71.4% (85) of the sample reported they possessed athletic experience. Thirty-four (28.6%) noted they did not have any athletic experience, participation, or interest. Regarding future sport participation for the 30 sports summarized in Table 1, the numbers indicating an interest in future participation in a sport ranged from a low of zero to a high of eight. The high of eight was noted in outdoor track and field. 2

6 Sport Participation Intramural Recreational Intercollegiate Club Total Archery Badminton Baseball Basketball Bowling Current Current Current Current Current Future Future Future Future Future Cross Current Country Future Equestrian Fencing Field Hockey Football Golf Gymnastics Ice Hockey Lacrosse Rifle Rowing Rugby Skiing Soccer Softball Squash Current 2 2 Future 3 3 Current Current Current Current Current Current Current Current Current Current Current Current Current Current Future Future Future Future Future Future Future Future Future Future Future Future Future Future Swimming Current and Diving Future Synchronized Current 0 Swimming Future 1 1 Team Handball Tennis Indoor Track and Field Outdoor Track and Field Volleyball Water Polo Wrestling Table 1. Sport Participation Summary Current 0 Future 0 Current Future Current Future Current Future Current Future Current 2 2 Future Current 0 Future 1 1 3

7 DISCUSSION The gender distribution of the respondents (63% female vs. 36% male) corresponds favorably to the spring gender distribution of the student body for spring 2006 (57% female vs. 43% male). The sample classification distribution seems to parallel the distribution of the entire student body as illustrated below: TABLE 2. Classification Summary Class Sample % Student Body % Freshmen 21.0% 21.5% Sophomore 23.5% 20.9% Junior 30.3% 24.6% Senior 25.2% 32.9% TOTAL 100.0% 100.0% A possible explanation for the lower than expected senior level result may be due to their pending graduation which lessens the time left to devote to athletic participation. Concerning sport participation, the survey results do not reveal sufficient interest in any particular sport to merit adding an additional intercollegiate activity. Of the sports Tarleton does not currently compete in at the intercollegiate level, soccer and indoor track/field recorded the highest levels of interest with four respondents for each. In conclusion, Tarleton appears to be meeting the needs of the current student body in terms of providing intercollegiate sport activities. It is recommended the survey be repeated every four years to determine if sufficient interest exists for the addition of new intercollegiate sports. 4

8 A P P E N D I X A Survey Results A.1

9 Survey: TARLETON STATE UNIVERSITY Assessment of Students' Athletic Interest and Abilities Author: Brad Chilton Filter: Responses Received: 119 A.2

