Overview

Taking part in athletic activities is an important part of being engaged in a healthy, active Commented [KS1]: Do you need to clarify co-curricular vs.
being on a Mason athletic team?

lifestyle on campus, but students who take part in these activities are also gaining valuable

transferable skills, such as time management, leadership, organization, delegating, and

teamwork, that will be valuable to them later in their careers (Flosdorf, Carr, Wallace Carr, &

Pate, 2016; Hall, Forrester, & Borsz, 2008). Many students, however, do not realize that they are

gaining these transferable skills from while participating in co-curricular activities while they are

taking part in them; instead, they realize it much later in life when they are in their career.

Recent studies have focused on small groups of students in leadership roles within

student organizations, such as presidents of sport clubs (Flosdorf et al., 2016) and presidents and

vice-presidents of sport clubs and campus recreation student leadership committees (Hall et al.,

2008). Both Flosdorf et al. (2016) and Hall et al. (2008) collected their data through semi-

structured interviews and document reviews, while Flosdorf et al. (2016) also had weekly

journaling activities for participants. When prompted, participants in both studies were able to

identify the transferable skills they were gaining and the situations that produced them, but the

process was labor intensive for managers who are often outnumbered 100 to 1 by student leaders.

The purpose of this research will be to utilize stated learning outcomes for club sports

leaders, anticipated learning goals that a student will be able to achieve as a result of

participating in an activity (Fried, 2006), that are shared with the student leaders at the beginning Commented [KS2]: by sharing them with

of the academic year. Students will then self-assess their level of skill development twice

throughout the year to determine if the presence of the stated learning outcomes assists

participants in recognizing the skill development that is taking place through their participation.

1
Need

Participation in club sports can help students develop skills employers look for in future

employees (Robles, 2012), such as communication and teamwork skills (Flosdorf et al., 2016;

Hall et al., 2008).Determining if students realize the value of being engaged in co-curricular

learning through athletic activities will allow campus leaders to create more engaged students

who are better prepared for the workforce. Participation in club sports can help students develop

skills employers look for in future employees (Robles, 2012), such as communication and

teamwork skills (Flosdorf et al., 2016; Hall et al., 2008).

This research will be valuable to campus administrators, by demonstrating the importance

of co-curricular learning opportunities; to collegiate recreation professionals, by demonstrating

the importance of the work they do and justifying their efforts; and to students, allowing students

those who are currently involved in co-curricular athletic activities to recognize the skills they

are obtaining. It will also be important for current students who are not club sport participants, as

this research could demonstrate the benefits to them of joining a student athletic club.

Recent studies have focused solely on students in leadership roles within student

organizations, such as presidents of sport clubs (Flosdorf et al., 2016) and presidents and vice-

presidents of sport clubs and campus recreation student leadership committees (Hall et al., 2008).

Other research has identified the importance of student participation in co-curricular activities

during their academic career, including Astin’s (1999) findings that students involved in co-

curricular activities see increased personal and academic growth, as opposed to students who are

solely focused on academics, who only see academic growth. Kuh (1995) also found that Commented [KS3]: Might be clearer as 2 sentences.

students see benefit in co-curricular leadership and academic activities, which they believe will

2
assist them in finding future employment. Kuh, Astin, and other researchers on co-curricular

involvement (Foubert & Grainger, 2006; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005; Arminio et al., 2000)

have focused on student participation in a wide range of student leadership positions, including

in some student organizations, but none have focused on club sports participants as a whole.

Both Flosdorf et al. (2016) and Hall et al. (2008) collected their data through semi-

structured interviews and document reviews, while Flosdorf et al. (2016) also had weekly

journaling activities for participants, which were very labor intensive for the researchers. When

prompted, participants in both studies were able to identify the transferable skills they were

gaining and the situations that produced them. However, without the prompt of being asked to

write in a journal in order to “reflect on the current week and write about anything pertinent to

their role as president” (Flosdorf et al., 2016) or specifically asking participants to “describe in as

much detail as possible your current leadership role…(and) how, if at all, has this position

impacted your leadership skills” (Hall et al., 2008), it is not known if the students would have

identified the skills they were developing at that time.

