The purpose of this study was to investigate administrative relationships between departments of physical education and athletics in eight selected areas: institutional characteristics, curriculum offerings, status of the faculty, administrative organization, intercollegiate athletics, office management, evaluation and promotion, and facility management. A secondary purpose was to identify trends in the relationship between the departments and perceived reasons for the trends.
Respondents (N = 56) were chairs of physical education departments of colleges and universities with enrollments of 500--1500 in the Central District of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance. The subjects completed a researcher-designed questionnaire via a mail survey. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to compile frequencies and percentages.
The findings indicated that, even though departments of physical education and athletics are separate at a majority of the institutions, strong relationships continue between the two areas. Additionally, the chairs reported minimal change in administrative relationships in the last five years. Areas of change most commonly cited were separation of the departments and changes in the status and responsibilities of teacher-coaches.
