Tony Weaver, an assistant professor in the Department of Sport & Event Management, authored an article, “Reevaluating Prestige: The Influence of History on the Decision to Reclassify to Division I: A Case Study,” in the Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics.
The purpose of the study was to examine the impact of an institution’s past on the administrative decision to reclassify the institution’s athletic department to NCAA Division I. The study focused on the environment that existed prior to the reclassification and the administrative rationale used to justify the move.
Two universities, one public university and one private university, were chosen for case study analysis. Data were collected and analyzed using case study methodologies and an adapted model of Pettigrew’s contextualist approach.
Results indicated that although the context at each university was different, administrators believed the reclassification would improve their institutional profile among competitive peer institutions.