The Flutie Effect: Effects of a Successful Athletic Department on College Enrollment

Abstract

After conducting primary and secondary research, it is apparent that the Flutie Effect, which relates increases in college enrollment to college athletics, exists at a national Division 1 level; however the numbers fail to support a similar notion towards Grand Valley State and other Division II or lower institutions. Research showed that at GVSU: (a) The Flutie Effect exists at the Division 1 level but not at Grand Valley, (b) Students value sports at Grand Valley, but not enough to attend school, (c) Sports is the main way that out of state residents hear of a university, and (d) students believe that student life and perspective student interest would improve if GVSU was Division 1. Research carried out through the primary research methods of focus groups and a survey reveals enough information that the Grand Valley doesn’t receive enough publicity or attention for the Flutie Effect to be relevant.

The Flutie Effect: The Effects of a Successful Athletic Department on Enrollment

The debate between the effects of a successful athletic department on enrollment was first brought up into the public eye on November 23, 1984. On that night, Boston College upset the then heavily favored Miami Hurricanes football team on a last second hail mary pass from star quarterback Doug Flutie. The start of the following school year saw enrollment increase by 16 percent and then 12 percent the next year. Many associated the sudden enrolment spike to the publicity that the small Jesuit college saw following their upset win over the then defending champs. The effect was immediately dubbed the Flutie Effect; since then universities have used the Flutie Effect as justification to invest millions on college athletics.

Recent years have seen spending on college athletics spike at a dramatic rate. Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal reported that spending on intercollegiate athletic facilities reached $15.2 billion between 1995 and 2005 (Eitzen, 2012). This comes in a time where the supposed Flutie Effect has been witnesses and heavily studied at universities such as George Mason, Northern Iowa and Gonzaga. Athletic departments are funded from tuition and tax subsidies, therefore, with athletic spending rapidly rising, it is important to know if the Flutie Effect exists, and if it can be used to justify the millions of dollars spent on athletics. It is also important to study whether this effect applies to universities with smaller and less visible athletic programs, such as Division II’s Grand Valley State University (see appendix A).

In order to address the problem of the Flutie Effect’s relevancy, both in its existence and its impact on GVSU, secondary and primary research, more specifically through focus groups and surveys, will be utilized. Because of the subject’s popularity and it’s somewhat controversial nature, a variety of research has been conducted on the Flutie Effect and the effects of sports on enrollment. Therefore analyzing secondary sources can reveal insight into which forms of primary research should be used.

Recently, George Mason University has sparked renewed interest in the Flutie Effect. After a surprise Final Four run in the 2006 men’s NCAA Tournament, George Mason saw admission inquiries increase by 350%, which was related to the fact that the university received an estimated $677,474,659 in free media during the 2006 NCAA Tournament through national, regional and local broadcast, print and electronic media coverage.

According to secondary research, a more likely reason for the applications spike is that sports success brings enough publicity and media attention that it acts as a form of “low cost advertising” (Clotfelter, 2011). Although the majority of college-bound high school seniors are unaware of the athletic programs of the colleges that they were applying to, those that were most effected by sports success were typically African Americans, out of state students, and those who played sports in high school. (Clotfelter, 2011),

A study conducted by economists Devon and Jared Pope revealed that there was strong evidence of a Flutie Effect (Clotfelter, 2011). Teams that finished ranked in the top 20 in football polls experienced an average boost of 2.5% in applicants; teams that won championships saw a 7-8% increase (Clotfelter, 2011).

The use of primary research is necessary when studying whether any aspect of the Flutie Effect can be found at GVSU. Although a good deal of research has already been conducted on the effects of college sports on enrollment, the subjects of the studies have only been conducted on Division 1 universities which receive significantly more media attention, publicity and revenue then colleges at the Division II level or under. Primary research tactics used in this study include the use of focus groups and surveys. Another approach that was used involved analyzing Grand Valley’s enrollment history and comparing enrollment increases following significant events in their football team’s history.

Citing the George Mason example, along with secondary research, my hypothesis is that the Flutie Effect does in fact exist. I think that perspective college students first hear of a university through their successful athletic programs which leads them to research the school out of curiosity. I think this is evident at the Division 1 level and can be seen, albeit at a much smaller and limited effect, at Grand Valley’s level.

I want to study the Flutie Effect and it’s relation to Grand Valley due to the fact that I’ve been curious about this subject for years and believe that college athletics is a valuable resource for universities to invest in. I believe that Grand Valley could see noteworthy increases in not just their enrollment but their nationwide exposure, overall prestige, alumni endowment and overall quality of their student body if they invest enough resources into their athletic department to make the jump to Division 1. By studying the Flutie Effect at both large and small scale levels, it is my hope that evidence could be found that the Flutie Effect does exist and that Grand Valley should move up to Division 1. I’m also conducting this research as a broad learning exercise for my CAP 115 class in an attempt to learn how to conduct and put together secondary and primary research papers.

Methodology

Although numerous studies have been conducted on the Flutie Effect, revealing a possible correlation between athletic success and college enrollment, only Division 1 schools with large athletic budgets have been analyzed. Research has yet to be conducted on whether this effect is relevant to schools with limited athletic budgets and a classification at or below the Division II level. Grand Valley State serves well as the subject due to the fact that it compares in size to most Division 1 schools, has a Division II classification, and has seen recent athletic success that has included television appearances.