Flosdorf et al.’s (2016) and Hall et al.’s (2008) methods were very time consuming for

the researchers. Enabling students the opportunity to identify skill development that occurs
through participation in club sports in a quick, non-labor intensive, method would permit
students to more swiftly tieconnect classroom learning to co-curricular learning, encourage
students to take part in club sports to increased their marketable skills (Ellis, Kisling, and
Commented [KS4]: See if you can reframe this. You mention it
several times, but this is not an unusual amount of data for this
kind of research. I think what you're saying is that it would be hard
to replicate in a non-research setting. If students are learning
through the process of participating in research, can they have a
similar experience in a way that is replicable. Can the reflective
experience be repeated outside of a formal research context where
it could be implemented by a typical employee working with co-
curricular activities.

Hackworth, 2014; Robles, 2012), and assist campus recreation and student involvement

administrators in demonstrating to senior administrators the importance of the programs they

offer.

3
 This significance of this work is highlighted in the research of Ellis et al. (2014) and

Robles (2012) that identified skills employers are looking for in new employees as being

teamwork, communication, self-discipline, problem solving, and conflict resolution skills. Commented [KS5]: awkward construction - can you rephrase?

Research Question and Objectives

The purpose of this study will be to determine if students recognize the value of the

transferable skills they are acquiring, while they are in the process of obtaining them, as a result

of the students being introduced to the intended learning outcomes for participating in the

activity at the beginning of the academic year.
Fried (2006) identifies learning outcomes as anticipated goals for student learning that
Commented [KS6]: I would flip this around so it follows the
order in which you will do the study - intervention and outcome.
The purpose is to determine if introducing students to the
intended learning outcomes . . .

will be achieved as a result of participation in an activity. A pre-established rubric is typically

used to evaluate progress towards the stated learning outcome (Fried, 2006).

Research conducted on the subject of student involvement in co-curricular activities has

shown that valuable student learning occurs through these activities. The research has focused on

broader groups of student populations, but the studies involved minimal numbers of participants.

Astin’s (1999) findings that a student’s most finite resource is time, and that Commented [KS7]: missing a word here - indicate? document?

administrators and faculty must find ways to get students to devote their limited resource to their

academic experience. How they use their time is important, as students who spend all of their

time on academics succeed academically, but do not develop personally or grow friendships on

campus. Commented [KS8]: this may be overstating it - was there a

comparison group of students who did not participate in co-
curricular activities? Or is it that students who participate are more
likely to develop . . .
Foubert and Grainger’s (2006) findings that students who were active student

organization members or leaders had significantly higher psychosocial development by their

4
senior year compared to peers who were not involved. Particular areas of improvement were

purpose, educational involvement, career planning, life management and cultural participation. Commented [KS9]: it is more clear here than in the previous
paragraph

Kuh (1995) had students identify out-of-classroom experiences that required them to use

leadership and organizational skills as most beneficial (such as leading student government or

organizations), followed by interacting with peers (increasing interpersonal competence,

humanitarianism and cognitive complexity) and academic-related activities (applying classroom

knowledge to real world experiences). He found that future employment opportunities will

require interpersonal skills (communication, leadership skills, teamwork) and out-of-classroom

experiences provide the opportunities to build those types of skills.

Borrego (2006) suggests that the development of these types of skills should not be

mapped solely to the academic curriculum, but to holistically map this student development

through both curricular and co-curricular efforts Commented [KS10]: unclear

Hall et al. (2008) used semi-structured interviews as a primary method of having students

in leadership positions with campus recreation departments, such as club sport leaders and

special event council members, identify how their leadership roles had potentially affected their

skill development. The researchers found seven themes that the students in leadership positions

identified as having been positively influenced, including organization and planning, time

management, communication, problem solving, and mentoring.

