The Role of Student Affairs Professionals within Intercollegiate Athletics Administration

This paper explores the connection between student affairs practice and the administration of intercollegiate athletics. Student-athletes are a special population of students with unique developmental needs. As experts in student development, student affairs professionals can provide an invaluable service to student-athletes as advocates of learning and personal development. By examining the founding documents of the student affairs profession and the principles of good practice in student affairs, recommendations are made for the integration of student affairs professionals into university athletics departments