For each method of primary research, the same target population will be used (see appendix B). Every student at Grand Valley would be eligible for research due to the fact that the school is currently in a multiyear stretch of athletic success tracing back to 2001. Therefore, each student at GVSU has an equal chance of having been affected by the Flutie Effect when they were perspective students. Gauging the opinion of the entire student body would allow for better chance to examine the true extent of the effect GVSU’s athletic department has on enrollment. The sample population used in the primary research will come from students in my sample classes as well as my facebook friends who attend GVSU. A list of these people will be obtained either through blackboard, or my professors. I will use the Facebook filter to eliminate non-GVSU friends and faculty from the list. None of their names will be used in the research. This sample population allows for diversity and a wide range of opinions.

The forms of primary research that will be used are a focus group and a survey.

Focus Group. A group of people will be carefully selected and asked about their perceptions, opinions, beliefs, and attitudes towards athletics and enrollment at GVSU and Division 1 universities. Focus group invites were sent out to all my Facebook friends who attend GVSU as well as to each student in three of my classes; approximately 150 invites were sent out. The focus group invites listed respondent rights, the subject of the research, the location, contact information, and offered free food to whoever showed up (see appendix C).A discussion guide (see appendix D) was created consisting of 17 questions and about four “warm-up” questions. These warm up questions involved showing images of athletic logos and sports teams from Alabama, Kentucky, and James Madison (see appendix E) while probing the subject’s opinion/knowledge on the respected school. The content from the focus group was recorded by a note taker and on a recorder. The information obtained was later translated into a focus group summery while also used to make a cognitive map (see appendix I) consisting of the main themes as well as several meta-themes. A practice focus group was conducted in my CAP 115 class where the respondents consisted of members from the class. Although only about 15 minutes of the focus group was able to be conducted, the practice focus group reveled some interesting information and helped fine tune the discussion guide for the actual focus group.

The focus group was conducted on April 5, 2012 at Hillcrest Apartments, number N6. Six people showed up and the focus group itself lasted roughly 35-40 minutes, consisting of good discussion. Although the initial turnout of six people would appear to be a success, the turnout was ultimately disappointing in the fact that only men were able to make the focus group. This was a result likely due to the topic (something to do with sports) and the fact that a couple of women had to cancel on me to finish papers. The group was, however, very diverse featuring people of all ages, majors, campus involvement and knowledge of sports.

Survey Using the information obtained from the focus group, a list of concept questions (see appendix F) was created, narrowing the focus of the research and revealing what type of questions the survey should answer. A survey was then created based off the question concepts.

The survey featured 15 questions (front and back of a piece of paper) (see appendix J) and came with an attached survey invitation. The survey invitation revealed respondent rights, the subject of the research, contact information, and what their responses were going to be used for (see appendix H) The survey was then announced and passed out in several of my classes where the majority of each class completed the survey. Although a few facebook friends were asked and ultimately took the survey, the vast majority of the responses came from classes as the survey was too long to be conducted electronically. Approximately 60 responses were ultimately received featuring a group that was diverse, and surprisingly featured an almost even gender split. Although some of the respondents skipped questions, both in free will and by instruction (question 1). The vast majority of each survey was completely filled out.

Before the surveys were sent out, a rough draft of the survey questionnaire was presented to my professor. While he was reviewing the survey questionnaire, a practice survey was conducted in one my classes (this was a 6-9 class on the downtown campus that would not have been involved in the final survey). This way, along with professor feedback from the rough draft, questions could be added or replaced to help better address my question concepts.

Results

The focus group (see appendix G) was conducted on April 5, 2012 at Hillcrest Apartments, number N6. Six people showed up and the focus group itself lasted roughly 35-40 minutes, consisting of a good discussion. Although the initial turnout of six people would appear to be a success, the turnout was ultimately disappointing in the fact that only men were able to make the focus group. This was a result likely due to the topic (something to do with sports) and the fact that a couple had to cancel on me to finish papers. However the six that showed up were very diverse featuring people of all ages, majors, campus involvement and knowledge of sports. One respondent claimed that he was “extremely against spending millions on college athletics.”

Overall the focus group revealed three primary findings, which were: A.)College athletics played a large role in the enjoyment of campus life, B.) Large athletics could attract more students attention/lead them to apply, C.) Students are more likely to know about Division 1 universities than other schools.

The last finding became quickly relevant once the opening activity of university recognition was conducted. Although the majority of the respondents mentioned that they didn’t follow college sports, almost everyone seemed to recognize Kentucky and Alabama (One respondent recognized Kentucky right when the image of the player was shown because it featured “the kid with the unibrow”). When asked about the schools, nearly all the respondents mentioned something about their sports programs including the success of their pro athletes, their championships, crazy atmosphere of games, and past performances against local teams. The only exception was the brief mention that Alabama “has hot women.” However, when shown James Madison, every student except for one failed to recognize the school (one student thought that it was “Jamestown, Massachusetts University”).

Everyone in the room picked Alabama as the school they would attend based on what they knew of the school, except for the one respondent that recognized James Madison. After the subjects were informed of James Madison’s high academic prestige, every student, except one, changed their mind and agreed that their opinions on James Madison changed. They came to a common consensus that if James Madison had a strong sports program, more people would know about the school. The student that didn’t change his mind said that he would still go to Alabama because of their sports and student social life. One student felt disappointed that James Madison should need sports to promote their image and he felt that image should be promoted on academic prestige alone.