Data from Flosdorf et al.’s (2016) studyy’s data alligned with Kuh’s (1995) overarching

themes of “social competence, vocational competence, practical competence” and Astin’s (1999)

theme of involvement.” Social competence included examples of public speaking and

leadership; vocational competence was identified as being skills that would be beneficial in their

5
future employement, such as taking initiative and delagating; examples of practical competence

talked about time management and organizational skills; and involvement was identified through

club leaders discussing their regular involvement in club activities as a way that they gained the

afforementioned skills.

This project will look to find ways to assist students in recognizing this skill development

while it is occuring, as opposed to Kuh’s (1995) study in which students were able to

retrospectively recognize this skill development. Both Flosdorf et al. (2016) and Hall et al.

(2008) collected data from students who were club sports members, however, their methods

involved time consuming interviews and journaling activities coded by the researchers. Commented [KS11]: as above - focus on wanting to apply this
more broadly - in a context outside of a research setting

The objective is to attempt to identify a method that is less labor intensive for

administrators than the one-on-one semi-structured interviews and journaling activities used by

Flosdorf et al. (2016). With over 800 student participants in club sports at the selected site of this Commented [KS12]: See comment in email - I think you have
to make the connection between what you've learned from the
research and what you want to implement more clear.
study, it is impossible for the two club sport administrators, who also have additional

responsibilities within the department, and one part-time graduate assistant to conduct interviews

and review journaling activities. The situation at this institution is similar to that of most other Commented [KS13]: I think you can present this in another
way. During an intensive research project, researchers can do this.
There is value in this, but it can't be replicated by administrators as
campuses in the United States, with typically one or two administrators overseeing a club sports part of their regular duties.

program with anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand participants (W. Ehling, personal

communication, April 8, 2017).

Establishing a non-labor intensive way for club sports administrators to assist participants

in quickly identifying the transferable skills they are developing while participating in the club

would help more students see the value of taking part in such activities. The identification of

6
these abilities would also allow the students to market the skills they have gained to potential

employers, making these graduates of the institution more sought after. Commented [KS14]: benefit for students - able to appreciate
and articulate the skills they have learned

Method

Flosdorf et al. (2016) identified numerous skills that student club sports leaders from club

sports gain through their participation in the program. The identified skills included: time

management, decision making, delegation, and planning from Kuh’s (1995) practical

competence domain; leadership and taking initiative from Kuh’s (1995) vocational competence

domain; and public speaking, teamwork, ability to work with others from diverse/different

backgrounds, accountability, the ability to put the needs of others first, and self-confidence from

Kuh’s (1995) social competence domain. The communication and leadership skills were also

present in more than one domain.

The identified skills from Flosdorf et al. (2016) will be used in this study to create

anticipated learning outcomes for student members of club sports. Learning outcomes are

anticipated learning goals that a student will be able to achieve as a result of participating in a

course or activity that can be assessed using a rubric (Fried, 2006). Komives and Schoper (2006) Commented [KS15]: this sounds like "ability to be assessed by
a rubric" is a key definition of a learning goal.

suggest that learning outcomes can be developed for club sports and used to assess student

competence in different “practical competence” areas, such as communication and organization.

An example of this would be: As a result of participating in club sports, a student will

have a better ability to work as a team member. Seven learning outcomes will be developed; two

7
from each of Kuh’s (1995) three domains, as per Flosdorf et al.’s (2016) results, as well as one

involving leadership, which was present in all three of Kuh’s domains by Flosdorf et a. (2016).

This study will take place using students who are members of student led club sports

teams on the campus of a large, suburban university in the Mid-Atlantic region. The campus has Commented [KS16]: for a proposal, you can say Mason. It
makes it more specific, demonstrates that you can carry this out.

33 active clubs at the institution with 809 unique students participating in the program. Of those

participants, 122 students are in leadership roles (president, vice-president, treasurer, fundraising

chair, field captain, etc.).

Twice per academic year, at the start of the fall semester and the spring semester, a

required training is held for all students in leadership roles within a club. At this training for the

fall 2017 semester, which will be held the day before classes commence for the semester, the

expected learning outcomes for this group of participants will be introduced to the students by

one of the administrators responsible for club sports. The administrator will begin by defining

what a learning outcome is and then introduce the seven learning outcomes that have been

developed. The administrator will then ask the student leaders to think about these learning

outcomes throughout the academic year while they fulfill their leadership roles within their

respective clubs. Commented [KS17]: what about a survey rating themselves on

these criteria at this point and again later in the year to see if you
can measure growth in self-assessment.

