Leveling the Playing Field: Student-Athlete Academic Support at Georgetown College

Date of Award

2022

Degree Name

Ed.D. in Educational Leadership

Department

Department of Educational Administration

Advisor/Chair

Matthew Witenstein

Abstract

The academic success of student-athletes is a hot topic on college campuses. This exploratory action research study seeks to understand the best ways to support student-athletes at a small, private college with a large student-athlete population. Utilizing the Whole Student Theory of Advising (WSToA) framework, student-athletes were surveyed and interviewed to better understand their perspective. The data indicates that student-athletes seek more support that meets their unique needs. An intervention-based model of faculty advisor training is proposed as a solution for improving the academic success of student-athletes and building interpersonal relationships between student-athletes and advisors. The scope of this solution may only apply to the institution studied; however, higher-education academic and athletic staff will find the methodology and findings useful.

Keywords

Academic Guidance Counseling, Educational Leadership, Educational Psychology, Educational Sociology, Education Policy, Education, Higher Education, Higher Education Administration, Student-athlete, Advising, NAIA, Student-athlete advising, Georgetown College

Rights Statement

Copyright © 2022, author.

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