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14 For the sports that you choose on the next screen, you will be asked to provide information about your athletic experience, current participation, interests in future participation and abilities. The format in which the information is to be entered is: Experience: At what level did you participate in this sport in high school? Responses from which you may choose are "Recreational"," Intramural"," "Club", "Junior Varsity" and "Varsity." Current Participation: At what level are you participating in this sport at Tarleton? Responses from which you may choose are "Recreational"," "Intramural", "Club", and "Varsity." Interest in Future Participation: At what level do you wish to participate in this sport at Tarleton? Responses from which you may choose are "Recreational", "Intramural", "Club', and "Varsity." Ability: Do you believe that you have the ability to participate at the level at which you indicated interest? Responses from which you may choose are "Yes, I have the ability" and "No, I would need to develop the ability." Because of the large number of sports, please click the radio button for those sports for which you wish to provide information about your athletic experience, current participation, interests in future participation, and abilities. When you have done so, click the button to proceed. You will be able to enter information only for those sports that you have selected. Before you proceed, you should be aware that participation in intercollegiate athletics imposes burdens on student-athletes, but also creates opportunities. For example, intercollegiate athletics usually requires athletes to devote 20 hours of practice each week during the season, as well as individual regimens of training during the off-season. Athletes are required to travel and occasionally miss classes. On the other hand, many intercollegiate athletes receive financial wards that cover all or a portion of school expenses. They are also given access to academic support services, including tutoring, counseling and study tables, that are not available to other students. Of course, how these burdens and opportunities balance against on another is a matter of personal circumstances and judgment. For the sports that you choose on the next screen, you will be asked to provide information about your athletic experience, current participation, interests in future participation and abilities. The format in which the information is to be entered is: Experience: At what level did you participate in this sport in high school? Responses from which you may choose are "Recreational"," Intramural"," "Club", "Junior Varsity" and "Varsity." Current Participation: At what level are you participating in this sport at Tarleton? Responses from which you may choose are "Recreational"," "Intramural", "Club", and "Varsity." Interest in Future Participation: At what level do you wish to participate in this sport at Tarleton? Responses from which you may choose are "Recreational", "Intramural", "Club', and "Varsity." Ability: Do you believe that you have the ability to participate at the level at which you indicated interest? Responses from which you may choose are "Yes, I have the ability" and "No, I would need to develop the ability." Because of the large number of sports, please click the radio button for those sports for which you wish to provide information about your athletic experience, current participation, interests in future participation, and abilities. When you have done so, click the button to proceed. You will be able to enter information only for those sports that you have selected. Before you proceed, you should be aware that participation in intercollegiate athletics imposes burdens on student-athletes, but also creates opportunities. For example, intercollegiate athletics usually requires athletes to devote 20 hours of practice each week during the season, as well as individual regimens of training during the offseason. Athletes are required to travel and occasionally miss classes. On the other hand, many intercollegiate athletes receive financial wards that cover all or a portion of school expenses. They are also given access to academic support services, including tutoring, counseling and study tables, that are not available to other students. Of course, how these burdens and opportunities balance against on another is a matter of personal circumstances and judgment. 6 I 2 Y A.7

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195 Generated: 5/23/2006 2:49:42 PM A.188

196 A P P E N D I X B Notifications B.1

197 Notification #1 April 3, 2006 From: Brad Chilton Sent: Monday, April 03, :16 PM Subject: Athletic Interest Survey We would appreciate a few minutes of your time to complete a survey of athletic interests and abilities. Results from this survey will be analyzed to determine the extent to which the athletic interests and abilities of students at Tarleton State University are being met by the current offerings of recreational, intramural, club, and intercollegiate athletics. The survey may be accessed by clicking the below link: Again, we will be most appreciative if you can complete the above survey by Monday, April 10 th. Sincerely, Brad Chilton Executive Director, Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Institutional Research Tarleton State University Box T-0505 Stephenville, TX / B.2

198 Notification #2 April 11, 2006 From: Chilton, Dr. Bradley Sent: Tuesday, April 11, :01 PM Subject: Athletic Interest Survey If you have not had a chance to respond to our previous request of April 3rd, we would appreciate a few minutes of your time to complete a survey of athletic interests and abilities. Results from this survey will be analyzed to determine the extent to which the athletic interests and abilities of students at Tarleton State University are being met by the current offerings of recreational, intramural, club, and intercollegiate athletics. The survey may be accessed by clicking the below link: Again, we will be most appreciative if you can complete the above survey by Monday, April 17 th. Sincerely, Brad Chilton Executive Director, Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Institutional Research Tarleton State University Box T-0505 Stephenville, TX / B.3

199 From: Brad Chilton Sent: Monday, April 17, :56 AM Subject: Athletic Interests Survey Notification #3 April 17, 2006 One last reminder and request if you have not had a chance to respond to the previous requests, we would appreciate a few minutes of your time to complete a survey of athletic interests and abilities. The results from the survey will be analyzed to determine the extent to which the athletic interests and abilities of students at Tarleton State University are being met by the current offerings of recreational, intramural, club, and intercollegiate athletics. The survey may be access by clicking the below link: We will accept responses to the survey through Wednesday, April 19 th. Sincerely, Brad Chilton Executive Director, Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Institutional Research Tarleton State University Box T-0505 Stephenville, TX / B.4