Two-thirds of the way through the fall semester, the student leaders who attended the

training would be sent a brief quantitativelink via email to a questionnaire via email. The email

would contain a link to use to take an electronic questionnaire. In the questionnaire, the student

would first identify their role within the leadership of the club (president, vice-president,

treasurer, etc.) and would then be asked to self-assess how their participation in a leadership role

within club sports had impacted their skill ability for each of the seven competencies outlined in

8
the learning objectives. Participants would rate their perceived impact on an eleven-point Likert

scale where -5 would indicate a large negative impact on the identified skill as a result of

participating in a leadership role within club sports, zero would indicate no perceived impact on

the identified skill, and +5 would represent a large positive impact on the identified skill.

Students who received the link would be given 10 days within which to complete the survey and

would also be offered the opportunity to win a small prize via contest for having completed the

questionnaire.

The same questionnaire would be resent, to the participants who responded to the first

questionnaire, two-thirds of the way through the spring semester. Students who received the link

would again be given 10 days within which to complete the survey and would also be offered

another opportunity to win a small prize via contest for having completed the questionnaire.

Following the close of the second questionnaire, the data from both questionnaires would

be analyzed to assess if the students saw a self-perceived increase or decrease in competency in

each of the seven domains as a collective group. The data would be analyzed separately for each

survey to determine if the students perceived their skill development grew throughout the

semester. The data would also be analyzed for each of the different sub-groupings of student

leaders, with the hypothesis that certain leadership positions, such as president, would lead to

greater increases in skill development than others. Data analysis would take place using

Microsoft Excel and SPSS. Data analysis and reporting should be completed within three months

of the close of the second questionnaire.
Some limitations of this study would be that only students in leadership roles would be
Commented [KS18]: I think the goal of developing a
tool/process that can be used easily is very good. For *your*
research on this, though, I think follow up reflections or interviews
at the end of the process will offer insight into student experiences
being part of the study. It would allow you to refine the tool, for
example, that could then be applied every year.

introduced to the learning outcomes and the self-assessment. This is due to the logistical

9
challenge of having all 800+ club sports participants at the institution attend a training to be

shown the learning outcomes. A second limitation would be that the student leaders all attend the

same institution. However, if the results of this study do in fact show an increase in self-

perceived skill development for this large group, the study could be replicated at the same

institution with all participants in the club sports program by virtually introducing the students to

the learning outcomes via an emailed video. The study could also be replicated on another Commented [KS19]: I was thinking about that, too.

campus with student leaders to test its validity with another group of participants.

Dissemination

This research will be disseminated to student services professionals, primarily campus

recreation and student organization professionals, through published journals for the fields. The

primary choice for publication would be in the Recreational Sports Journal, the journal of

collegiate recreation professionals. A secondary journal choice would be the Journal of Student

Affairs Research and Practice, which is published by NASPA- Student Affairs Professionals.

The data collected will also be used for a presentation proposal for the NIRSA (the

professional organization for leaders in collegiate recreation) Annual Conference in the spring of

2019. This conference garners the most attention of club sport professionals on an annual basis.

Knowing a minimally labor intensive method to assist student leaders in club sports to identify

the transferable skills that they are learning through their involvement in club leadership would

allow club sport professionals to use the same technique of developing learning outcomes,

communicating them to student leaders at the start of the academic year, and then using brief

questionnaires throughout the year to get students to reflect on and recognize the impact that

their involvement in club sports is having to their skill development. This would also help

10
administrators encourage students to participate in more co-curricular activities and enable the

administrators to sell the value of their programs to campus leadership. Showing the connection

between the skills students gain through participation and the skills employers look for in

candidates would also be valuable to show the importance of club sports to campus leadership.

