Professors Dissatisfied with Oversight Roles and Coaches' Salaries at Big Sports Schools

WASHINGTON — Three out of four professors at big-time sports universities believe the head football and basketball coaches at their schools are paid too much but nearly half of these faculty members think scholarship players aren't rewarded enough, a survey by the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics found.

The findings will be considered at a meeting of the Knight Commission on Monday. The commission is made up of college presidents, conference officials, former athletes and coaches and other members of the intercollegiate sports community and has pushed through reforms in major college sports.

While professorial opinions were mixed, the survey found that "faculty members do tend to agree on several key points:"

— Athletics decisions on their campus are driven by demands of the entertainment industry rather than academics.

— Financial needs of athletics get higher priority than academic needs.

— Salaries paid to head football and basketball coaches are excessive.

— Giving scholarships to students based on athletic ability is warranted and these scholarships "may not compensate them fairly for their services."

— Professors are dissatisfied with their roles in governance of athletics on campus.

— While satisfied with the academic performance of athletes in other sports, faculty members are less happy with the classroom achievements of football and basketball players.

— Faculty members think athletes on their campus are more burdened than other students with demands on their out-of-class time.

However, professors ranked intercollegiate athletics low among their priorities for faculty governance groups on campus. On a list topped with "resources for research," intercollegiate athletics ranked 12th — above only "Greek Life (e.g. initiation activities, town-gown relationships)."

The survey indicated that faculty members may not care enough about athletics on their campus to get involved in reforms.

"Although faculty members are dissatisfied with many facets of college sports, their dissatisfaction may not be strong enough to motivate action given the low priority they give intercollegiate athletics when compared to other campus issues," the report said.

The survey was designed by Janet Lawrence, an associate professor at the University of Michigan's Center for Postsecondary and Higher Education, and questioned facility members of universities in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. Formerly called Division I-A schools, they were described as "universities with the country's most visible athletic programs." The survey was sent to 13,604 faculty members at 23 institutions. Two institutions were randomly selected from each of the 11 Football Bowl Subdivision conferences and one was chosen from among universities not affiliated with any conference.

Although 3,005 responses were received, the findings were based on 2,071 surveys after others were discarded for various errors. The survey was not a random sampling but rather focused on faculty members involved with governance on their campuses. Thus there is no statistical margin of error.

"The overarching finding is: A striking number of professors say they don't know about and are disconnected from issues facing college sports," the report said. "It's all the more striking because the survey sample included faculty involved in governance or undergraduate teaching — those most likely to be informed about these issues."

Most of the faculty members — 62 percent — see intercollegiate athletics as "structurally separate" from the academic part of their university, the survey found. Half believe decisions in the athletic department are made "with minimal regard for their university's academic mission" but rather "are driven by the entertainment industry."

A majority of faculty members believe their universities put more emphasis and money toward building "state-of-the-art athletic facilities" than for academic departments. However, half concede that the success of their sports programs fosters alumni and corporate contributions to campus projects outside of athletics.

While 53 percent of the faculty members are satisfied with colleges giving scholarships based on athletic ability, 31 percent are not. Fifteen percent had no opinion. Nearly half the respondents — 45 percent — believe that scholarships are not adequate compensation for football and basketball players. The survey did not ask what additional aid — such as a flat stipend — they would add.

The findings "reveal a steep challenge ahead for those seeking greater faculty involvement in intercollegiate athletics," the report said.