The Impact of Title IX on Career Opportunities in Intercollegiate Athletic Administration

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of Title IX on the careers of men and women working in intercollegiate athletic administration. The participants (N = 1275) for this study were women (n = 497) and men (n = 778) working in intercollegiate athletic administration at NCAA Divisions I, II, II, as well as at NAIA schools and junior colleges. The participants completed the Female Sport Manager Career Survey and provided demographic and qualitative data. The primary impacts on careers described by the women in the study were (a) increased job opportunities for women, (b) no impact, and (c) increased opportunities for participation. The men, on the other hand, indicated the greatest impacts on careers as (a) no impact, (b) discrimination against qualified men, and (c) increased job opportunities for women. More research is needed to further examine these perceived impacts and how they affect the culture of an intercollegiate athletic department

Mentoring Characteristics and Functions Important to Men and Women within Intercollegiate Athletic Administration

Female athletic administrators were asked about the role of mentoring in their careers as women while male athletic administrators were asked about the role of mentoring in their careers as men working in intercollegiate athletic administration.  The researchers gathered and compared information on mentor characteristics as well as career and psychosocial benefits of having a mentor. Participants were 518 female and 778 male athletic administrators working at NCAA Division I, II, and IIII, NAIA, NCCAA, and NJCAA schools. A three-step content-analytic procedure was used to analyze the qualitative data. Men identified being trustworthy, supportive, respected, and a good listener while women identified being supportive, hardworking, and knowledgeable as the most important mentor characteristics. Men most frequently named coaching and challenging assignments as career benefits from mentors while women named exposure/visability and coaching. Both men and women most frequently identified counseling and role modeling as psychosocial benefits from mentors

Understanding Factors that Influence Identification as an Entrepreneur: On Behavioral Misalignments and Over-Identification

Entrepreneurship research tends to take entrepreneurial status for granted and ignores the fact that “entrepreneur” is actually a more malleable social identity. This research examines the influence of a diverse set of factors and behaviors on individual’s likelihood to identify as an entrepreneur even if they bear no recognizable objective indicator of entrepreneurial action. I refer to the phenomenon of identifying as an entrepreneur without owning a business as “over-identified.” Using data from the National Longitudinal Youth Survey, which covers a period of 35 years, I test hypotheses of factors that will lead individuals to over-identify. Logistic regression reveals several factors including innovation-related activities and involvement in a family business, which significantly influence the likelihood for individuals to over-identify as entrepreneurs compared to the baseline definition. The paper makes several contributions to extant literature including advancing the cause of defining entrepreneurship and further integrating identity and entrepreneurship literature

Coaches’ Perceptions of the Reduction of Athletic Commitment for Division II Student-Athletes: Development and Validation of a Measure of Athletic/Academic Balance

Growing concerns exist regarding the amount of time student-athletes spend honing their athletic craft at the potential expense of their academic pursuits. Recently, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II Management Council approved the Life in the Balance (LITB) initiative to allow student-athletes more time for academics and other extracurricular activities beyond their sport(s). The purpose of this study was to develop a reliable and valid measurement scale assessing coaches’ perceptions of balancing athletics and academics for studentathletes. Results of this study indicated three factors comprise the Athletic Academic Balance Scale (AABS): (a) policy impact, (b) contest reductions, and (c) midyear break. The AABS represents a reliable and valid scale to measure policy effectiveness for balancing athletics and academics for student-athletes. The scale extends role theory into student-athlete literature and helps assess the perception of internal stakeholders regarding future NCAA policies

In-situ ultrasonic monitoring of zeolite A crystallization from coal fly ash

In this study, high phase purity of zeolite A was prepared from coal fly ash precursors. The molar regime of both the clear solution extract and unseparated fly ash slurry was adjusted to achieve the right composition for zeolite A crystallization. The formation process for zeolite A from coal fly ash precursors was monitored in detail using an in situ ultrasonic system and was complemented by use of ex situ techniques such as XRD, FTIR, SEM and FTIR. The findings from both the in situ ultrasonic monitoring process and ex situ techniques clearly contributed significantly in unmasking the formation process of zeolite A from coal fly ash compared to previous studies reported in the literature. The study also enriches the existing body of literature by deeply investigating the gel–solution–crystal interactions starting from this complex feedstock. Comparable ultrasonic signals were generated when both clear and unseparated fly ash based precursor solutions were used during the zeolite synthesis process.Web of Scienc

