Making Better Decisions with Data

Data is all around us. Businesses across a wide variety of industries are using data to engage with their employees more effectively and improve their bottom line. One of the top data trends of 2019 is continuous intelligence, where “real-time analytics is ‘integrated within a business operation’.”

So why not use continuous intelligence in prevention programming? Talk about #dataforgood.

Currently, schools will often just ‘check the box’ with a “cookie-cutter” solution to prevention programming. A few examples of why this one-size-fits-all approach is not effective:

• A school on the West Coast may have a different understanding of bystander behavior relative to a school in the Midwest.

• A Division III school in the South may have learned consent differently from a Division II school in the Northeast.

• A Division I school with a budget in the hundreds of millions may have presented material on healthy relationships relative to a Division III school with a much smaller operating budget.

• Athletic departments across the country have spent millions on training, but have no idea what kind of effect the training has had.

Athlete Initiative addresses these issues by assessing a campus climate, delivering a tailored prevention program, then measuring whether the material presented was comprehended and understood in the effort to change behavior. When spending money to shift attitudes and beliefs, evaluating whether the investment actually made a difference is vitally important for decision makers. The NCAA requires that training be offered to every student-athlete each year, so why not make sure it is effective?

Bottom Line:

1. Athlete Initiative provides decision makers with real-time data analytics related to prevention programming

2. Athlete Initiative can assess a campus climate, delivered a tailored program, and measure the effectiveness of the program to make live changes to content

3. Athlete Initiative uses data to help institutions improve their bottom line and facilitate behavior change of student-athletes, coaches, and staff

If a school is going to spend thousands of dollars on prevention initiatives, why wouldn’t it want to see how its dollars are making a difference? Contact us today to find out how we can do this for you.

Bringing Value to Schools Beyond 'Checking the Box'

College is an exciting and challenging time for student-athletes as they navigate life as 18 to 23 year olds. New social experiences are introduced and opportunities for great successes and failures become accessible. These kids are in the spotlight and bear responsibility to uphold their school’s values.

However, what often gets forgotten is the amount that is at stake for the higher ed institutions overall. Coaches and administrators are not shielded from scrutiny related to their own conduct. Local and national media are paying close attention to how misconduct is handled.

Misconduct issues challenge schools with:

1. Monetary Risk - Reactive measures cause hundreds of millions of dollars of damage

2. Reputation Risk - Donor support fades, application rates drop, recruiting becomes more difficult

3. Regulatory Penalties and Fines

4. Protection of Student-Athletes’ Well-Being & Health

Instead of reacting to issues, Athlete Initiative’s services provide institutions with a proactive approach to prevention programming. Not only is our approach tailored specifically for the unique risks that student-athletes face today, it is continuous and on-going to make sure that behavior change is actually occurring.

We bring in coaches and athletic department staff to make sure all stakeholders are on the same page with expectations and appropriate conduct.

By earning Athlete Initiative’s 1st Team All-Campus Certification (™), institutions can say they took every measure possible to provide student-athletes and coaches with the skills to create a safe campus community.

Still unsure of how we add value? Contact contact@athleteinitiative.org and one of our team members will respond promptly with more information!

Award Winning Research by Co-Founder Amy Kame

As part of her Master of Arts in Leadership Studies at the University of San Diego, Amy’s research into sexual misconduct in collegiate athletics won the award for top capstone research in her cohort. This research was the genesis of Athlete Initiative and includes many important discussion points for modern-day prevention programming.

Her research is available for download here.

If you would like to speak with Amy regarding her research, she can be contacted at contact@athleteinitiative.org.

I'm a Student-Athlete in the #MeToo Era, What Now?

NCAA guidance and federal regulations can be confusing, here are important items to consider during your collegiate athletic career and social life.

As a student-athlete, why is this important to you?

When you sign that Letter of Intent and step on your college or university campus for the first time, whether you like it or not, you become a leader and role-model on campus. Students who don’t have the privilege of playing college athletics are aware of who you are, regardless if your campus is huge with 30,000+ students or more intimate with less than 2,000 students. Additionally, the local media is familiar with you and will be putting your name and picture in the news with your achievements on the playing field, court, or surface.

More importantly for you to know, the media will have no problem putting your picture and name in the news in the event that an offense occurs off the field. This is something regular students do not have to worry about on the level that you do. If something inappropriate were to happen at a party, your name is first to go in the paper, right next to your university’s name. Just look at what happens when you Google “Stanford swimmer.”  In the age of social media and instant news, word travels fast.

In other words, the spotlight is on you.

So how can you protect yourself?

The three most important things for student-athletes in preventing sexual violence:

1. Know your rights

2. Have a firm understanding of consent and bystander behavior

3. Recognize the example you set for the rest of the campus community

Whether you are a male or female athlete, you need to know your rights and protections under federal regulations such as Title IX and the Clery Act, in addition to guidance from the Department of Education.

Having a firm understanding of consent is the most important thing to keeping yourself and your teammates out of an inappropriate situation and out of the news. When in a sexual encounter, it is critical that each person understand and acknowledge the other person’s consent. As a bystander, you should be equipped with the skills and confidence necessary to intervene on someone’s behalf when they are in trouble.

The NCAA has released a sexual violence prevention toolkit, which calls for engagement and communication between university staff and student-athletes. It is vital to know who your Title IX Coordinator is, along with the Compliance staff within the athletic department. Getting to know these individuals will ease the process of reporting and asking questions.

This is a step in the right direction to giving student-athletes a voice on campus in the fight against sexual violence. As you now know, you are in the spotlight and it is important you recognize the potential for setting a positive example for the rest of the campus community. You can find the entire NCAA Sexual Violence Prevention Toolkit here.

Bottom line

There are many nuances to navigating the #MeToo era as a student-athlete and it is easy to become overwhelmed with the number of important things to keep in mind. It is important to remember:

• The culture is shifting in a manner that states sexual violence WILL NOT be tolerated

• There are resources, tools, and assistance available to create a safer campus community

Just like your sport, preventing sexual violence is a team effort between the university, athletic department, and student-athlete in order to succeed and create a safer campus community. It is important that each party be given a voice in order to achieve this goal.