Further research on this subject could be funded through the NIRSA Research Grant

Program to expand this project to all club sport participants, not just club leaders. Funding may

also be used for a qualitative study of this study’s participants to validate its findings.

References

Arminio, J. L., Carter, S., Jones, S. E., Kruger, K., Lucas, N., & Washington, J. (2000).
Leadership Experiences of Students of Color. NASPA Journal, 37(3), 496-510.

Astin, A. W. (1999). Student involvement: A developmental theory for higher education. Journal
of College Student Development, 40(5), 518-529.

Borrego, S. E. (2006). Mapping the Learning Environment. In R. P. Keeling, Learning

Reconsidered 2: A Practical Guide to Implementing a Campus-Wide Focus on the
Student Experience (pp. 11-16). Washington, DC: ACPA, ACUHO-I, ACUI, NACADA,
NACA, NASPA, NIRSA.

Ellis, M., Kisling, E., & Hackworth, R. G. (2014). Teaching Soft Skills Employers Need.
Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 38, 433-453.
doi:10.1080/10668926.2011.567143

Flosdorf, M. L., Carr, B. H., Wallace Carr, J., & Pate, J. R. (2016). An Exploration of the Sport
Club President's Experience. Recreational Sports Journal, 40(2), 106-119.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1123/rsj.2016-0007

Foubert, J. D., & Grainger, L. U. (2006). Effects of Involvement in Clubs and Organizations on
the Psychosocial Development of First-Year and Senior College Students. NASPA
Journal, 43(1), 166-182.

Fried, J. (2006). Rethinking Learning. In R. P. Keeling, Learning Reconsidered 2: Implementing

a Campus-Wide Focus On the Student Experience (pp. 3-9). Washington, DC: ACPA,
ACUHO-I, ACUI, NACADA, NACA, NASPA, NIRSA.

11
Komives, S. R., & Schoper, S. (2006). Developing Learning Outcomes. In R. P. Keeling,
Learing Reconsidered 2: A Practical Guide to Implementing a Campus-Wide Focus on
the Student Experience (pp. 17-41). Washington, DC: ACPA, ACUHO-I, ACUI,
NACADA, NACA, NASPA, NIRSA.

Kuh, G. D. (1995). The other curriculum: Out-of-class experiences associated with student
learning and personal development. The Journal of Higher Education, 66(2), 123-155.

Pascarella, E. T., & Terenzini, P. T. (2005). How college affects students: A third decade of
research. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Robles, M. M. (2012). Executive Perceptions of the Top 10 Soft Skills Needed in Today's
Workplace. Business Communication Quarterly, 75(4), 453-465.
doi:10.1177/1080569912460400

Ryan Bradshaw
505 E. Braddock Rd, Unit 601, Alexandria, VA, 22314 Phone: 571-620-8928 Email: rbradsh@gmail.com

Education
George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia
January 2014 – Present
 Candidate for PhD in Education, specialization in
Higher Education Administration
 33 credit hours completed with 3.94/4.0 GPA
 Anticipated graduation 2018
Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Carbondale, Illinois
August 2008 – May 2010
 Masters of Science of Education, specialization in
Sport Management Commented [KS20]: I would put each of these on its own line.
 Graduated May 2010 with 3.7/4.0 GPA Having 2 side by side and one below is confusing; doesn't highlight
quickly what degrees you have.

King’s University College at the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario

September 2003 – June 2008
 Major in Managerial and Organizational Studies (Business), specialization in Finance and Administration
 Participated in King’s China Exchange Study Abroad program between Dongbei University and King’s
 Graduated June 2008

Relevant Experience
George Mason University Recreation, Fairfax, Virginia September 2013 – Present
Director, Club Sports & Assessment Commented [KS21]: for an academic CV, you may be able to
 Supervised, trained, motivated, approved payroll for, and evaluated Club Sports Coordinator, seven paid shorten this to the major highlights with fewer details.
coaches, 40 volunteer coaches, one graduate assistant, and two student program assistants
 Managed Club Sports budget of over $600,000 ($320,000+ of University funding)
 Led leadership team in creation of annual department goals, departmental 5-year goals, and Key
Performance Indicators (KPIs)
 Worked with and guided area staff to create and track goals and KPIs for each of the department’s areas
 Tracked progress towards goal achievement throughout year using TK20 assessment software
 Assisted in preparation of departmental annual report and presentation of key information

