Academic Advising for Student Athletes at 2-Year Institutions

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

Department

Curriculum and Instruction

Date of Award

Fall 2015

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of designated academic advising for student athletes. A total of 206 student athletes were sampled amongst four institutions in East Texas, 73% (n = 150) with an academic advisor and 27% (n = 56) without an academic advisor. Propensity score matching was conducted using Thoemmes' (2012) SPSS syntax. Covariates used to match students included gender, ethnicity, the season of the sport in which they participated (fall, spring, and crossover), and the total hours enrolled in developmental courses. From the original 206 students, 51 pairs of students were matched, equaling a total of 102 students included in the final analyses. All but five of the control students, those without a designated academic advisor, were matched. Conversely, 99 of the treatment students, those with a designated academic advisor, were not matched and were eliminated from the analyses. Descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 22.There were two dependent variables for this study, the GPA and the number of degree credit hours earned. Results of a paired sampled t test showed there was no statistically significant difference in GPA and degree credit hours between student athletes who had a designated academic advisor for athletics and those who did not. While there was no statistically significant difference in GPA and degree credit hours between the two groups, there was a small practical significance in GPAs and degree credit hours between the two groups.

Advisor

Joyce Scott

Subject Categories

Curriculum and Instruction | Education | Higher Education

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