John Gerdy offers a critical analysis of how athletic programs can contribute to the mission of a college or university in meaningful ways beyond their roles in providing revenue and entertainment. He explores the history of athletic programs and then offers a philosophical rationale for setting a new standard against which the success of college athletic programs should be measured. Rather than focusing on the level of funds generated, or on the number of championships won, this new standard offers a basis for determining how successful a college athletic program is in helping the institution meet its many challenges and educational goals.

This book demonstrates how colleges might retain threatened varsity programs and expand sports opportunities for women students if they replaced the current commercial model with one that emphasizes student participation. This would benefit the college students who play varsity sports, instead of benefiting the coaches, athletic directors, or over-generous boosters who dominate many programs. In Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education, schools have been handed a golden opportunity to bring fiscal sanity and academic integrity back to their campuses by once again making students, and not money, the focal point of athletic policies. This book demonstrates how colleges might retain threatened varsity programs and expand sports opportunities for women students if they replace the current commercial model with one that emphasizes student participation. This would benefit the college students who play varsity sports, instead of benefiting the coaches, athletic directors, or over-generous boosters who dominate many programs. Reformist tinkering has done little to solve the deep-seated problems plaguing college sports. Porto argues that replacing the enormous commercial pressures corrupting college sports with a student-oriented participation model can solve these problems. Fiscal sanity, academic integrity, personal responsibility, and gender equity in college sports are possible. Faculty members can lead a broader movement to reclaim their institutions from the college sports industry. This book shows how college sports may once again be the integral part of the educational program the NCAA advertises them to be—and that they should be.

John R. Gerdy has seen nearly every side of athletics. He is the son of a high school football coach; he was an All-American and professional basketball player and a legislative assistant for the National Collegiate Athletic Association; and he served as an associate commissioner for the Southeastern Conference. In Air Ball: American Education's Failed Experiment with Elite Athletics, Gerdy brings all of those perspectives to argue that the American system of school and community athletics is broken. But he is no mere naysayer. He offers a bold, progressive blueprint for reforming athletics to meet our country's educational and public health needs. Given higher education's historic role of providing leadership in our society, the initiative to restore a more sensible balance between athletics and education must begin with the reform of big-time college athletics. Despite widespread public skepticism regarding higher education's ability to change the system, Gerdy argues that the opportunity for reform has never been better. Using a provocative mix of research and thoughtful observation, he argues that, for the first time in the history of American higher education, the critical mass of people, organizations, and outside pressures necessary to drive and sustain progressive, systemic reform of the college athletic enterprise are in place.

Praise for The Handbook of College Athletics and Recreation Administration "The Handbook of College Athletics and Recreation Administration provides insiders' in-depth and firsthand perspectives on issues in the contemporary professional administration of intercollegiate athletics and recreation, as well as practical solutions to these issues. It is a must-read for anyone who is interested in pursuing a career in college athletics and campus recreation administration." Ming Li, professor and chair, Department of Sports Administration, College of Business, Ohio University "The Handbook of College Athletics and Recreation Administration is a useful text for undergraduate students preparing for sport management careers within postsecondary institutions. This book effectively blends historical perspectives, theoretical foundations, and practical illustrations in a relevant format that addresses key issues in intercollegiate sports and campus recreation. Of particular value is the focus on people and importance of building relationships based on integrity, trust, and mutual respect." Tom Collins, associate professor of sport management, chair of Sport Studies and Physical Education, Chowan University

Higher education and intercollegiate athletics have long had a complicated relationship. Examining the interconnection between the two and from a variety of theoretical and practical angles, this volume highlights many of the debates surrounding higher education and intercollegiate athletics and the financial dependency between these two long-standing entities. Topics include: a comprehensive history of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, an examination of the funding mechanisms utilized by intercollegiate athletic departments, an in-depth magnification of the increasing corporatization of higher education and athletics, and a look into potential future debates and lines of inquiry surrounding this topic. This is the 5th issue of the 41st volume of the Jossey-Bass series ASHE Higher Education Report. Each monograph is the definitive analysis of a tough higher education issue, based on thorough research of pertinent literature and institutional experiences. Topics are identified by a national survey. Noted practitioners and scholars are then commissioned to write the reports, with experts providing critical reviews of each manuscript before publication.

Volume 19 of Applications of Management Science focuses on the application of management science methodologies, data envelopment analysis and multi-criteria decision making.

The Business of Sports, Second Edition is a comprehensive collection of readings that focus on the multibillion-dollar sports industry and the dilemmas faced by todays sports business leaders. It contains a dynamic set of readings to provide a complete overview of major sports business issues. The Second Edition covers professional, Olympic, and collegiate sports, and highlights the major issues that impact each of these broad categories. The Second Edition continue to provide insight from a variety of stakeholders in the industry and cover the major business disciplines of management, marketing, finance, information technology, accounting, ethics and law. In addition, it features concise introductions, targeted discussion questions, and graphs and tables to convey relevant financial data and other statistics discussed. This book is designed for current and future sports business leaders as well as those interested in the inner-workings of the industry.

A collection of essays in which various authors examine the educational value of sport, challenging the long-held claims that organized sports are a beneficial and relevant aspect of America's educational enterprise.