The “Front Porch”: Examining the Increasing Interconnection of University and Athletic Department Funding

Abstract

The "Front Porch" 1 primary objectives: increase the exposure for our student-athletes and coaches, as well as for our world-class faculty and their research; create new revenue streams in the form of TV payouts, licensing, sponsorships, philanthropy and ticket sales; and provide long-term stability for the Texas A&M brand in a period of significant athletic conference upheaval. The SEC is widely recognized as the nation's top athletic conference, and through its extensive media partnerships with ESPN and CBS, the national exposure generated by the league is unparalleled . . . Today, because of these efforts, Texas A&M is widely recognized as one of the hottest college brands in the country. (Stephenson, 2013, para. 9)As another example, think of a major university for which you have minimal familiarity. What is the first image or phrase that comes to mind? Rock Chalk Jayhawk (University of Kansas)? Roll Tide (University of Alabama)?The blue turf at Boise State University? Mike Krzyweski (Duke University)? These are all illustrations of athletics symbols, traditions, and individuals for which major colleges and universities are known nationally and internationally. Thus, in this text, we explore the increasingly entangled relationship between the university and athletic department in this age of big-time college sports. We specifically focus on the many methods in which athletics relies on the university for funding, and in turn the ways in which the university uses these very visible athletic departments to enhance their brand and, ultimately, increase their bottom line through increased enrollment, donations, and similar strategies. The overarching goal of this monograph is to highlight the impact and consequences of the financial and cultural relationships that exist between universities and athletic departments at the NCAA Division I level. We begin with a discussion of the history of the NCAA to set the context for this discussion.

‘A Nut We Have Officially yet to Crack’: Forcing the Attention of Athletic Departments Toward Sustainability Through Shared Governance

“…In essence, the introduction of athletics as an input into the sustainable development journey of the university has had a similar effect. Furthermore, the majority opinion of sustainability office personnel suggests how athletic departments possess the potential to leverage their position as the 'front porch' of the university [17] to become the 'sustainable front porch'. As one respondent stated that "certainly how the public sees us it's really vital", and continued on to elaborate that, proportionately, " .…”

“…On one hand, the very nature of intercollegiate athletics means athletic departments embody values and work towards goals that are different from academic units [15]. On the other hand, administrators leverage athletic programs to serve as the highly visible 'front porch' of universities [17]. Such antagonistic examples depict what Orton and Weick [4] define as a loosely coupled, rather than decoupled, context.…”

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Experiences of Student-Athletes in STEM with Dual Advising

“…Student-athletes-a term used interchangeably with athletes-are a special subset of the college student population that experiences challenges stemming from the dual roles of athletes and students. Athletic programs in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I comprise the highest level of U.S. college sports in terms of allocated budgets and level of competitiveness (Bass et al, 2015). This study focuses on Division I student-athletes because they graduate with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degrees at lower rates than non-athletes (NCAA, 2020).…”

Front Porch, Small House: A Longitudinal Study of Team and University Identification Among Incoming Students at a Division III University

“…The role of intercollegiate athletics as the "front porch" for institutions of higher learning has been examined extensively at the Division I level (Bass, Schaeperkoetter, & Bunds, 2015), but far less within Division III. With upwards of 450 participating institutions, Division III represents the largest NCAA division, yet the impact of athletics at the Division III level receives less academic attention than its Division I counterpart.…”

“…The impact of this study is multi-faceted. As pressures mount on college and universities to increase both student retention and graduation rates from public officials and taxpayers alike (Bass et al, 2015;Crisp, Baker, Griffin, Lunsford, & Pifer, 2017), the need to further understand the impact of Division III athletics on these institutional goals only grows. Though anecdotal claims of college athletics acting as a promotor of attitudes towards the university may be commonplace, they lack the empirical evaluation necessary to truly gauge the impact of Division III athletics in building positive sentiment towards the larger university by campus stakeholders.…”