Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Collaboration between outdoor campus recreation programs and their academic counterparts in college institutions is an important aspect of efficiency and student success. Little is known about how or if these programs collaborate, even though they are well-positioned to benefit from such efforts. This study asked 31 different college campus recreation and academic programs (paired from the same institution) across the United States about the nature of their relationship to better understand how these programs might collaborate. Staff and faculty responses showed that most of the campus recreation/academic relationships were perceived as positive and demonstrated collaborative efforts, however, most of the perceptions of the relationship by staff/faculty were not aligned (both did not view the relationship as positive, neutral, etc.). This study highlights the benefits and barriers of collaboration between campus recreation and their academic counterpart on college campuses, and provides some ideas of how programs might begin collaborative efforts.

Keywords

mutualism reciprocity staff faculty higher education co-curricular

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

American Council on Education. (1937). The student personnel point of view. https://www.naspa.org/files/dmfile/Student_Personnel_Point_of_View_1937.pdf.

Andre

E. K.

Williams

Schwartz

Bullard

(2017). Benefits of campus outdoor recreation programs: A review of the literature. Journal of s. Education, and Leadership, 9(1), 15–25. https://doi.org/10.18666/JOREL-2017-V9-I1-7491

Baumfield

(2016). Stakeholder theory from a management perspective. Bridging the shareholder/stakeholder divide. Australian Journal of Corporate Law, 31(1), 187–207.

Bell

Vaillancourt

(2011). When college outdoor orientation programs end: A grounded theory investigation of program discontinuation at four-year colleges in the United States. Journal of The First-Year Experience & Students in Transition, 23(1), 103–119. https://doi.org/10.65005/154230711813694555

Bourassa

D. M.

Kruger

(2001). The national dialogue on academic and student affairs collaboration. New Directions for Higher Education, 2001(116), 9–38. https://doi.org/10.1002/he.31

Braun

Clarke

(2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa

Cho

A. R.

Sriram

(2016). Student affairs collaborating with academic affairs: Perceptions of individual competency and institutional culture. College Student Affairs Journal, 34(1), 56–69. https://dx.https://doi.org/10.1353/csj.2016.0003

Dale

P. A.

Drake

T. M.

(2005). Connecting academic and student affairs to enhance student learning and success. New Direction for Community Colleges, 2005(131), 51–64. https://doi.org/10.1002/cc.205

Dobrow

S. R.

Chandler

D. E.

Murphy

W. M.

Kram

K. E.

(2012). A review of developmental networks: Incorporating a mutuality perspective. Journal of Management, 38(1), 210–242. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206311415858

10.

Driskell

J. E.

Salas

Driskell

(2018). Foundations of teamwork and collaboration. American Psychologist, 73(4), 334–348. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000241

11.

Eurich

(2018). What self-awareness really is (And how to cultivate it). Harvard Business Review Digital Articles, 1–9.

12.

Frost

R. A.

Strom

S. L.

Downey

Schultz

D. D.

Holland

T. A.

(2010). Enhancing student learning with academic and student affairs collaboration. The Community College Enterprise, 16(1), 37–51.

13.

Gilani

Thomas

(2025). Understanding the factors and consequences of student belonging in higher education: A critical literature review. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, 34, 1–46. https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi34.1385

14.

Göbel

Vogel

Weber

(2013). Management research on reciprocity: A review of the literature. Business Research, 6, 34–53. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03342741

15.

Griffiths

A.-J.

Alsip

Hart

S. R.

Round

R. L.

Brady

(2021). Together we can do so much: A systematic review and conceptual framework of collaboration in schools. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 36(1), 59–85. https://doi.org/10.1177/0829573520915368

16.

Gulley

N. Y.

(2017). Mission-driven collaboration between academic and student affairs in community colleges. Journal of College Student Development, 58(3), 463–468. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2017.0035

17.

Hackett

M. W.

(2007). Exploring the relationship between recreational sports employment and academic success. Recreational Sports Journal, 31(1), 69–74. https://doi.org/10.1123/rsj.31.1.69

18.

