The role of the academic advisor as a support person for student-athletes in higher education

Graduation date: 2014Despite policies implemented by the NCAA with the intention of increasing student-athlete academic success and persistence to graduation, student-athlete graduation rates still remain low, with only 65% of student-athletes receiving their college degree. Certain non- cognitive variables, including the availability of a strong support person, have been shown predict persistence to graduation in higher education for non-traditional students, including student-athletes. As the NCAA requires that academic advising services be offered to all student-athletes at Division I universities, the purpose of this thesis is to determine whether or not student-athletes in the revenue generating sports of football and men's basketball consider their academic advisor as a source of support, and if so, what are the specific behavioral characteristics of these academic advisors which students find supportive? Additionally, the current study aimed to determine whether or not a difference exists between races with regards to whether or not student-athletes view their academic advisor as a source of support. In order to address the research questions, the researcher developed and distributed a survey to 43 student-athletes on the football and men's basketball teams at a large research university in the Pacific Northwest. Survey results found that 20% of the participants in the present study viewed their academic advisor as a source of support, while 67% of participants stated that their academic advisor could potentially play the role of support person to them. While the majority of participants who selected that their academic advisor is currently a support person to them identified as White, White individuals were also the least likely to state that their academic advisor could potentially play the role of support person to them. In contrast, African American student-athletes were most likely to believe that their academic advisor could be a source of support for them. Additionally, certain behavioral characteristics associated with academic advising best practices and immediacy were associated with student-athletes viewing their academic advisor as a support person. These findings have implications for policy and practice, as academic advisors should remain available as a source of support for the student-athletes they work with due to their expertise in helping student-athletes navigate their university experience