Although the opening question/activity produced satisfactory results, it was interesting to note that not many knew of James Madison’s football team. James Madison was picked for this activity not only because of their academic prestige, but the fact that they had upset perennial powerhouse Virginia Tech in football two seasons ago. It was interesting to note that in neither this focus group, nor the sample focus group, no one knew this.

Not only did most of the respondents believe that James Madison could increase their profile through sports, but they thought that other universities could benefit from this as well. When presented with a scenario where a local, yet unknown school made the Final Four or had upset a powerhouse basketball program; almost all the respondents claimed that the publicity that the school would receive would cause them to research the school out of curiosity. A couple of students said that if they found out that school had strong academics, they would seriously consider enrolling. this scenario was presented by asking if the respondents opinions would change if they stumbled onto the fact that the school had two Nobel Prize winning faculty members, in which all of them agreed that it would. It is interesting to note that this scenario was based off of George Mason University (never mentioned the school) which made a surprising Final Four run in 2006, has two professors with Nobel Prizes, and is a poster-child case of the Flutie Effect.

One student found disappointment in the fact that athletics played such a large role in publicity generated for the school. He cited particular disappointment in the fact that Grand Valley was the top academic performing school in the state (citing a recent Michigan budget proposal), yet nobody knew about it because they didn’t have Division 1 sports. Overall he didn’t like the fact that publicity was generated through sports and not academics, yet he even admitted that Grand Valley would benefit in a situation where they were Division 1.

The focus group revealed that most of the respondents, as well as prospective students, would be attracted to the student life that Division 1 sports brings. Although the group was mixed about their knowledge of Grand Valley’s athletic program prior to their enrollment, they admitted that sporting events at GVSU were fun and played a key role in their student lifestyle. A lot of the respondents mentioned tailgating and overall atmosphere of the school particularly. Those that said this also admitted that they felt like attending a Division 1 school would increase the quality of those two factors, therefore making the school seem more appealing to them. Four of the six respondents said that they would be disappointed/less likely to enroll at Grand Valley if they found out on their campus tour that Grand Valley lacked a football program or had a poor athletic program. The respondents felt that weak sports would lead to less people at sporting events and tailgates, as well as a decreased mood in student atmosphere. Although many students felt that in the long run this wouldn’t ultimately affect their opinion to attend Grand Valley, one student said that he picked the school pretty much because they had the best sports programs from the schools he was applying to.

It is interesting to note that in the practice focus group, some of those who had participated heavily in high school sports were attracted to schools based on the strength of their athletic program and the possibility of playing sports at that respective school. The majority of the respondents in this focus group played one or no sports in high school, however, their interest GVSU’s athletic program was in the social aspect that it brought. This wasn’t really addressed much in the practice focus group.

Overall the focus group led to some interesting results and posed some interesting questions that a survey could address. As stated earlier, the two focus groups revealed two additional ways that athletics could be attractive to perspective GVSU students. The sample focus group showed that students may have either heard of GVSU’s success through their high school teams, or were interested in playing for GVSU. The main focus group revealed that although college ports at GVSU were not a deciding factor in whether to attend the school, students did value the social aspect that it brought. Another thing that the survey could shed light on was how much did perspective students value Division 1 sports and if they were attracted to its positive publicity.

A survey was conducted which was passed out to students in a total of three classes which brought back approximately 60 responses. The results (see appendix K) of the survey revealed some interesting information on the Grand Valley student body and how they are affected by athletics, both GVSU’s and college sports in general.

Overall the survey respondents tended to be an older, more college experienced group. The majority of the respondents were upperclassmen with the highest number being from the junior class with 23 respondents. Overall there were 38 upperclassmen compared to just 16 underclassmen. The majority of the respondents were white, in fact only seven students marked a race/ethnicity different than white. The group was evenly split between genders as there were 28 guy respondents compared to 26 females. This was a very athletic group as only five respondents failed to participate on a sport team in high school.

Further cementing the respondents’ athletic ability was the fact that nearly half of the respondents looked into playing sports or felt that they had the ability to play sports in college (24 looked into playing compared to 25 who didn’t). However, despite their curiosity into playing sports, Grand Valley wasn’t really considered as 42 respondents didn’t hear of Grand Valley through their sports teams while only 11 respondents heard of Grand Valley’s success through their sports teams. Apparently Grand Valley wasn’t interested in these athletes as well, only two respondents claimed that Grand Valley recruited them.

The surveyed population likely would have an average knowledge of college sports, as the majority of the respondents fell between 2-4 if they had to rate their knowledge of college sports (14 listed two, 10 listed three, 15 listed four). The scale was measured from one to five with five consisting of the highest knowledge of sports. Despite the very mixed statistics on college sports knowledge, the respondents knew about Grand Valley’s athletic success prior to their enrollment at GVSU. Thirty respondents claimed that they had some knowledge of their athletic success compared to 15 who weren’t very knowledgeable. Despite the large number of people who heard of Grand Valley’s sports success, it wasn’t their first exposure to Grand Valley which primarily came through friends talking about GVSU (16 respondents), and through the fact that a friend/relative went to the university (22 respondents). Only three students claimed that the first time they heard of Grand Valley was through hearing of their sports success.

