An Assessment of the Effectiveness of the CHAMPS/Life Skills Program at the University of North Texas: A Pilot Study

This study seeks to determine the effectiveness of the Challenging Athletes Minds for Personal Success (CHAMPS)/Life Skills program at the University of North Texas, as perceived by the student athletes who participate or participated in this program. The study attempts to measure the extent to which the student athletes feel that the program had value; if they received helpful information to support them through their college career to career transition; if the student athletes felt that the program provided them with skills to encourage better self-esteem; and if they believed that the CHAMPS/Life Skills program provided them with leadership and character education. The study, conducted in the Fall of 2003, had 163 respondents. An instrument was developed to determine student athletes' perceptions of the effectiveness of the CHAMPS/Life Skills program at UNT. The instrument consisted of 30 questions using a Likert-type scale. A Mann-Whitney U, a non-parametric t-Test, was utilized to analyze the data. This type of t-Test was used because it is specifically designed to compare the means of the same variable with two different groups and account for non-homogeneous groups. The lack of homogeneity was very likely influenced by the unequal group sizes. Generally, all aspects of the CHAMPS/Life Skills program at UNT were found to be positive by each subgroup. Student athletes found value in the CHAMPS/Life Skills program at UNT. In three of the four components studied, males had a statistically stronger feeling than females. Minority status had no statistically significant impact on the results in any of the four components studied. For the variable measuring the number of years in the program, a significant difference existed in three of the four components studied. The study shows that if a student athlete was involved in the program for more than two years, the CHAMPS/Life Skills program at UNT was more valuable for them than those enrolled for a shorter period of time.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of North Texas

Year dc:date

2004

Author dc:creator

• Goddard, Michael

Contributors dc:contributor

• Baier, John L.
• Anthony, John H.
• Katsinas, Stephen G.

• College athletes -- Education -- Texas -- Denton.
• Life skills -- Study and teaching (Higher)
• NCAA CHAMPS/Life Skills Program.
• CHAMPS
• character education
• student athletes
• effectiveness
• self-esteem

Statement dc:rights

• Public
• Copyright
• Goddard, Michael
• Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

oclc: 55958985
https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc4516/
ark: ark:/67531/metadc4516

OAI identifier oai:identifier

info:ark/67531/metadc4516