For those familiar with the history of college sport and higher education, athletics has played a key role in admission and enrollment efforts in colleges and universities since the late 1800s to the present. In the very early days when land grant institutions like LSU and private colleges like Stanford or Notre Dame were getting established, men’s sports programs became vehicles to attract new applicants and to create name brand recognition. In describing the relationship of athletics to a college campus, Scott Barnes, then athletic director at Utah State University in 2009 offered the metaphor that “Athletics are the front porch of the university. It’s not the most important room in the house, but it is the most visible”. For small private institutions in the 21st century, athletics has increasingly become a critical consideration in enrollment planning. From a strategic perspective, some schools have added men’s sports to respond to declining interest from male applicants. Other schools have added both men’s and women’s teams as part of what is a sports enrollment strategy to build enrollment. And still others gambled on sports enrollment as a survival strategy and lost. To help us gain a better understanding of how “sports enrollment” fits within a larger enrollment strategy for small private colleges, we are joined today by Dr. Steve Dittmore. Steve is dean of the College of Education and Human Services with the University of North Florida.

Dr. Dittmore is a seasoned administrator who is a nationally recognized thought leader on issues related to intercollegiate athletic administration. His primary academic research areas include the role of athletics within higher education, Olympic and college sport policy and governance, government regulation of sport broadcasting and baseball history. He has been the assistant editor and content creator for AthleticDirectorU college athletics news platform and holds prior sport industry practitioner experience with a variety of high-profile organizations. He has authored numerous books and research articles on the industry, including a forthcoming biography Jim Gilliam: The Forgotten Dodger and his substack newsletter, Glory Days.

Host: Dr. Ellen Staurowsky

Guest: Dr. Steven Dittmore, Dean, College of Education and Human Services, University of North Florida

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