12
  Developed, in conjunction with staff from each area, quantitative and qualitative assessment instruments
to evaluate department operations – 51 surveys were developed, administered, and evaluated in FY2016
 Worked with divisional Director of Assessment to evaluate demographic information of facility and
program users, based on card swipe information collected through CLASS
 Interpreted collected quantitative and qualitative data and met with area staff to assist them properly
implement operational changes based on the collected data
 Developed and conducted large annual trainings for up 110 students and smaller monthly club officers
training sessions – topics included budget management, leadership skills, conflict resolution, and hazing
 Established online training modules for Club Sports participants and officers. Created content, recorded,
and edited over 90 minutes of training videos paired with quizzes, administered through Blackboard
 Instructed and guided clubs in hosting home games, tournaments, and events, including managing facility
space, spectators, equipment, risk management, and parking. Clubs hosted 69 home events in FY2016

Mount Royal University, Calgary, Alberta September 2011 – April 2013

Lecturer, Department of Physical Education and Recreation Studies
 Courses instructed include ‘Sport & Recreation Tourism’, ‘Leadership & Communication’, and ‘ Commercial Recreation’
 Prepared 3 hours of lecture material per week consisting of assigned textbook readings, journal articles, audio-visual
material, guest speakers and group activities
 Developed assignments and examinations for courses to focus on industry relevant topics

Mount Royal University Recreation, Calgary, Alberta July 2010 – August 2013
Assistant Director of Intramural & Club Sports (July 2011– August 2013)
 Managed Intramural Department budget of over $240,000 and Clubs budgets of over $45,000, including
over $120,000 in self-generated revenue. Was under budget each year, including $22,000 under budget in
FY2012
 Served as an adjudication committee member on non-academic misconduct hearings with the Office of
Student Conduct
 Worked closely with Assistant Director of Marketing to create semesterly promotional campaigns for
Intramurals and Clubs.
 Member of Teambuilding and Employee Development (TED4REC) Committee – assisted in organization,
planning and implementation of semesterly training evenings for all 160+ Recreation staff members
 Department representative on Mount Royal University Assessment Seminar along with 40 other
department representatives. Analyzed qualitative data from students to identify current trends and issues
that matter to MRU students
 Maintained and reported statistics on Intramural and Club participation using IMLeagues and CLASS
 Aided in departmental implementation of NIRSA/NASPA Campus Recreation Impact Benchmark survey –
completed by over 3,200 students
 Applied for and received over $9,000 of grant funding for student staff wages from state government

Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Carbondale, Illinois August 2008 – May 2010
Intramural Sports & Sport Clubs Graduate Assistant
 Coordinated painting of outdoor fields used by Intramural Sports and Sport Clubs with staff of 5 student
workers and one full‐time employee
 Organized 114 team basketball league and 82 team flag football league, scheduled games, answered
participant’s questions, and disciplined participants with unacceptable behavior
 Facilitated training sessions for up to 60 student officials, including supervising student‐instructors

Conferences & Events Attended

13
  31 Recreation and Student Affairs related conferences attended since 2006, including NIRSA Annual
Conference, ACPA Conference, NASPA Conference, ACPA Conference, and ASHE Conference Commented [KS22]: Is this typical in your field? I generally see
presentations, not conference attendance listed. This could be
indicated by a section on "Affliiations" or "Membership".
Recent Selected Presentations
 2017 ACPA Annual Conference, Columbus, OH, Co-presenter, “Educators Acculturating to Serve Students” Commented [KS23]: Check for models in your field. I would
 2017 NIRSA Annual Conference, National Harbor, MD, Lead presenter, “Engaging the Unengaged: Learning the typically put role (e.g., presenter), title, conference, location, and
year.
barriers preventing non-users from utilizing Campus Recreation facilities, programs, and services”
 2017 NIRSA Annual Conference, National Harbor, MD, Co-presenter, “Athletic Training in Campus Recreation:
Contracted vs. In-house Services”
 2015 NIRSA Club Sports Institute, Minneapolis, MN, Presenter, “The Legal Implications of Hazing: What Legal
Responsibilities Does an Administrator Have?”
 2014 NIRSA Annual Conference, Nashville, TN, Co-presenter, “Empower your students, then hang on!”