Despite the fact that not many of the respondents were attracted to Grand Valley’s athletic department, some did value the sports success, along with their sports program in general. Twenty-four students agreed that they would think less of Grand Valley if they had a weak or nonexistent sports program (compared with 17 respondents who disagreed). Although this statistic can basically be considered mixed at best when you throw in the fact that 13 were neutral on the subject, most of the respondents valued Division 1 sports more, they thought that Grand Valley had a lot to gain from upgrading to Division 1 status. Overall 36 respondents felt that in their opinion, Grand Valley should upgrade to Division 1 while even more respondents (42) felt that by being Division 1, GVSU would attract more positive publicity for themselves. Forty five respondents felt that if Grand Valley was Division 1 or had just upset a major program, more perspective students would research/apply/attend GVSU. Another interesting finding was the fact that 42 respondents agreed in some form that college athletics is how the majority of perspective out of state students first hear of a university.

Discussion

After analyzing the results from the primary research, several conclusions can be determined. Primary research shows that: (a) The Flutie Effect exists at the Division 1 level but not at Grand Valley, (b) Students value sports at Grand Valley, but not enough to attend school, (c) Sports is the main way that out of state residents hear of a university, and (d) students believe that student life and perspective student interest would improve if GVSU was Division 1.

In the focus group, respondents were able to recognize out-of-state universities Alabama and Kentucky. Despite the fact that James Madison had by the far the most prestigious academic school, students knew more about Kentucky and Alabama primarily because the higher visibility of their athletic programs. The survey revealed that GVSU students had a positive perception of college sports. Forty two respondents felt that by being Division 1, GVSU would attract more positive publicity for themselves. Forty five respondents felt that if Grand Valley was Division 1 or had just upset a major program, more perspective students would research/apply/attend GVSU. Combined with the secondary research findings that show George Mason’s 350 percent rise in admission inquirers’ along with the fact that teams who finished ranked in the top 20 in football polls experienced an average boost of 2.5% in applicants a 7-8% increase for championships(Clotfelter, 2011). It is hard to disagree with the notion that the Flutie Effect exists in large Division 1 schools.

Although the focus group presented evidence that perspective students research schools out of curiosity after seeing the school’s athletic success, the survey failed to provide any additional information supporting this. There is insufficient evidence to claim whether or not perspective college students first hear of a university through their successful athletic programs, which leads them to research the school out of curiosity.

Forty-two respondents agreed in some form that college athletics is how the majority of perspective out of state students first hear of a university. This adds to the evidence of the Flutie Effect’s existence and also addresses the belief that out of state residents are one of the most effected statistics. However the other two demographics mentioned, athletics in high school and race, could not be certified. For one the survey at Grand Valley only received three responses from African American students, therefore there is not a high enough sample to make any conclusions. Although the sample focus group revealed interesting information in that some students heard of GV through their high school sports, their opinions do not match the rest of GV. Subjects in the actual focus group disagreed with this idea, and the survey showed that although half of the respondents looked into playing sports in college only three claimed that they heard of Grand Valley through their high school sports teams.

Students value Division 1 sports and believe that they add to the overall enjoyment of student life. However at Grand Valley, athletic success is valued but ultimately does not affect enrollment as students are choosing to go to GVSU for reasons outside of their strong athletics. One of the main reasons why the Flutie Effect works is that it provides positive exposure for a university. At Grand Valley’s Division II level, there just isn’t enough media exposure to affect enrollment. No one in any of the focus groups saw a Grand Valley athletic event on TV. Although a good number of GVSU students had some knowledge of Grand Valley’s athletic success, sports was not their first exposure to the school. Evidence points the fact that athletic success was a plus, but not a key factor in the decision to go to GVSU. Overall the hypothesis that the Flutie Effect exists at the Division 1 level because it creates more visibility was proven. However the hypothesis that a similar result could be seen at Grand Valley was not proven.

Future studies could clean up the research process used for this report to get a better representation of the Flutie Effect at Grand Valley. No research has been conducted on the effect on universities at or below the Division II level. This fact, combined with this being my first research paper, created numerous challenges that might have lead to some information being overlooked.

Future studies could expand upon this research. Few if any studies have been conducted on the long term effects of the Flutie Effect. For example do enrollment spikes lead to future growth by those universities, do they maintain similar levels of growth, does the average SAT score on admittents increase. Another similar study that could be conducted would use the same methods used for this research, except the subject would be Division II schools that made the jump to Division 1, such as Boise State and UC Davis, and examine if their enrollment numbers have changed over the years.

Studies on the effects of college sports are vital to universities, especially Grand Valley. Although the university has not seen an enrollment spike as a result of athletics, a move to Division 1 could create more visibility for Grand Valley, which could attract new out of state students. Currently GVSU is seen as a regional university, however a move to Division 1 would expand Grand Valley’s image on the nation scene.

Appendix A

Topic Proposal

The research question that I want to address is:

What effect can a successful athletic program have on universities PR/Advertising and does it positively benefit the school?

Explanation:

In 2006 little George Mason shocked the world and made the Final Four in the men’s NCAA basketball tournament. It was later estimated that the school saw positive benefits in PR/Advertising that lead to admission increases (350% increase in admission inquiries) higher alumni donations (increased by 25%) and positive exposure (An estimated $677,474,659 in free media was earned by Mason during the 2006 NCAA Tournament through national, regional and local broadcast, print and electronic media coverage.) I want to further examine this interesting effect and see if this can be applied to Grand Valley State which coincidentally has seen an enrollment explosion that coincides with their most successful decade of sports. I want to study how PR/Advertising is used to promote sports at Grand Valley as well as potentially compare any positive effects to the story of George Mason and other similar schools. I would like to study if PR/advertising was used positively to benefit a school in measurable categories such as attendance at sporting events, alumni donations, school enrollment and media exposure. Also has the athletic department brand/image changed in the mind of the student body.

