A Multi-Case Study of Intercollegiate Athletic Programs in NCAA Division II Schools: Their Relation to Institutional Strategic Goals and Policy Decisions

Abstract

Many American institutions of higher education invest a significant amount of resources in the development, administration, and operation of intercollegiate athletic programs and have offered and maintained these programs since the 19th century growing larger and more visible with the passage of time. Because of this, it is appropriate to ask why colleges offer intercollegiate athletic programs to their students. As with any other program of the institution, schools engage in intercollegiate athletic competition to further strategic institutional goals and purposes. And, as with any other defined strategic goal, an organization will attempt to put into place effective policies and procedures and will obtain and utilize the resources necessary to achieve these goals. This study seeks to provide insights into the foregoing idea of the confluence of institutional goals and institutional practices by looking at intercollegiate athletics at a specific level of competition, governance, and organization that level being Division II of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.