Paying for college:
We are proposing an increase in FTE for the Assistant Sports Performance Coach. The position is .5 FTE and we would like to make it 1.0 FTE. The Athletics department has the ability to fund 70% of the cost of increasing the FTE. This request is for the remaining 30% of the personnel cost, estimated at $5,687 per year. Currently, the Sport Performance division of WOU Athletics is comprised of two people at 1.5 FTE. The function of the division is to train student athletes to prevent injuries and increase performance. Sports Performance trains 325 student athletes during the academic year and 150 student athletics during the summer. Work days for the Sports Performance staff range from 10 to 12 hours, it is not unusual for a Sports Performance coach to work 70 hours during the week. Coaches also work most weekends during the academic year.
Sustainability and Stewardship is the primary driver for this proposal, in particular “6.2 Maintain appropriate staffing levels to ensure the continuity of programs, units and departments”. With the responsibility of training over 300 student athletes throughout the academic year, our Sports Performance division needs two full time coaches. This level of staffing will provide the training student athletes need while compensating coaches adequately, providing increased “workplace satisfaction”. (Sustainability and Stewardship, 6.0)
The Athletic department and student athletes will benefit from this initiative because increasing this position’s FTE will reduce turnover. Reduced turnover will result in continuity of training programs, which will allow student athletes to receive the training they need to become better at their sport and to prevent future injuries. With student athletes in peak training condition our sports teams will have a better opportunity to win championships and retain healthy student athletes.
Our student to athletic performance coach ratio will reduce from 1:46 to 1:20. This will allow coaches to give student athletes more one on one attention, which will improve the student athlete experience and increase safety. Our student athletes will have more schedule flexibility when setting their class schedules because there will be more time slots available for training. This will enhance the student athlete experience and improve retention. With a consistent assistant athletic performance coach student athletes can improve their physical abilities faster. This will allow for a better student athlete experience and increased game performance. Assessments will be made at the conclusion of each academic year through interviews with coaches, student athletes, and athletics performance staff. The initiative will be considered successful if the student athlete experience with training was positive, the current assistant athletic performance coach continues employment with WOU for at least three years, and individual sport coaches had the freedom to schedule training sessions as necessary.
The current athletic performance coach would begin working full time as of July 1, 2019.
Administrative funding used toward other needs like office supplies and equipment maintenance would be redirected to pay for the missing allocation.
Other NCAA Division II schools have at least two athletic performance coaches. There are three examples listed below. Central Washington University - 1 director and 2 graduate assistants Dixie State University - 1 director and 2 full time assistants Tarleton State University - 1 director, 1 full time assistant, and 2 graduate assistants
We do not project any adverse impacts. There will not be any additional required training or funding once the position is set at 1.0 FTE.
The most important justification for this budget request is student athlete safety. The first piece of student safety is having the necessary staff to supervise trainings. As noted in the Strength and Conditioning Journal (2017) “liability costs associated with inadequate or lax supervision are very expensive, and the plaintiff’s recovery rate in such negligence lawsuits can be high. The main causes of these incidents are poor facility maintenance, defective equipment, and inadequate instruction or supervision. The importance of staffing is readily apparent in each circumstance”. Recommended guidelines state that minimum professional to participant ratios in college should be 1:20, during the academic year we have 1.5 FTE professionals to train 325 student athletes (NSCA, 2017). The second piece of student safety is making sure that students are receiving the training they need to prevent injuries. Proper strength and conditioning training can prevent students from becoming critically injured during competition. This kind of prevention is essential to the university in two ways. First, by maintaining student athlete health we are better able to retain our students. Second, by maintaining student athlete health our university expends less on medical expenses. Additionally, making this position full time will reduce turnover in this area of athletics. It is rare that a professional in strength and conditioning will stay in a half time position for more than one year. Turnover will save the department and the university resources and will help maintain consistency for student athletes. Without consistent training it is difficult to retain student athletes. Student athletes train at least three days a week when their sport is in season. When student athletes can’t get the training they need or training lacks consistency, we lose students.
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