Recent Committee Involvement Commented [KS24]: Sometimes called service. This indicates
your professional involvement if you want to get rid of attendance
 2017 & 2018 NIRSA Annual Conference Program Committee member line above.
 2016 NIRSA Professional Core Competency Development Work Team member
 2016-17 NIRSA Club Sports Institute Planning Committee Consultant (Past-chair)
 2015-16 NIRSA Career Opportunity Center Consultant (Past-chair)
 2014-15 NIRSA Club Sports Institute Planning Committee Chair
 2014-15 NIRSA Career Opportunity Center Chair
 2014-15 NIRSA Annual Conference Program Committee member
Annotated Bibliography

Zacherman, A., & Foubert, J. (2014). The Relationship Between Engagement in

Cocurricular Activities and Academic Performance: Exploring Gender
Differences. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 157-169.

The authors of this study recognized that previous research showed that students who were
involved in campus activities outside of the classroom performed better academically than
students who did not, however, there was limited research on the effects of over-involvement.
The researchers also noted that previous studies had shown the curvilinear affect employment
while in school had on the student’s GPA, with a positive increase in GPA for students working
up to 15 hours per week, but a decrease in GPA for students working over 30 hours per week.
Zacherman & Fourbert used a random sample of 20% of respondents to the 2006 National
Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) in an attempt to see if: 1) successively higher numbers of
hours per week involved in cocurricular activities have a significant relationship with
undergraduate GPA, and 2) if men and differ in the pattern of their relationship between
involvement and GPA. They found that students who participated in 1-5 hours of cocurricular
activities had an increased GPA of approximately 0.1/4.0, but that the relationship was
curvilinear and that involvement of more than approximately 20 hours per week was more
detrimental than no involvement at all. Zacherman & Foubert also found that both male and
female students saw similar increases from 0-5 hours of involvement, but that over involvement
had a more drastic negative affect on male students than female. A major limitation of this study
is that GPA was based on student’s responses to the NSSE survey question “What have most of

14
your grades been at this institution up till now?”, which is vague and self-reported, meaning that
students may have mis-reported their GPA.

Bringle, R. G., & Hatcher, J. A. (1996). Implementing Service Learning in Higher

Education. The Journal of Higher Education, 67(2), 221-239.

The authors of this study would like to see a reemphasis on “the dignity to the scholarship of
service” by institutions of higher education, noting that universities have great resources, in
students, faculty, and facilities, that can help enhance learning and improve the communities
around the institutions. They feel that service based learning can take place as curricular and
extracurricular community service activities, which they identify as student organizations,
student leadership groups and campus religious organizations. They note the benefits of
experiential learning and the fact that students can develop skills through their service activities
outside of the classroom. Bringle & Hatcher continue on to propose a Comprehensive Action
Plan on Service Learning in which an entire institution would make a commitment to become
involved in service learning, including the administration, faculty and students. As a way of
recognizing student involvement in activities, they recommend either creating service learning
academic courses, or implementing co-curricular transcripts to record the experiences that would
not be shown on a traditional academic transcript. They also suggest that additional research
should be done on what other student outcomes may come from service experiences.

Astin, A. (1984). Student involvement: A developmental theory for higher

education. Journal of College Student Personnel, 25(5), 297-308.

