Perceptions of collegiate student-athletes' programming needs based on gender, ethnicity, and academic class

Student-athletes are often disengaged in campus programming due to their academic and athletic commitments. Previous research explored various facets of student-athlete development, particularly academic development in relation to NCAA Division I student-athletes. The purpose of this quantitative, causal-comparative study was to determine student-athletes' perceptions of their needs for on-campus programming at Lakeland College, an NCAA Division III institution. The areas of programming were based on the NCAA CHAMPS/Life Skills program commitment categories: (a) academic, (b) athletic, (c) career, (d) personal, and (e) service. This study was designed to explore student-athletes' perceptions of their needs for programming through a Student-Athlete Needs Assessment (SANA), and comparisons were made within sub-groups (gender, ethnicity, and academic class). A convenience sample of two hundred and twenty two student-athletes participated in the study. Independent samples t-tests were utilized to determine if differences exist in perceived needs within the subgroups for the five NCAA CHAMPS/Life Skills programming categories. A t-test revealed that there was a significant difference between males' ( M=2.10, SD=.54) and females' (M=1.8, SD=.49) perceptions of needs for academic programming, t (213)=4.03, p<.05. There was also a significant difference found between males' (M=2.5, SD=.63) and females' (M=2.3, SD=.62) perceptions of needs for academic programming, t(213)=2.05, p<.05. It is recommended that future researchers (a) conduct further studies representing a larger, more diverse population of NCAA Division III colleges and universities, (b) conduct a longitudinal study at the same college to provide more detailed information for campus faculty, administrators, and staff, and (c) conduct a qualitative study to describe student-athletes' perceptions of needs for on-campus programming.