Student Services Role in Leadership and Career Development in Collegiate Athletics

Before taking on the discussion of student services role in athletes quality of life after their collegiate playing careers are over, I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself and how this topic relates to me. My name is Ben Morse and I am a graduate student in the Applied Human Development program at Boston University with a concentration in Coaching. I also work as an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at Boston University. The problem I am writing about today is regarding the quality of life of the student athlete after they are done being a student athlete at a collegiate institution. I have been around many an athlete (mostly at other schools) who have lived their life in an environment where every meal is planned out and prepared, they have a schedule made for them each day, and there is often a coach who helps them in just about everything they do on the field and off. Needless to say at many major sports programs athletes exist in a society where they lack autonomy and life skills that may be necessary to have an adequate quality of life, especially after their playing careers are over.

Based on current research findings, three ways to help improve collegiate athlete’s quality of life after sport include providing an extrinsic motivation source for transition to career beyond sport (not just to go professional), to provide a multifaceted career services department that includes personal and social aspects such as leadership development, and to have a partnership between athletics and student services to provide a holistic approach to the development of student athletes (1,2).

Generally speaking, viewing the athlete as a representative of your school as a professional and as a person can reflect better outcomes for both the student and the university. The excess of “one and done” programs that currently exist provide a high degree of pressure for major universities to emphasize how they can help an athlete go pro, rather than how the university can function in developing stronger academic and leadership qualities in athletes.

The formation of student-athlete services departments that emphasize academic, personal, social, and athletic development can work to create better leaders both on and off the field. This may be difficult with the existence of rules that allow athletes to leave after one year of playing in sports such as college basketball and may make a strong case for modifying such rules in the name of emphasizing more academic, personal, and social development during a student athlete’s time at a given institution.

Works Cited

(1) Cummins, P., & O'Boyle, I. (2014). Psychosocial factors involved in transitions from college to postcollege careers for male NCAA division-1 basketball players. Journal of Career Development, 42(1), 33-47.

(2) Carodine, K., Almond, K. F., & Gratto, K., K. (2001). College student athlete success both in and out of the classroom. New Directions for Student Services, 93(93), 19-33.