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College Student-Athletes

Challenges, Opportunities, and Policy Implications

Edited by:
Daniel B. Kissinger, University of Arkansas
Michael T. Miller, University of Arkansas

A volume in the series: Educational Policy in the 21st Century: Opportunities, Challenges and Solutions. Editor(s): Bruce Anthony Jones, University of Houston.

Published 2009

This volume is a critical and objective study of the contemporary college student athlete. Framed around the process of recruitment, transition, and support of student athletes in higher education, the volume is a response to societal pressures to reform college athletics. Driven by publicity and the potential for revenue gains, colleges and universities have invested heavily in developing athletic programs, coaches, and facilities. Yet few resources are invested strategically in the personal and intellectual development of student athletes.

Written by a team of authors with first-hand experience working with student athletes and transitional programs, the volume argues that institutional attention must be directed at caring for the personal and intellectual growth of student athletes. Highlighting some best-practice curricula and exploring the psychological issues surrounding participating in often highly-competitive athletics, the authors consistently conclude that institutional responsibility is of the utmost and immediate importance.

Authors also consider the unique settings of student athletes in community and private liberal arts colleges, demonstrating the broad interest in athletics and institutional competition. The result is an important volume that will be of interest to those who counsel and administer intercollegiate athletic programs, faculty and researchers looking for insightful baseline data on the contemporary student athlete, and those concerned with transitional programs
and the future of higher education.

CONTENTS
Series Editor’s Introduction: College Student-Athlete: Challenges, Opportunities, and Policy Implications. Foreword, Gary M. Miller. The Contemporary College Student Athlete as a Subpopulation, Daniel B. Kissinger and Michael T. Miller. College Student-Athletes: Tracing Historical Research Trends in Higher Education, Darla J. Twale and Karen Abney Korn. PART I: ENTERING THE COLLEGE ENVIRONMENT. Recruitment, Admission, and Retention of First-Year Student-Athletes, Victoria L. Sanders and Henry A. Gardner. The Recruiting Process: The Experiences of Student-Athletes, Paul M. Hewitt. Helping Student-Athletes Adapt to College: The Role of an Academic Transition Course, Judy Stephen and Kristin Higgins. The Cycle of Transition for Student-Athletes to College, Gregory V. Wolcott and Debbie Gore-Mann. PART II: TYPES OF STUDENT-ATHLETES AND THEIR IDENTITIES. Promoting Student-Athlete Mental Health: The Role of Campus Counseling Services, Daniel B. Kissinger and Joshua C. Watson. Athletics in Community Colleges: A Primer, V. Barbara Bush, Cindy Castañeda, Stephen G. Katsinas, and David E. Hardy. Private College Student-Athletes: The World of D3 and NAIA, Adam Morris. Female Student-Athletes: Counseling Considerations for a Unique Culture, Richard G. Deaner and Adrian Janit. Body Image and Female Student-Athletes, Jennifer M. Miles. International Student-Athletes, Daniel B. Kissinger. PART III: CHALLENGES WHILE ENROLLED. College Athletes and Performance-Enhancing Substance Use, Richard E. Newman. Involvement in Learning and Athletic Participation, Ashley Tull. PART IV: INSTITUTIONAL DIMENSIONS TO STUDENT ATHLETES. Accountability to Athletics Stakeholders, Kenneth Borland, Richard D. Howard, Calli Theisen Sanders, and Thomas Gioglio. Policy Implications of College Student-Athletes: More than Campus Discussion, Michael T. Miller and Daniel P. Nadler.

REVIEWS
"Working in concert, all of the authors did a phenomenal job of inclusively examining issues affecting student athletes such as recruitment and retention, physical and mental health, and academic concerns. Moreover, the volume also looks at student athletes in specific contexts by discussing the environmental differences that accompany holding this status at community colleges and private institutions, and as women and international students." Khalilah Doss Southern Illinois University in Education Review (Read full review)

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