AD Athletic Director Sports Program Management 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: When developing a multi-year strategic plan for an athletic department, which framework is most appropriate for assessing internal strengths and external opportunities?
- SWOT analysis (Correct answer)
- PERT chart
- Gantt chart
- Critical path method
Correct answer: SWOT analysis
SWOT analysis evaluates Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats, making it the standard strategic planning tool for athletic departments.
Question 2: An athletic director discovers that a booster club has been making direct payments to student-athletes for appearance fees. Under NCAA rules, which action must the AD take first?
- Self-report the violation to the NCAA compliance office (Correct answer)
- Quietly investigate before taking any action
- Suspend the booster club pending review
- Inform only the head coach of the affected sport
Correct answer: Self-report the violation to the NCAA compliance office
NCAA bylaws require member institutions to self-report known violations promptly to maintain institutional control and demonstrate good faith compliance.
Question 3: Which scheduling philosophy best reduces travel costs while maintaining competitive balance for a mid-major conference athletic program?
- Clustering road games in geographic regions during a single trip (Correct answer)
- Scheduling all home games in the first half of the season
- Maximizing the number of neutral-site games
- Prioritizing non-conference games against local rivals
Correct answer: Clustering road games in geographic regions during a single trip
Clustering geographically close road games into single road trips minimizes per-trip travel expenses and reduces athlete fatigue.
Question 4: A student-athlete requests an accommodation for a documented learning disability during NCAA championship competition. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, responsibility for coordination primarily falls on which entity?
- The host institution's disability services office working with the NCAA (Correct answer)
- The student-athlete's home institution alone
- The coaching staff of the competing team
- The NCAA national office without institutional involvement
Correct answer: The host institution's disability services office working with the NCAA
The host institution must work with the NCAA to ensure ADA accommodations are provided at championship sites, fulfilling federal obligations.
Question 5: Which metric is most useful for evaluating the return on investment of a newly constructed athletic facility?
- Debt service coverage ratio (Correct answer)
- Student-athlete GPA improvement
- Coaching staff retention rate
- Social media follower growth
Correct answer: Debt service coverage ratio
The debt service coverage ratio measures whether facility-generated revenue is sufficient to cover debt payments, directly assessing financial ROI.
Question 6: When an athletic director must reduce the department budget by 15%, which cost-reduction strategy best preserves Title IX compliance?
- Apply proportional cuts across all sports programs based on existing budget shares (Correct answer)
- Eliminate the least-attended men's sport first
- Reduce scholarship allocations in all women's sports
- Cut administrative staff before touching sports programs
Correct answer: Apply proportional cuts across all sports programs based on existing budget shares
Proportional cuts across all programs maintain the existing male-to-female participation ratio, preserving Title IX compliance while achieving necessary savings.
Question 7: An athletic director is negotiating a multimedia rights agreement. Which component typically generates the highest revenue for mid-major programs?
- Radio broadcast rights and digital streaming packages (Correct answer)
- Print media game-day program advertising
- Venue signage for practice facilities only
- Social media content licensing fees
Correct answer: Radio broadcast rights and digital streaming packages
Radio and digital streaming rights command the highest multimedia fees because they deliver live audience reach valued by advertisers and sponsors.
AD Athletic Director Sports Program Management 2
When developing a multi-year strategic plan for an athletic department, which framework is most appropriate for assessing internal strengths and external opportunities?