Why?:

Sports have always been an interesting topic to me that I’ve always wanted to learn more about. Recently I’ve changed my career focus to potentially working media relations for a pro sports team. Also as Grand Valley is a D2 school it can be hard attracting fans to games, I want to see what GV is doing through PR/Advertising to neutralize this fact. Potentially this study could reveal insight on one of the most debated issue at Grand Valley, that being is it worth it for Grand Valley to stay at their current level or could more gains be seen if the school branched out and moved to Division 1.

Source: George Mason business page

Appendix B

Recruitment Plan

Target Population

My target population should consist of Grand Valley State students as the subject. Because the research is on the belief that a successful athletic department leads to increases in enrollment and my long term goal is to apply this effect to Grand Valley State, it’s only natural that my target population should consist of all students who attend Grand Valley regardless of class standing.

Sample Population

In order to accurately measure the student population my sample population needs to have wide variety of students that would fall into the demographics and psychographics of the 24,000+ students that attend Grand Valley while also insuring that it is a random process. My sample population will consist of all students in my current classes and my facebook friends who attend Grand This insures that a variety of people are sampled as my classes range from level 100 to 400 classes, therefore getting students of all demographics. It is important to analyze people from different class standings because therefore research won’t be based on one athletic season but rather a variety.

Recruitment strategy

In order to attract research subjects, I will invite students via a survey before class starts or in first minute. I will also do the same to my facebook friends who attend GVSU as well. I will attain a list of these people from blackboard, my professors and through the Facebook filter. This will ensure no one gets surveyed twice. For my focus group I will recruit people from both class and Facebook as both have a wide variety of students in each class and gender as well as all walks of life. I will invite them with an invitation and a too be determined incentive. For my Focus Group I want to obtain a roughly 50/50 split of women and men as well as an even numbers from each grade level. The focus group will also have an added incentive of free pizza and refreshments.

Appendix C

Focus Group Invitation

Dear Participant:

You are invited to participate in a focus group discussion regarding the effects of Grand Valley’s athletic program effect on enrollment. I am a journalism student who is conducting a project for my Advertising/PR Research class; I am evaluating the effectiveness of the debated “Flutie effect” which states that athletic success can directly lead to larger and sudden enrollment increases. I want to determine whether or not the Flutie effect exists and what kind of effect it can have on enrollment at universities and whether it is proper justification to spend millions of tuition dollars on athletics. I also want to see if this effect is applicable to a school with a smaller athletic department such as a Division II school like GVSU.

You will need to spend approximately 30-60 minutes of your time to complete an informal series of questions along with 6-9 other students. For your participation free pizza and refreshments will be provided. There are no right or wrong answers You the respondents have the right to reveal any answers/opinions that you may have. I will use this information as primary research for my upcoming paper. Only my professor and I will see the results. Your views are important and very valuable to me. The survey will take place on:

You can contact me by cell, email, or in person if you have any questions or interest. My cell phone number is 248-860-6341 and my email is meyercam@mail.gvsu.edu. Please tell me by: if you can’t make the focus group

Thank you,

Cameron Meyer

Appendix D

Focus Group Discussion Guide

Introduction

Good (morning/afternoon/evening) and thank you for taking time out of your day to participate in this focus group. My name is Cameron Meyer and I am a student at Grand Valley State University. I am conducting a project for my CAP 115 class which is Advertising and PR Research. Today’s discussion will take approximately 30-60 minutes and we will be discussing the effects of college sports on enrollment which I will do all in my power to assure that that time frame is met. We have pizza and refreshments by: The bathrooms are located:

Explanation

Today we will be engaging in a discussion regarding the “Flutie effect” which describes a correlation between a successful athletic program and sudden increases in enrollment. It is based off a sudden enrollment increase at Boston College in 1985 and 1986 of 14 and 12 percent respectively following a much publicized Hail Mary pass. I want to examine the true effectiveness of this much debated theory and whether this effect has any relation to a school with a smaller athletic department such as Division II Grand Valley State. The information presented and discussed today will not leave this room and will only be seen by myself and my professor, however you may leave at any point in the discussion if you feel uncomfortable answering the questions. You the respondents have the right to reveal any answers/opinions that you may have. I will use this information as primary research for my upcoming paper. I would like to open up the discussion by asking the participants to say their name, class, and major.

Questions

Intro Question 1.) I’m going to show you pictures of several university logos, raise your hand and then tell me everything you know about the school once you recognize the school

Intro Question 2.) (Reads James Madison academic rating) Does this change your opinion on the school?

Intro Question 3.) How can a school such as James Madison generate more publicity for their school?

1. What do you know about Grand Valley’s athletic department? What is your knowledge of their sport teams?

2. How often would you say you attend a GV sporting event? What sports?

3. What was your knowledge of their sports teams prior to your enrollment to Grand Valley? Was it the same before your first visit?

4. How did you first hear about Grand Valley?

5. What was one of the first things that you heard about Grand Valley regarding athletic success (i.e. Football championships/Director Cups) How early did you hear about it? Was it one of the first things?

6. Did athletic success contribute to your decision to first investigate and research Grand Valley?

7. Did Grand Valley talk about their athletic success during your first visit? If they did what were your reactions to it? Did it play a prominent role in their recruitment in that it appeared frequently in school information, website, ec.?