Astin defines student involvement as “the amount of physical and psychological energy that a
student devotes to the academic experience”, and includes time spent studying, interacting with
faculty and participating in student organizations as examples of this involvement. The author
contends that faculty members should not treat a student as a black box with inputs and outputs,
but to stimulate student involvement in the learning process to increase the energy they expend.
The most finite resource students have is time, therefore, administrators and faculty must find
ways to get students to devote their limited resource to their academic experience. How they use
their time is important, as students who spend all of their time on academics succeed
academically, but do not develop personally or grow friendships on campus. Astin concludes that
the more effort and time students allocate to the university experience, the greater their learning
and student development, and that administrators and faculty should create an environment that
fosters both academic and extracurricular involvement in campus life.

Kuh, G. D., Cruce, T. M., Shoup, R., Kinzie, J., & Gonyea, R. M. (2008). Unmasking the
effects of student engagement on first-year college grades and persistence. The Journal of
Higher Education, 79(5), 540-563.

The authors of this study used student engagement as a key component of determining first-year
student’s grades and whether or not they continued to their sophomore year. Student engagement
was measured through results taken from students who responded to questions in the NSSE
survey from 18 different institutions and included time spent studying and time spent
participating in co-curricular activities. Kuh et al. found that student engagement in educationally
purposeful campus activities had a net effect of raising a student’s GPA by 0.04/4.0. They also

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found that engagement had a more positive effect on raising GPAs of students who entered
college with lower standardized test scores and had a higher effect on raising GPAs of Hispanic
students. The authors also found that students engaged in educationally purposeful activities
were more likely to persist to their second year of studies at that institution.

Tieu, T.-T., Pancer, S. M., Pratt, M. W., Gallander Wintre, M., Birnie-Lefcovitch, S.,
Polivy, J., & Adams, G. (2010). Helping out or hanging out: the features of involvement
and how it relates to university adjustment. Higher Education, 60(3), 343-355.

The authors believed that the quality and structure of student’s extra-curricular activity, which
meant that the activity was well organized and had established learning outcomes, is more
significant to student adjustment to campus life and skill development than participating in
unstructured activities. The authors developed an instrument, the Activity Structure Instrument
(ASI) to measure the amount of structure in student activities and hypothesized that student
participation in more structured activities would increase the effectiveness of the transition from
high school to university. The researchers surveyed a group of students at 5 different Canadian
universities in November and March. They found that students who participated in more
structured extra-curricular activities, such as Residence Council or Athletic competitions, were
better able to adjust to university life than students who participated in loosely structured extra-
curricular activities, such as going out dancing and working out in the gym. It was theorised that
students in high quality extra-curricular activities found as much importance in those activities as
they did from classroom activities.

Kretovics, M. A., & McCambridge, J. A. (1998). Determining what employers really want:
Conducting regional stakeholder focus groups. Journal of Career Planning & Employment,
58(2), 25-28.

The authors of this study met with employers from manufacturing companies, service-sector
companies, small businesses and large metropolitan area businesses. Through 90 minute
interview sessions, they determined the most important skill employers were looking for are first
off hard technical skills in the chosen field, as shown by coursework or work experience. After
that, employers look for communication skills, teamwork skills, coachability skills, leadership
skills, sales skills, problem-solving skills, organization skills, crisis management skills, and
presentation skills. Employers are also looking for candidates with personality attributes that
show that they are responsible, self-starters, flexible/adaptable, imaginative, change agents,
lifelong learners, motivators, self-confident, street smart and quick thinkers. The authors
conclude that GPA is important, but not the sole factor employers look at when hiring. They also
recommended that campus involvement in student organizations is viewed by employers as “an
indicator of a student’s ability to manage multiple priorities successfully”.

Velasco, M. S. (2012). More than just good grades: candidates' perceptions about the skills
and attributes employers seek in new graduates. Journal of Business Economics and
Management, 13(3), 499-517.

The author of this study surveyed recent graduates in Spain and asked them what skills they
believed their first employer after graduation was looking for in them. The respondents self-
reported that the skills/attributes their employers sought included enthusiasm/hard-working,

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positive personality, interpersonal abilities/teamwork, work ethic/integrity, and
computer/technical literacy. Good academic qualifications and knowledge of own field were
ranked 6th and 7th, respectively. Velasco identified that these results were similar to results found
in surveys of employers on the same subject.

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