Athletics as Enrollment Driver: The Good, The Bad, The Reality

Panel Tip Sheet- March 13, 2017

Lora de Lacey, PhD, Senior Vice President for Student Life, Aurora University

  1. It is absolutely crucial that you hire the right athletic director, athletic leadership, and coaches. They have to be on board with the institutional strategy both in recruiting and maintaining squad sizes.
  1. Be aware of the additional workload on the Athletic Direct Report/VP. There is always something to deal with -- athlete disciplinary issues, coaches leaving in the middle of recruiting season, parents of athletes who are way over involved in their children's lives, anonymous letters of complaint sent to the president, etc.
  1. Research the sports you are considering adding to make sure they are a good fit, both culturally and budgetary. Create a business plan with start up costs, travel and recruiting costs, and potential schedules. Be aware that you will need to meet Title IX requirements, which can be challenging and expensive.

Laura A. De Veau, M.Ed., Vice President for Student Affairs, Mount Ida College

  1. Do an assessment of not only your athletic department offerings, and how additional sports will work within your conference, but also consider recruitment and impact of where your campus draws from. For instance, if you are recruiting for beach volleyball, and your institution is in Maine, that probably isn’t a good fit.
  1. Offer an 18-24 month timeline from hiring of head coach to launch of varsity program. One full year of recruiting, one year of club and recruiting, then launch varsity. A lot of colleges do not provide this timeline and rush to start a team.
  1. Really drill down and consider how many new students a sport will actually yield. My experience is this majority of first year rosters consist of existing population students and not new students.

Demond T. Hargrove, Ph.D., Associate Vice President for Student Affairs, New Jersey City University

  1. Conduct a critical cost-benefit analysis of each sport addition. Closely scrutinize the planning assumption of 80% new students to 20% existing students.
  1. Analyze all financial costs (facilities, academic/need based institutional scholarships, transportation, etc). Does the addition of a new sport (e.g., swimming) cannibalize revenue streams from other areas (e.g., aquatics program)?
  1. Closely consider the impact on Title IX Accommodation of Interests and Abilities compliance.
  1. The right coaching staff is critical to the success of the program.