8. What were your reactions when you found out about Grand Valley’s athletic success?

9. Did the strength of the athletic program play any roll in your decision to attend Grand Valley? Why? Would it have if Grand Valley had a football program equivalent to a Michigan or Alabama or a basketball program on the same caliber as a Duke or Kentucky?

10. Did you ever see a GV football game on TV?

11. Does the athletic program play a prominent roll in your enjoyment of Grand Valley? Would it be different if it was a higher Division I caliber program such as an Alabama or Kentucky? Why?

12. Do you think more students would be attracted to Grand Valley if it had a strong Division 1 program? Why?

13. Would you have perceived Grand Valley as a “real” college or viewed them differently if they didn’t have a football program? What about a weak athletic program?

14. Should Grand Valley be Division 1?

15. In 2006 George Mason made a final four run. The school then saw a 350% increase in admissions inquiries, increased alumni donations and $162,146,159 in free media received. Seeing those statistics how does this change your perceptions of Division 1 sports/Flutie effect?

16. (Reads similar statistics regarding Gonzaga, Northern Iowa, Boise State)? What are your reactions to these statistics?

17. Imagine yourself as a high school junior. You are just beginning to check out universities when a nearby school shocks the world and makes it to the final four. Everybody around you is talking about this school’s success yet it is a school you never heard off. How or does their run and their publicity impact your decision to research the school?

Conclusion

Once again thank you for taking time out of your day to help me out by partaking in this discussion group. I appreciate you’re your thought and input. If you have any additional questions feel free to stick around and ask me. Have a great (day/night) and thank you for coming

Appendix E

Focus Group Images

(See following page)

Appendix F

Question Concepts

Overall I want to find out the following things in my survey:

· How big of a role sports played in students college searches

· How big of a role sports played in decision to attend Grand Valley

· Whether hearing of Grand Valley’s sports success was students first exposure to Grand Valley

· Does sports success get people to research schools further

· Whether the recommended demographic for the Flutie effect exists (which is determined through):

o Gender

o Athlete in high school?

o Were they sports fans in high school?

o Race

· Do students believe Grand Valley should go Division 1?

· Would students decisions to attend GVSU be effected if Grand Valley had a weak/nonexistent sports program

· Whether Grand Valley being Division 1 would attract more interest/higher enrollment from future/prospective students

· Does the Flutie Effect exist

· Does the Flutie effect exist at Grand Valley

Appendix G

Focus Group Results

The focus group was conducted on April 5^th, 2012 at Hillcrest apartments, number N6. Six people showed up and the focus group itself lasted roughly 35-40 minutes, consisting of a good discussion. Although the initial turnout of six people would appear to be a success, the turnout was ultimately disappointing in the fact that only men were able to make the focus group. This was a result likely due to the topic (something to do with sports) and the fact that a couple had to cancel on me to finish papers. However the six that showed up were very diverse featuring people of all ages, majors, campus involvement and knowledge of sports. One respondent claimed that he was “extremely against spending millions on college athletics.” Those that showed up were given free food.

Overall the focus group revealed three primary findings which were: A.)College athletics played a large role in the enjoyment of campus life, B.) Large athletics could attract more students attention/lead them to apply, C.) Students are more likely to know about Division 1 universities than other schools.

The last finding became quickly relevant once the opening activity of university recognition was conducted. Although the majority of the respondents mentioned that they didn’t follow college sports, almost everyone seemed to recognize Kentucky and Alabama (One respondent recognized Kentucky right when the image of the player was shown because it featured “the kid with the unibrow”). When asked about the schools nearly all the responds mentioned something about their sports programs including the success of their pro athletes, their championships, crazy atmosphere’s of games, and past performances against local teams. The only exception was the brief mention that Alabama “has hot women.” However when shown James Madison, no one recognized the school (one student thought that it was “Jamestown, Massachusetts University”). Everyone in the room picked Alabama as the school they would attend based on what they knew of the school, except for the one respondent that recognized James Madison when their identity was revealed. After that every student, except one, changed their mind and agreed that their opinions on James Madison changed and that if they had a strong sports program more people would know about the school. The student that didn’t change his mind said that he would still go to Alabama because of their sports and student social life. One student felt disappointed that James Madison should need sports to promote their image and he felt that image should be promoted on academic prestige alone.

Although I was satisfied with the results of the opening question/activity, I was surprised not many knew of James Madison’s football team as I picked them not only because of their academic prestige but the fact that they had upset perennial powerhouse Virginia Tech in football two seasons ago. It was interesting that no one knew this.

Not only did most of the respondents believe that James Madison could increase their profile through sports, but they thought that other universities could benefit from this as well. When presented with a scenario where a local yet unknown school made the Final Four or had upset a powerhouse basketball program; almost all the respondents claimed that the publicity that that school would surly receive would cause them to research the school out of curiosity. A couple of students said that if they found out that school had strong academics, they would definite seriously consider enrolling. The way that I presented this scenario was by asking would their opinions change if they stumbled onto the fact that the school had two faculty members with Nobel Prize, in which all of them agreed that it would. I found this interesting because I based that hypothetical situation off of George Mason University (never mentioned the school) which made a surprising Final Four run in 2006, has two professors with Nobel Prizes and is a famous case of the Flutie Effect.

