Donna A. Lopiano

Athletic Director’s Desk Reference, Second Edition With HKPropel Access, is the most comprehensive resource available for collegiate and high school athletic administrators. Expert leadership advice and practical tools guide administrators in successfully navigating increasingly complex roles in athletic programs of any size. With more than 75 combined years of experience as athletic program administrators, coaches, and consultants, the authors deliver an engaging narrative and professional insights for athletic directors of all levels. The modern demands on athletic programs and evolving safety and culture issues are reflected in this updated edition, with new content on Title IX compliance, social media communications, planning tools for budgets, cost-saving strategies, revenue generating opportunities, student-athlete mental health, concussion protocols, athletes’ rights, Esports, and more. Offering a solid foundation of information every athletic director needs to know, plus clear advice on day-to-day operations, this essential resource can be used as an immediate practical guide through the real-world issues typically encountered by every athletic director. An extended table of contents provides an outline of the book elements so athletic directors can quickly find relevant tools within the book and easily reference the corresponding online materials, enabling administrators to confront issues and lead with confidence. Throughout the book, management tips deliver professional advice, foundational information, problem-solving strategies, and suggestions for management of employees, programs, events, and facilities. Planning tools provide specific steps and considerations to take when developing strategic plans, action plans, professional development plans, and governance systems. More than 300 documents are delivered through HKPropel. These valuable time-saving resources can be downloaded and customized to suit the needs of any athletic program. Educational resources can be used for teaching and motivating staff, campus constituents, volunteers, and student athletes. Evaluation instruments and risk assessments help today's athletic administrators assess job performance, evaluate program contents, identify risks, and prevent litigation. Policies and forms are easily modified, enabling athletic directors to produce effective policies and procedures that meet their unique needs while saving significant time. The advice and tools in Athletic Director’s Desk Reference allow professionals to turn theory into immediate practice. The book addresses all the various policy, procedure, and system needs required for becoming an efficient and effective athletic director overseeing a successful athletic program. Note: A code for accessing HKPropel is included with all new print books.

A critical look at the tension between the larger role of the university and the commercialization of college sportsUnwinding Madness is the most comprehensive examination to date of how the NCAA has lost its way in the governance of intercollegiate athletics—and why it is incapable of achieving reform and must be replaced. The NCAA has placed commercial success above its responsibilities to protect the academic primacy, health and well-being of college athletes and fallen into an educational, ethical, and economic crisis. As long as intercollegiate athletics reside in the higher education environment, these programs must be academically compatible with their larger institutions, subordinate to their educational mission, and defensible from a not-for-profit organizational standpoint. The issue has never been a matter of whether intercollegiate athletics belongs in higher education as an extracurricular offering. Rather, the perennial challenge has been how these programs have been governed and conducted. The authors propose detailed solutions, starting with the creation of a new national governance organization to replace the NCAA. At the college level, these proposals will not diminish the revenue production capacity of sports programs but will restore academic integrity to the enterprise, provide fairer treatment of college athletes with better health protections, and restore the rights and freedoms of athletes, which have been taken away by a professionalized athletics mentality that controls the cost of its athlete labor force and overpays coaches and athletic directors. Unwinding Madness recognizes that there is no easy fix to the problems now facing college athletics. But the book does offer common sense, doable solutions that respect the rights of athletes, protects their health and well-being while delivering on the promise of a bona fide educational degree program.