El Buen Vivir – Sumak Kawsay

The student athletes in this study consistently chose athletic related criteria over academic and institutional related criteria. Criteria such as winning championships, athletic facilities, and the sports program's reputation were cited with great frequency, and ranked high. This shows that the nature of big time college athletics attracts a different sort of student. While they may be student athletes, they tend to see themselves as athletes first.

Comfort with other players was also mentioned in the top five criteria. This seems to show that these student athletes want to be around others who understand what being part of an athletic program is all about.

Recommendations to the Field

1 . The findings of this study could be adapted to current recruiting methods at the University of Tennessee. The findings of this study show what criteria student athletes used when making their college choice decision. Athletic departments should take notice of what criteria current student athletes used when making their college choice decision and use this information to their advantage in recruiting prospective student athletes. Understanding what a prospective athletic recruit deems important would allow the university's athletic teams to adjust their recruiting efforts to meet the needs and desires of those prospective recruits. This would also allow for a more personalized approach to the recruiting process. Although caution should be exercised in generalizing the findings of this study in light of the results coming from only one institution, individuals

responsible for the recruitment of intercollegiate student-athletes should begin to gain a better understanding of the relationship between athletic and non-athletic factors in the college choice process. With scholarship numbers now being tied to graduation rates, athletic departments should attempt to mesh the needs and wants of potential student athletes with an environment that will allow the student athlete to succeed both in athletics and academics.

2. Recruiting strategies need to be tailored to meet the needs of female student

athletes. The results from this study generally suggest that those factors that matter most to male athletes also matter greatly to female athletes. While there are some subtle differences, this would seem to indicate that the recruitment of female student athletes could be similar in scope to that of male student athletes. This would mostly be the case

with non-revenue producing sports such as golf, tennis, and swimming. If athletic departments could streamline the recruiting process, this would not only save money but also meet the needs of prospective student athletes. Title IX has dramatically changed the number of women in college athletics, as well as what sports are offered, and the

recruitment of female athletes is undergoing an incredible transition. Recruiting strategies need to follow suit.

Recommendations for Future Research

The following recommendations for further inquiry are suggested:

1 . Since this study was conducted at only one institution, it is suggested that a study of this nature be conducted at other institutions. It would be beneficial to know if the results of this study reflect the beliefs of student athletes at other institutions. The research could be performed at other Southeastern Conference universities, as well as other NCAA division 1-A institutions. The research could also be carried out at division

1-AA, division 3, and NAIA levels. It would be interesting to know if the criteria student athletes at the University of Tennessee used in their college choice decision was similar to student athletes at other institutions.

2. This study could be expanded to give the results of student athletes in dual groups (i.e. race/gender, race/sport played, race/socio-economic level, race/scholarship level, etc), or multiple sub-groups (race/gender/sport played, race/gender/sport

played/scholarship level, etc). This study only reflected the results of student athletes at the University of Tennessee in general, and the results of sub-groups of those student

athletes. It would be important to know the interaction of those sub-groups of student athletes. Though this study gave one example of multiple groups (football/race,

scholarship level, socioeconomic level), the lack of participants in other groups made it impractical to expand. It would be important to find out if, and how, the results change when using more than two categories of student athletes.

3. A case study approach could be added to the research to give an answer to the "why" question. For example, conducting interviews with a sample of the same

population might explain why student athletes consistently ranked various relationships

with others (high school coach, guidance counselor, and friends) as some of their lowest

criteria. Information about what was seen and explained to the student athletes during their campus visits would also give a clearer understanding of what the student athletes

were aware of when making their college choice decision.

4. Other subgroups of student athletes could be added to the research. It would be important to know if in-state student athletes respond similarly to out-of-state student athletes. If the groups respond differently, recruiting strategies need to be adjusted. Transfer and junior college student athlete responses could also be added to the research. The findings for these groups of student athletes would be important to know due to the fact that they had already taken part in the recruiting process. A comparison of the criteria used when selecting the University of Tennessee versus their previous institution could give a better understanding as to the influence of time and maturity on the college selection process.

5. It is suggested that this study be con�ucted with high school student athletes who are going through the recruiting process. It would be important to know what.criteria student athletes use while making their college choice decision. Since this study was done after the student athletes enrolled, it would interesting to know if the criteria looked for matched the criteria actually used.