Program / Threat Assessment
This assessment is deigned for three purposes. FIRST, It will help identify specific areas of your program that can be used by administrations to justify its elimination. SECOND, it will help you identify the CEO skills required of the modern coach in areas outside of the pool and help you develop a plan for a successful, fiscally sound, forward-thinking and sustainable program. THIRD, this will assist the CSCAA to mobilize resources quickly and develop a strategy to help combat your program's elimination.
Prior to beginning, it is important that you know that depending on Division, the NCAA requires as few as 4-6 sports per gender. As costs outpace budgets, departments have fewer and fewer reasons to sponsor broad-based athletic departments. If your program is not among the top four at your school it is vulnerable. This means you must do everything possible to lead your department in areas such as alumni giving, academic performance, community service, attendance, conference success, and rapport with administrators.
It may help you to assemble some materials beforehand.
- Departmental Information - Contact information for your AD, and FAR ; number of sports sponsored at your institution;
- Academic Information - APR and GSRs for your department; Roster composition and distribution of majors
- External Activities - Participation and revenue generated through community service, camps, lessons and meets.
- Alumni & Fundraising - Number of alums, number who have donated and total donations in past year.
- Athletic Performance - Conference and national finishes for both your program and others within your department
This assessment is lengthy and detailed. Each area, we have found, impacts a program's ability to survive. Your honesty is crucial so your responses will remain confidential. Any disclosure of this information will be based on answers given by all participants as a group to ensure confidentiality of individual responses.
We will provide links to several items and you can save your assessment and return to it at any time. If you have questions, please contact Greg Earhart at 262-237-0255.
