Cara Lucia
Professor of Sport Management
Department: Sport Management
Email: clucia2@elon.edu
Phone number: (336) 278-5884
Professional Expertise
Brief Biography
Dr. Lucia has over 20 years of experience in collegiate recreation and higher education. She served as President for NIRSA: Leaders in Collegiate Recreation from May 2021 to April 2022. She received her master’s degree in Recreation Administration from Central Michigan University. After receiving her master’s she worked as the Coordinator of Facilities for University Recreation before pursuing a doctoral degree. Dr. Lucia received her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies with an emphasis in Higher Education from Virginia Tech where she served as a Graduate Assistant in the Dean of Students Office and as an adjunct faculty at Radford University in the Recreation, Parks and Leisure program. Her first full-time faculty position was for the Sport and Recreation Management program at James Madison University where she taught in the undergraduate program and college student development theory for the campus recreation graduate program. She is now an Associate Professor at Elon University in Sport Management.
Links
News & Notes
Education
Doctor of Philosophy, VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE & STATE UNIVERSITY, Blacksburg, VA
Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Higher Education Administration
Dissertation: Development and Validation of the Sense of Competence Scale-Revised
Master of Arts, CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY, Mount Pleasant, MI
Recreation Administration
Research Project: A Profile of Undergraduates and Alumni Work Experience During Their Employment as an Undergraduate for Campus Recreation
Bachelor of Science, ELON UNIVERSITY, Elon, NC
Major: Sport Management
Minor: Business Administration
Employment History
Assistant Professor, Sport and Recreation Management, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA
August 2009 – July 2012
Adjunct Faculty, Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism, Radford University, Radford, VA
August 2007 – 2009
Faculty Independent Study, Higher Education Administration, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
January 2008 – April 2008
Graduate Assistant, Orientation, Dean of Students Office, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
August 2006 – May 2009
Coordinator of Facilities, University Recreation, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI
Aug 2003-2006
Courses Taught
SPT 2120 Contemporary Sport
SPT 2320 Sport Data & Research
SPT 3985 Internship in Sport Management
SPT 4270 Event & Venue Management
SPT 4970 Sport Leadership & Ethics
SPT 4999 Undergraduate Research
COE 3100 Life Entrepreneur
COR 1100 Global Experience
GBL 2450 Barbados Culture, Sport, Media
GBL 2980 Baseball & Tourism in the Dominican Republic
HNR 4980 Honors Thesis
Leadership Positions
Elon University Appointments
Faculty Fellow for Leadership Education (August 2025 - present)
Department Chair, Sport Management (June 2020 - 2024)
Faculty Fellow for Leadership Education (August 2018 - April 2020)
Seminar Leader, Center for Engaged Learning’s (CEL) 2017-2019 research seminar on Residential Learning Communities (May 2016 – 2019)
Faculty Director, Danieley Center Neighborhood, Elon University, NC (August 2014 – May 2016)
NIRSA: Leaders in Collegiate Recreation
President, NIRSA Board, 2021-2022
Program Consultant for the NIRSA Annual Conference, NIRSA, 2016 -2017
Program Chair for the NIRSA Annual Conference, NIRSA, 2015 - 2016
Program Chair – Elect for the NIRSA Annual Conference, NIRSA, 2014 – 2015
Co-convener, Leadership Commission, NIRSA, 2012 - 2015
Committee Member, Education Content Review, 2012, 2013
Faculty, NIRSA School of Collegiate Recreation, NIRSA, 2011 - 2014
Assembly Member, Assembly, NIRSA, 2010 –2012
Committee Member, Research and Assessment Committee, NIRSA, 2010-2014
Publications
EDITED BOOK
Stenta, D. & McFadden, C. (Eds.) (2015). Student leadership development through recreation and athletics. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
EDITED SPECIAL ISSUES
Lucia, C., Knee, E., & Hallmon, A. (2024). Special Issue on Justice, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Recreational Sports Journal.
Benjamin, M., Jessup-Anger, J., Lundeen, S., & Lucia, C. (2020). Residential Learning Communities. Learning Communities Research and Practice, 8(1), Article 1. Retrieved from: https://washingtoncenter.evergreen.edu/lcrpjournal/vol8/iss1/1
BOOK CHAPTERS & SUPPLEMENTS
Lucia, C. & Benjamin, M. (In press). Sport management themed living learning communities: Enhancing the academic and social development of college students. In Braunstein-Minkove, et al. Innovative pedagogical practices in sport management education. World Scientific.