Infusing disability sport into the sport management curriculum

Disability sport is growing around the world with momentum and is described as a “movement” (Bailey, 2008; De- Pauw & Gavron, 2005). While there are more similarities than differences with sport management for able-bodied athletes and those with disabilities, there are additional needs and considerations for persons with disabilities (DePauw & Gavron, 2005). The noticeable visibility of individuals with disabilities in society, including sport, raises concerns about the degree to which sport management academic programs have modified their curricula to ensure that individuals working in the sport management field are prepared to deal with the uniqueness of disability sport. This paper (a) discusses theoretical perspectives toward understanding and thinking about disability, (b) explores ways to enhance sport management curricula through infusion of disability sport, (c) reflects upon current social practices for curriculum integration of athletes with disabilities in sport, and (d) acknowledges infusion of disability sport businesses, organizations and events

Cross-Cultural Adjustments and International Collegiate Athletes

Ridinger and Pastore (2000a) proposed a theoretical model to measure international student-athlete adjustment to college consisting of: (a) adjustment factors, (b) antecedent dimensions to those factors, and (c) outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the antecedent factors listed by Ridinger and Pastore were indeed the best indicators of successful adjustment to college for international migrant athletes and to determine if other antecedent factors were also relevant to adjustment. Multiple qualitative interviews with 13 international athletes from four NCAA Division I institutions were conducted. Data collected through those interviews supported all of the antecedent dimensions of the Ridinger and Pastore (2000a) model with the exception of the perception dimension subheading of faculty/staff. New dimension subheadings (a) sense of adventure, (b) previous international travel experience, and (c) family infuence emerged from the data and were added to a revised model of international athlete adjustment

Environmental Impacts of Biodiesel Produced from Wastewater Greases

This thesis evaluates the technical, economic, and environmental impacts of producing biofuels from greases that accumulate in wastewater systems. The research in this thesis is accomplished through performing four tasks: (1) identification of the statistical variability in wastewater grease composition and its subsequent impact on biodiesel production capacity, (2) exploration of processing methods and their performance in meeting biodiesel fuel specifications, (3) evaluation of the environmental performance of biodiesel produced from wastewater grease feedstock, and (4) analysis of economic and environmental feasibility of producing biodiesel from wastewater greases. The two wastewater greases investigated in this thesis are grease trap waste (GTW), which is collected at restaurants, and sewage scum grease (SSG), which is collected at wastewater resource recovery facilities (WRRFs). Because wastewater greases are heterogeneous, degraded, and contain large amounts of water, solids, and impurities, GTW and SSG require different chemistry and additional processing steps for biodiesel production compared to conventional biodiesel feedstocks. The composition variability and a variety of parameters including wastewater quality are assessed during a year-long longitudinal study of GTW and SSG. GTW is primarily composed of water and has low lipid content (4%); however, ambient settling of GTW produces a floating grease layer that concentrates the lipids (34%). The average lipid content SSG (21%) is comparable to the float grease in GTW; however, SSG lipid content exhibits seasonal variability that is not observed in GTW. SSG has higher lipid content in cooler months (15-40%) and lower lipid content in warmer months (3-21%). Both GTW and SSG lipids have similar free fatty acid content (75%) affects the reaction pathways used for conversion into biodiesel. Technical feasibility of biodiesel production is assessed using a variety of reactors and distillation techniques. A major hurdle to producing biodiesel is reducing sulfur content to meet fuel specifications; approximately 56% of wastewater grease biofuel samples in this project contain between 15-30 ppm sulfur, and only 23% are below the required fuel specification of 15 ppm sulfur. Sulfur contents are shown to decrease throughout biodiesel production with an overall sulfur reduction of 75-96%. This thesis presents life cycle assessment (LCA) and techno-economic analysis to determine the environmental impacts and economics of biodiesel produced from wastewater greases. A process model is used to incorporate experimental biodiesel processing results and to create an inventory of the materials and energy required for biodiesel production. Monte Carlo simulation is used to perform a sensitivity analysis utilizing the longitudinal study data for variability of composition and biodiesel plant capacities. LCA is used to compare the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) of biodiesel production to current raw grease disposal (business as usual) and a variety of solid waste disposal facilities including anaerobic digestion, incineration, and landfilling. Each solid waste scenario produces biogenic fuels that are considered to displace an equal amount of an existing petroleum fuel; this replacement of the petroleum fuel is treated as a credit (negative value). The waste solid disposal is the highest contributor to GHG emissions (20-40%, depending on lipid content). Multiple solid waste disposals facilities are also analyzed and showed that landfilling has the highest GHG, followed by incineration, and anaerobic digestion has the lowest GHG emissions. Biodiesel production from wastewater greases has the potential to lower GHG emissions by 20-75% compared to current methods of disposal of wastewater greases.Ph.D., Chemical Engineering -- Drexel University, 201