Survey Results on Perceptions of Athletic Department

by CLEMSONews - Fri Jan 23 12:25:11 GMT-04:00 2004

CLEMSON -- Clemson University's Athletic Council has

released the findings of a survey on perceptions of the athletic department. The findings were announced by Richard Blackbourn, chairman of the Athletic Council, who said, "Such information assists the Athletic Council in recommending policy on intercollegiate athletics to the director of athletics and the president."

In the latter part of the spring semester 2001, the Campus Relations Committee of the Athletic Council, through President Jim Barker's Office, distributed a survey to students and employees of Clemson University to determine the perceptions of the athletic department by the university community.

"We were very pleased to see the results of the survey,"

said Bill D'Andrea, senior associate athletic director. "Overall, faculty, staff and students believe that the athletics program contributes positively to the university's image and is concerned about the education and welfare of student-athletes. We also see areas where we need to improve, such as doing more to promote attendance at non-revenue and women's sports."

A total of 1,904 individuals responded, with approximately

47 percent from undergraduate students, 52 percent faculty, staff and graduate students and the remaining one percent from administrators. The response rate was approximately six percent for the undergraduate students, five percent for the graduate students, 23 percent for the faculty and 18 percent for the staff.

Key findings of the survey include:

*The majority of respondents are satisfied with the manner

in which the athletic department is managed, and believe

that the university image is enhanced by athletics;

*The athletics program influences students' decisions to

attend Clemson, but has a much smaller effect on employees' decisions;

*The majority of respondents are aware of the Vickery Hall tutorial program and believe the Athletic Department is concerned about the quality of education, but they also think student-athletes are perceived to have different academic expectations;

*The most popular men's sports are football, baseball, basketball and soccer, with basketball being the more popular women's sport.

The entire survey, complete with graphics, is available on

the Athletic Council website http://www.virtual.clemson.edu/PROVOST/athletic_council/index.php