Lucia, C. (2024). Campus Recreation. In P.M. Pederson (Ed.). Encyclopedia of sport management, 2nd ed. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.
Lucia, C. (2024). Sexism. In P.M. Pedersen (Ed.). Encyclopedia of sport Management, 2nd ed. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.
Lucia, C. & Molina, D. (2023). Collegiate recreation. In N. Zhang (Ed.), Rentz’s Student Affairs Practice in Higher Education, 6th ed., (pp. 443-463). Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
Lucia, C. (2021). Sexism. In P. M. Pedersen (Ed.). Encyclopedia of sport management. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.
McFadden. C. (2020). Perfect storm. In K. L. Guthrie & D. M. Jenkins (Eds.), Transforming learning: Instructional and assessment strategies for leadership education. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
McFadden, C. & Molina, D. (2016). Collegiate recreation. In N. Zhang (Ed.), Rentz’s Student Affairs Practice in Higher Education, 5th ed., (pp. 426-458). Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
McFadden, C. & Carr, J. W. (September, 2015). Collegiate recreation student employee as student leader. In D. Stenta & C. W. McFadden (Eds.), Student leadership development through recreation and athletics. (pp. 65-76). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
McFadden, C. & Stenta, D. (September, 2015). Connecting collegiate recreation and athletics to leadership. In D. Stenta & C. W.
McFadden (Eds.), Student leadership development through recreation and athletics (pp. 5-18). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
McFadden, C. & Mazeika, M. (2014). Academic and student affairs collaboration. In L.S. Kelsay & E.M. Zamani-Gallaher (Eds.), Working with students in community colleges: Contemporary strategies for bridging theory, research, and practice (pp. 67- 79). Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing, LLC.
REFEREED ARTICLES
Lucia, C., Padgett, M., & Stimpson, R. (2026). Men's perspectives and practices: Allyship and advocacy for women in collegiate recreation. Recreational Sports Journal.
Kim, Y.D., Lucia, C. & Cappellette, E. (2025). North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. Case Studies in Sport Management.
Lucia, C., Lopez-Herrera, V., & Stewart, H. (2024). Centering belonging for NIRSA: Leaders in Collegiate Recreation. Special JDEI Issue of the Recreational Sports Journal.
Lucia, C., Benjamin, M., Dabbs, S. & Cryan, M. (2023). Why living in a sport management learning community matters? Sports Innovation Journal. (pp. 62-73).
Dabbs, S.M., Weaver, A., Lucia, C., & Kim, Y.D. (2021). Scaffolding service-learning across the curriculum: A case study in sport management. North Carolina Journal.
Lucia, C. & Padgett, M. (2021). Passage through the leadership labyrinth: A woman’s journey in the collegiate recreation profession. Recreational Sports Journal. (pp. 1-13). Sage.
Weaver, T., Forte, D., & McFadden, C. (2017). Perceptions of higher education administrators regarding the role of club sports in the recruitment and retention of male students. Recreational Sports Journal, 41, 42-54. doi: 10.1123/rsj.2016-0023
McFadden, C., Skaggs, G., & Janosik, S. (2013). Development and validation of the sense of competence scale-revised. Journal of Applied Measurement 14(3), 318-331.
O’Bannon, T. & McFadden, C. (2008). A model of experiential andragogy: Development of a non-traditional experiential learning program model. Journal of Unconventional Parks, Tourism and Recreation Research, 1(1), 23-28.
REFEREED ARTICLE REVIEW
Lead Editor. (Summer 2024). Special Issue on Justice, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Recreational Sports Journal.
Reviewer. (May, 2024). Perception matters: Attitudes towards transgender inclusion in campus recreational sports. Recreational Sports Journal.
Reviewer, (May, 2024). Sport in times of crisis: Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sport and physical exercise habits of College Students at SEC member institutions. Recreational Sports Journal.
Reviewer. (January, 2023). Prehospital emergency medical treatment teams' competence to act in an AMOK situation. International Journal of Risk Assessment and Management.
Reviewer. (July, 2020). Teaching Teamwork through Theater: Interdisciplinary Collaboration in a General Education Course. ACS Publications.
Co-editor and Reviewer. (Summer/Fall 2019). Special Issue on Residential Learning Communities. Learning Communities Research and Practice.
