Thursday, March 21, 2013

Assessment Plans for Athletic Programs?


Athletic directors have a very difficult job. They are responsible for every sport, coach, and athlete within an athletic program. Many times they must make tough decisions regarding budgets, discipline, and hiring/firing a coach. Assuming the ‘buck stops here’, I believe that athletic directors have every right to do what he/she thinks will make the athletic program successful. If that means making every coach submit student learning outcomes (SLOs) and a formal assessment plan for their team as well as athletes, then so be it.

However, on the flip side of this issue, coaches have enough on their hands without worry about developing useless SLOs. Many coaches might resent their athletic director for making them do busy work that is simply a ‘checkmark in the box’ exercise. If I was an athletic director, I would hold my coaches accountable for their team’s production. Ultimately, the wins/losses determine the success of an athletic program.  Do the fans, alumni, and administration really care about SLOs if the team fails to produce on the field?

1 comment:

  1. Most successful coaches will have a plan laid out for their program. And most have this written out somewhere in their office. It is not that more of a hassle to write this plan out for the AD.

    ReplyDelete