With more attention being paid to the behind-the-scenes management of college athletics by both the NCAA and the mainstream media, a unique award has been developed to recognize accomplishments beyond the scoreboard. The "Excellence in Athletics Cup" was presented for the first time this past fall to Pennsylvania State University by the Laboratory for the Study of Intercollegiate Athletics at Texas A&M University.
The LSIA came up with its winner by allotting points based on several factors:
• The difference in graduation rates between athletes and the entire student body.
• The graduation rates of African-American athletes compared to all African-American students on the campus.
• Gender equity, as measured by proportionality between the student body and athletes and by how financial aid to athletes is apportioned between the sexes.
• Excellence in operating efficiency, which was determined by dividing the two-year average of NACDA Cup points by the athletic operating budget.
The LSIA also determined conference winners of their unique award, which (at least for now) considers only schools in the six NCAA Division I BCS conferences. The awards were based on two years of data, from the 2002-03 and 2003-04 school years.
Lab Director Michael Sagas, Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Sport Management at Texas A&M, says the award grew out of a system the LSIA developed to give academic researchers a way to define "excellence" as they assess how factors such as administrative leadership affect outcomes in athletics. A sociologist, Sagas says the award isn't intended to reform college athletics, though he won't mind if it's used as motivation for schools to improve in certain off-the-field areas.
"If they set goals around some indicators we have, that's great," he says. "But it's more to provide a valid, real-life indicator of the performance of athletics departments."
If more funding becomes available, the rankings might be extended to all Division I schools. The next Excellence in Athletics Cup winner will be announced Aug. 1, based on data from 2003-04 and 2004-05.
For more information, see: lsia.tamu.edu.