INDUSTRY BLOGS, PUBLICATIONS, REPORTS, AND VLOGS
Lucia, C. & Lopez-Herrera, V. (May, 2024). Belonging: A year in review and leadership transition. NIRSA Know. https://nirsa.net/2024/05/16/nirsa-jdei-implementation-team-leadership-year-in-review-and-transition/
Lucia, C. & Lopez-Herrera, V. (November, 2023). NIRSA JDEI Implementation Team updates: Fostering belonging. NIRSA Know. https://nirsa.net/nirsa/2023/11/20/updates-from-nirsa-jdei-implementation-team-progress-toward-belonging/
Lucia, C. & Lopez-Herrera, V. (May, 2023). NIRSA’s JDEI Implementation Team: Centering belonging for NIRSA. NIRSA Know. https://nirsa.net/nirsa/2023/05/15/updates-from-nirsa-jdei-climate-study-implementation-team/
Lucia, C. & Watts, P. (May, 2022). Results from the JDEI clmate study are now available. NIRSA: Leaders in Collegiate Recreation. NIRSA Know. https://nirsa.net/nirsa/2022/05/26/nirsa-shares-results-from-climate-study-conducted-by-122-consulting/
Lucia, C. 2022, April 22. Change makers of NIRSA: Unshakeable Hope Through Empowerment. [Blog/Vlog Post]. Retrieved from https://nirsa.net/nirsa/2022/04/22/nirsa-presidents-notes-april-2022-change-makers-of-nirsa/
Lucia, C. 2022, March 15. Change makers of NIRSA: Sustaining hope through education and research. [Blog/Vlog Post]. Retrieved rom https://nirsa.net/nirsa/2022/03/15/march-2022-nirsa-presidents-notes-change-makers-of-nirsa/
Lucia, C. 2022, February 14. Change makers of NIRSA: Ripples of hope. [Blog/Vlog Post]. Retrieved from https://nirsa.net/nirsa/2022/02/14/february-2022-nirsa-presidents-notes/
Lucia, C. 2021, November 9. Change makers of NIRSA: Generations exhibiting critical hope. [Blog/Vlog Post]. Retrieved from https://nirsa.net/nirsa/2021/11/09/nirsa-presidents-notes-november-2021-change-makers/
Lucia, C. (2021). Inclusive excellence in collegiate recreation: How NIRSA is exhibiting action. National Association of College Auxiliary Services. Retrieved from https://www.collegeservicesmag-digital.com/jilq/0321_fall_2021/MobilePagedArticle.action?articleId=1724988#articleId1724988
Lucia, C. 2021, August 23. Change makers of NIRSA: Critical hope is hope with action. [Blog/Vlog Post]. Retrieved from https://nirsa.net/nirsa/2021/08/23/nirsa-game-changers-explore-critical-hope-with-president-cara-lucia/
Lucia, C., Davenport, D, & Watts, P. 2021, August 16. NIRSA set to survey members about the association’s JDEI climate. NIRSA Know. https://nirsa.net/nirsa/2021/08/16/nirsa-climate-survey-to-members-about-equity-inclusion-and-justice/
Benjamin, M., Jessup-Anger, J. E., Lundeen, S. & McFadden, C. (2019). Elon statement on residential learning communities as a high-impact practice. Retrieved fro http://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/elon-statement-on-residential-learning-communities/
McFadden, C. (2017, December 6). Residential Learning Communities in the Higher Education Environment. [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/residential-learning-communities-in-the-higher-education-environment/
McFadden, C. (2016, December 8). A strategy for educating students about the active shooter. Sport Risk: Risk Management Newsletter for Campus Recreation http://www.sportrisk.com/tag/active-shooter/
Lundeen, S. & McFadden. C. (2016, September 12). Researching residential learning communities. [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/researching-rlcs/
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Lucia, C. (2023 – present). Friendly Light, Cara Lucia LLC. Articles of Organization Filed September 19, 2023.
Lucia, C. (2023 – present). De-Light Lessons Podcast. Nine episodes as of December 2023. https://open.spotify.com/show/4Y33lsu9s3EIntG1V3cTKU?si=a453d0414c734980
Lucia, C. (2017-present). Friendly Light, Cara Lucia. http://www.friendlylightcaralucia.com/
McFadden, C. (2011). Copyright of the Sense of Competence Scale-Revised (SCS-R) Instrument. Register of Copyrights, United States of America.
Presentations