Committee Chair

Rausch, David W.

Committee Member

Crawford, Elizabeth K.; Silver, Christopher F.; Deal, Charles T.

Department

School of Professional Studies

College

College of Health, Education, and Professional Studies

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

Intercollegiate athletics and fundraising expectations, at institutions of higher education, continue to increase and the pressure on athletic fundraisers has never been greater. There has been little study on the effects of organization structure and design and its effect on fundraisers that work to raise funds for the athletic department. This study sought to explore the factors that contribute to athletic fundraising organization structure at NCAA Division I institutions. Using a survey and a semi-structured qualitative interview, with NCAA Division I head athletic fundraisers, research questions were crafted to gain a deeper understanding of the factors that contribute to organization structure. The researcher found that most athletic fundraising organizations in this study are organized in a hybrid organizational structure, are typically smaller than three employees, and are organized with the athletic director being the most influential leader in the organization design. As this paper was exploratory in nature, there are significant opportunities for additional research including a deeper understanding of the relationship between the university president, the athletic director, and the leader of university fundraising.

Acknowledgments

I’d like to thank my committee members for their support over the years for me to complete this dissertation. Dr. Rausch and Dr. Crawford, I want to thank you both for the guidance and mentoring over the years, as I learned a great deal from you two on Saturday mornings during my coursework. Specifically, I have to thank Dr. Silver who continued to help me even when it looked like I wouldn’t finish. In addition, I need to thank Dr. Bryan Rowland, who continued to push me to complete this degree when I was ready to quit. I also have to thank Dr. Chelladurai, who pulled me aside in an organizational design class and saw something in me as a graduate student at Ohio State and pushed me to enroll in a doctoral degree. Without him, I wouldn’t have pursued a degree over all these years. I also have to thank Jodi for her steadfast support as I worked to complete this degree. I am glad to be joining her as Dr. Whitted.

Degree

Ed. D.; A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Education.

Date

8-2023

Subject

Fund raising--Education (Higher)--Sports--United States; College sports--Economic aspects--United States

Keyword

organizational studies; intercollegiate athletics; organizational behavior;

Document Type

Doctoral dissertations

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

xi, 142 leaves

Language

English

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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