Importance of Sports Facilities at University Of Glamorgan in Recruiting and Retaining Students

By

ABSTRACT

Most university level courses already offer some on-line pedagogy. Universities of the future are likely to be primarily internet-based without the physical surroundings as we know them today. Globalization has changed the scope of student recruitment in higher education. The pool for prospective students is now raised to a worldwide level and, correspondingly, competitors for this market have increased substantially. Similarly, the scope of student-athlete recruitment at universities has changed. The best prospective student-athletes do not automatically choose to attend the top state school any longer. College coaches recruit on the national level and even on international level to assemble a competitive team. Thus, targeted marketing efforts aimed at understanding the needs and wants of student-athletes becomes increasingly important. The purpose of this study is to analyse the marketing strategies by higher education institutions to attract and recruit students in their campus, understand the concept of sports recruitment at college and university level and study various factors that influences the decisions of college choice for graduated students.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACTii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Background of the Study1

Research Objectives2

Significance of the Study2

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW4

Student-Athlete Recruitment4

The Recruiting Process6

College Choice8

Academics11

Academic needs11

Academic ability12

Athletics12

Religion13

Peers and high school counsellors13

Extracurricular activities14

Institutional-specific characteristics14

Other factors15

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY17

Research Design17

Research Objectives18

Survey19

Sample19

Data analysis20

Position of the Researcher20

Reliability and Dependability21

Validity21

REFERENCES22

APPENDIX24

Appendix A: Consent form24

Appendix B: Questionnaire Survey25

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Marketing is evolving into a vital tool in higher education in response to dramatic shifts in technology, financial need, public resources, and student demographics. Various technological and social changes are eroding the monopoly that universities once had over intellectual resources and privileges (Absher & Crawford 1996, 59). Universities of the future are likely to be primarily internet-based without the physical surroundings as we know them today. Survival in today's world requires constant change. Currently, marketing within most university settings remains an unfocused activity reflecting an inexperienced perspective of the environmental forces facing higher education. Technological, social, and economic changes on the horizon are necessitating centralized institutional leadership and coordinated, customer-oriented marketing systems. Integrated marketing strategies must be implemented for any program or concept for which the university wants to achieve greater visibility, including intercollegiate athletics and the recruitment of outstanding student-athletes (Absher & Crawford 1996, 59).

The process of being recruited at the collegiate level can be an overwhelming experience to student-athletes as well as their families. The stream of telephone calls and mailings can be extremely intimidating, especially for those student-athletes who are not fully aware of what the recruiting process of entails (Absher & Crawford 1996, 59).

A secondary school athlete becomes a prospective student-athlete when he or she first begins classes in the ninth grade. Athletes comprise just a small portion of the entire student body of a college campus so it is important to understand what factors influence the decisions of the general student body to make comparisons about the two (Absher & Crawford 1996, 59). Much of the college choice research conducted has used survey methodology, where the researchers used ...