Jackson

Ebbers

L. H.

(1999). Bridging the academic-social divide: Academic and student affairs collaboration. College Student Journal, 33(3), 380–385.

19.

Kezar

(2001). Documenting the landscape: Results of a national study on academic and student affairs collaborations. New Directions for Higher Education, 2011(116), 39–52. https://doi.org/10.1002/he.32

20.

Kezar

(2005). Moving from I to we: Reorganizing for collaboration in higher education. Change, 37(6), 50–57. https://doi.org/10.3200/CHNG.37.6.50-57

21.

Kezar

Holcombe

(2020). The role of collaboration in integrated programs aimed at supporting underrepresented student success in STEM. American Behavioral Scientist, 64(3), 325–348. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764219869421

22.

Kezar

Lester

(2009). Organizing higher education for collaboration: A guide for campus leaders. Jossey Bass.

23.

Kneiss

Benjamin

Boettcher

(2017). Negotiating faculty identity in the transition from student affairs practitioner to tenure-track faculty. College Student Affairs Journal, 35(1), 13–24. https://dx.https://doi.org/10.1353/csj.2017.0002

24.

Kuh

G. D.

(2009). What student affairs professionals need to know about student engagement. Journal of College Student Development, 50(6), 683–706. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.0.0099

25.

Kuh

G. D.

Kinzie

Buckley

J. A.

Bridges

B. K.

Hayek

J. C.

(2006). What matters to student success: A review of the literature. National Postsecondary Education Cooperative.

26.

Kuh

G. D.

Kinzie

Schuh

J. H.

Whitt

E. J.

(2011). Fostering student success in hard times. Change, 43(4), 40–46. https://doi.org./10.1080/00091383.2011.585311

27.

LePeau

(2015). A grounded theory of academic affairs and student affairs partnerships for diversity and inclusion aims. The Review of Higher Education, 39(1), 97–122. https://dx.https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2015.0044

28.

Luft

Ingham

(1955). The Johari window: A graphic model of interpersonal awareness. In Proceedings of the western training laboratory in group development . University of California.

29.

Nesheim

B. E.

Guentzel

M. J.

Kellogg

A. H.

McDonald

W. M.

Wells

C. A.

Whitt

E. J.

(2007). Outcomes for students of student affairs-academic affairs partnership programs. Journal of College Student Development, 48(4), 435–454. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2007.0041

30.

O’Halloran

K. C.

(2019). A classification of collaboration between student and academic affairs. College Student Journal, 53(3), 301–314.

31.

Pakulski

(2018). The development of elite theory. In Best

Higley

(Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of political elites (pp. 9–16). Palgrave Macmillan.

32.

Philpott

J. L.

Strange

(2003). “On the road to Cambridge”: A case study of faculty and student affairs in collaboration. The Journal of Higher Education, 74(1), 77–95.

33.

Skopp

N. A.

Workman

D. E.

Adler

J. L.

Gahm

G. A.

(2015). Analysis of distance collaboration modalities: Alternatives to meeting face-to-face. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 31(12), 901–910. https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2015.1072786

34.

Syno

J. L. S.

McBrayer

J. S.

Calhoun

D. W.

(2019). Faculty and staff perceptions of organizational units and collaboration impact. College Student Affairs Journal, 37(1), 1–13. https://dx.https://doi.org/10.1353/csj.2019.0000

35.

Trudeau

C. S.

Herrmann

T. W.

(2014). Ernest L. Boyer, the Christian college, and the uneasy tension between the curriculum and cocurriculum. . Christian Higher Education, 13(1), 61–73. https://doi.org/10.1080/15363759.2014.856652

36.

Weber

Haugh

Göbel

Leonardy

(2022). Pathways to lasting cross-sector social collaboration: A configurational study. Journal of Business Ethics, 177(3), 613–639. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-020-04714-y

37.

Young

Anderson

Stewart

(2015). Hierarchical microaggressions in higher education. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 8(1), 61–71. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038464

Can’t We All Get Along? Collaboration Between Outdoor Campus Recreation Programs and Their Academic Counterparts

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References