One student found disappointment in the fact that athletics played such a large role in publicity generated for the school. He cited particular disappointment in the fact that Grand Valley was the top academic performing school in the state (citing a recent Michigan budget proposal), yet nobody knew about it because we didn’t have Division 1 sports. Overall he didn’t like the fact that publicity was generated through sports and not academics, yet he even admitted that Grand Valley would benefit in this situation from being Division 1.

The focus group revealed that most of the respondents, as well as prospective students, would be attracted to the student life that Division 1 sports brings. Although the group was mixed about their knowledge of Grand Valley’s athletic program prior to their enrollment, they admitted that sporting events at GVSU were fun and played a key role in their student lifestyle. A lot of the respondents mentioned tailgating and overall atmosphere of the school particularly. Those that said this also admitted that they felt like attending a Division 1 school would increase the quality of those two factors therefore making the school seem more appealing to them. Four of the six respondents said that they would be disappointed/less likely to enroll at Grand Valley if they found out on their campus tour that Grand Valley lacked a football program or had terrible sports teams as they felt like that would lead to less people at sporting events and tailgates as well as a decreased mood in student atmosphere. Although many students felt that in the long run this wouldn’t ultimately affect their opinion to attend Grand Valley, one student said that he picked the school pretty much because they had the best sports programs from the schools he was applying to.

It is interesting to note that in the practice group, some of those who had participated heavily in high school sports were attracted to schools based on the strength of their athletic program and the possibility of playing sports at that respective school. The majority of the respondents in this focus group played one or no sports in high school: however, their interest in the athletic program was the social aspect that it brought. This wasn’t really addressed much in the practice focus group.

Appendix H

Survey Invitation

Dear Participant:

You’ve been selected to take a brief survey regarding the effects of Grand Valley’s athletic program on enrollment. I am a journalism student who is conducting a project for my Advertising/PR Research class; I am evaluating the effectiveness of the debated “Flutie effect” which states that athletic success can directly lead to larger and sudden enrollment increases. I want to determine whether or not the Flutie effect exists and what kind of effect it can have on enrollment at universities and whether it is proper justification to spend millions of tuition dollars on athletics. I also want to see if this effect is applicable to a school with a smaller athletic department such as a Division II school like GVSU. Your opinion matters! Your participation in this survey will help me out greatly as I will use the information gathered to help me complete my project.

The survey should take around five minutes to complete. There are no right or wrong answers. This survey is completely voluntary and there will be no consequences for refusing to participate. You the respondents have the right to reveal any answers/opinions that you may have, the only requirement is that you answer them truthfully. Your views are important and very valuable to me. Please (type/click) this link to take the survey:

You can contact me by cell, email, or in person if you have any questions or interest. My cell phone number is 248-860-6341 and my email is meyercam@mail.gvsu.edu.

Thank you,

Cameron Meyer

Appendix I

Focus Group Cognitive Map

(See following page)

Appendix J

Survey questions

1.) Please circle all the sports that you played in high school (If you didn’t play any sports please circle no sports and move onto question 4)

Crew Cross Country Equestrian Field Hockey Football Golf Soccer Swimming/Diving Tennis

Volleyball Water Polo Basketball Bowling Figure Skating Ice Hockey Synchronized Swimming

Wrestling Baseball Lacrosse Softball Track & Field Cheer/Pom other_______________ No sports

2.) Did you look into playing any of the above sports in college?

Yes……….No

3.) Did you hear of Grand Valley State through your sports teams?

o Yes

o No

4.) Were you initially exposed to Grand Valley through any of the ways listed below? Please circle all that apply

o Through a sports camp

o Through the recruiting process

o Heard of Grand Valley’s athletic success in my sport(s)

o None of these apply

5.) On a scale of one to five (with five being the highest) how closely do you follow college sports? Please circle the answer that best applies

(I don’t know a thing about college sports) 1…..2……3……4……5 (I’m a college sports nut)

6.) Upon your enrollment to Grand Valley what was your knowledge of their sports program/athletic success?

o Very knowledgeable

o Somewhat knowledgeable

o Not very knowledgeable

o Absolutely no clue

7.) Please circle the option that best describes how you first heard of the school Grand Valley State University?

Friends talking about it…….…Friend/relative went to GVSU………… Teacher/faculty recommendation ………….Heard of their athletic success/saw teams play on TV….….Recruited to play a sport…. academic or an individual program’s prestige……Saw a commercial/read a news story about school….. Other_____________________________________________________________________________

8.) Do you think upgrading Grand Valley to Division 1 sports would create more positive publicity for the school? Please circle your answer

Yes……….No

9.) Please circle the response that best describes your opinion on the statement “I would think less of Grand Valley State University if they had a weak/non existent athletic program.”

o Agree

o Somewhat Agree

o Neutral

o Somewhat Disagree

o Disagree

10.) Please circle the response that best describes your opinion on the statement “College sports is how the majority of perspective out of state students first hear of a university.”

o Agree

o Somewhat Agree

o Neutral

o Somewhat Disagree

o Disagree

11.) If Grand Valley State had Division 1 sports or had just upset a major powerhouse program, do you think prospective students would…

o Be more likely to attend/apply/research Grand Valley

o Be less likely to attend/apply/research Grand Valley State

o Students decision to attend/apply/research Grand Valley State wouldn’t be impacted

12.) In your opinion should Grand Valley ultimately upgrade to Division 1 sports? Please circle your answer

Yes……….No

13.) Please circle/select your gender M…or…F

14.) Please specify your race.
o American Indian or Alaska Native
o Asian
o Black or African American
o Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
o White

o Other______________________________

15.) Please circle your academic standing

Freshman…Sophomore…Junior…Senior…Super Senior…Grad student

Appendix K

Survey Results

1.) Which sport did you play in High School?

· Crew……………………………………………………………………………………………2

· Cross Country……………………………………………………………………………. 8

· Equestrian ……………………………………………………………………………….2

· Field Hockey ………………………………………………………………………………1

· Football ……………………………………………………………………………………13

· Golf …………………………………………………………………………………………3

· Soccer ……………………………………………………………………………………..9

· Swimming/Diving …………………………………………………………………….4

· Tennis ……………………………………………………………………………………… 6

· Volleyball ……………………………………………………………………………….3

· Water Polo ………………………………………………………………………………0

· Basketball ………………………………………………………………………………13

· Bowling …………………………………………………………………………………1

· Figure Skating …………………………………………………………………………0

· Ice Hockey ……………………………………………………………………………3

· Synchronized Swimming ………………………………………………………..1

· Wrestling ……………………………………………………………………………… 3

· Baseball …………………………………………………………………………………9

· Lacrosse ………………………………………………………………………………4

· Softball …………………………………………………………………………………4

· Track & Field …………………………………………………………………………12

· Cheer/Pom………………………………………………………………………………7

· No sports…………………………………………………………………………………5

· Other………………………………………………………………………………………2

) 2.) Did you look into playing any of the above sports in college?

Yes……………………………………………………………………………………………24

No……………………………………………………………………………………………25

3.) Did you hear of Grand Valley State through your sports teams?

Yes ……………………………………………………………………………………………7

No ……………………………………………………………………………………………42

4.) Were you initially exposed to Grand Valley through any of the ways listed below?

Through a sports camp……………………………………………………………………………………………1

Through the recruiting process………………………………………………………………………………2

Heard of Grand Valley’s athletic success in my sport(s) …………………………………………11

None of these apply……………………………………………………………………………………………….41

5.) On a scale of one to five (with five being the highest) how closely do you follow college sports?

1……………………………………………………………………………………………7

2……………………………………………………………………………………………14

3……………………………………………………………………………………………10

4……………………………………………………………………………………………15

5……………………………………………………………………………………………8

6.) Upon your enrollment to Grand Valley what was your knowledge of their sports program/athletic success?

Very knowledgeable……………………………………………………………………………………………4

Somewhat knowledgeable……………………………………………………………………………………30

Not very knowledgeable………………………………………………………………………………………15

Absolutely no clue……………………………………………………………………………………………….4

7.) Please circle the option that best describes how you first heard of the school Grand Valley State University?

· Friends talking about it…………………………………………………………………………16

· Friend/relative went to GVSU………………………………………………………………22

· Teacher/faculty recommendation ……………………………………………………..5

· Heard of their athletic success/saw teams play on TV………………………….3

· Recruited to play a sport…………………………………………………………………….1

· academic or an individual program’s prestige…………………………………….4

· Saw a commercial/read a news story about school……………………………….0

· Other…………………………………………………………………………………………………..2

8.) Do you think upgrading Grand Valley to Division 1 sports would create more positive publicity for the school? Please circle your answer

Yes……………………………………………………………………………………………42

No……………………………………………………………………………………………12

9.) Please circle the response that best describes your opinion on the statement “I would think less of Grand Valley State University if they had a weak/non existent athletic program.”

Agree……………………………………………………………………………………………7

Somewhat Agree………………………………………………………………………….17

Neutral……………………………………………………………………………………………13

Somewhat Disagree………………………………………………………………………8

Disagree…………………………………………………………………………………………9

10.) Please circle the response that best describes your opinion on the statement “College sports is how the majority of perspective out of state students first hear of a university.”

Agree……………………………………………………………………………………………11

Somewhat Agree………………………………………………………………………….31

Neutral……………………………………………………………………………………………8

Somewhat Disagree………………………………………………………………………3

Disagree…………………………………………………………………………………………1

11.) If Grand Valley State had Division 1 sports or had just upset a major powerhouse program, do you think prospective students would…

Be more likely to attend/apply/research Grand Valley…………………………………………………………..45

Be less likely to attend/apply/research Grand Valley State…………………………………………………….1

Students decision to attend/apply/research Grand Valley State wouldn’t be impacted……………..8

12.) In your opinion should Grand Valley ultimately upgrade to Division 1 sports?

Yes……………………………………………………………………………………………36

No……………………………………………………………………………………………17

13.) Gender

Male……………………………………………………………………………………………28

Female……………………………………………………………………………………………26

14.) Race
American Indian or Alaska Native……………………………………………………0

Asian……………………………………………………………………………………………..3
Black or African American ……………………………………………………………..3

Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander ………………………………………0

White……………………………………………………………………………………………….47

Other………………………………………………………………………………………………..1

15.) Academic standing

Freshman……………………………………………………………………………………………2

Sophomore……………………………………………………………………………………………14

Junior…………………………………………………………………………………………………..23

Senior…………………………………………………………………………………………………..9

Super Senior……………………………………………………………………………………………6

Grad student……………………………………………………………………………………………0

Appendix L

References

Clotfelter, C. (2011). Advertising and the Flutie effect. Big-time sports in American universities. (pp. 144-146). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Eitzen, S. (Ed.). (2012). Problems of excess: Big-time college sport. Sport in contemporary society. (9th ed., Vol. 1, pp. 167-208). Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers.