Thesis (M.S.)--Ball State University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 129-133).

In 1991, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) created the Challenging Athletes' Minds for Personal Success (CHAMPS)/Life Skills Program to support the student development initiatives of participating universities and colleges and to enhance the quality of the collegiate student-athlete experience within the university setting (NCAA, 2005). The CHAMPS/Life Skills Program focuses on five areas: Academic Excellence, Athletic Excellence, Personal Development, Career Development, and Service. Very few modifications have been made to the CHAMPS/Life Skills Program Educational material. The material is out of date and does not meet the needs of instructors or collegiate student-athletes. Many university faculty members use various forms of technology to supplement their teaching methods. The current presentation of the CHAMPS/Life Skills Program content exists only in paper- and pencil- format.The purpose of this creative project was to update the existing CHAMPS/Life Skills Program material and transform the material into an electronic format. This project focused on updating the Personal Development chapter, including updates to topics such as: stress management and self-esteem. A Sport Psychology chapter was created to equip CHAMPS/Life Skills Program instructors with sport psychology knowledge applicable to a collegiate student-athlete population. Electronic and additional hard copy resources were created in this project. The updated chapters and an evaluation form were distributed to three academicians familiar with the Creative Project. The academicians were asked to provide feedback and evaluate the updated chapters. The provided feedback can be used during the final preparation of the CHAMPS/Life Skills Program Manual. / School of Physical Education, Sport, and Exercise Science

This study seeks to determine the effectiveness of the Challenging Athletes Minds for Personal Success (CHAMPS)/Life Skills program at the University of North Texas, as perceived by the student athletes who participate or participated in this program. The study attempts to measure the extent to which the student athletes feel that the program had value; if they received helpful information to support them through their college career to career transition; if the student athletes felt that the program provided them with skills to encourage better self-esteem; and if they believed that the CHAMPS/Life Skills program provided them with leadership and character education. The study, conducted in the Fall of 2003, had 163 respondents. An instrument was developed to determine student athletes' perceptions of the effectiveness of the CHAMPS/Life Skills program at UNT. The instrument consisted of 30 questions using a Likert-type scale. A Mann-Whitney U, a non-parametric t-Test, was utilized to analyze the data. This type of t-Test was used because it is specifically designed to compare the means of the same variable with two different groups and account for non-homogeneous groups. The lack of homogeneity was very likely influenced by the unequal group sizes. Generally, all aspects of the CHAMPS/Life Skills program at UNT were found to be positive by each subgroup. Student athletes found value in the CHAMPS/Life Skills program at UNT. In three of the four components studied, males had a statistically stronger feeling than females. Minority status had no statistically significant impact on the results in any of the four components studied. For the variable measuring the number of years in the program, a significant difference existed in three of the four components studied. The study shows that if a student athlete was involved in the program for more than two years, the CHAMPS/Life Skills program at UNT was more valuable for them than those enrolled for a shorter period of time.

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In 1991, the NCAA created Challenging Athletes Minds for Personal Success (CHAMPS)/Life Skills (NCAA, 2005). The CHAMPS/Life Skills program concentrates on five areas: Academic Commitment, Athletic Commitment, Personal Development Commitment, Career Development Commitment, and Service Commitment (NCAA, 2005). Very few amendments and modifications have been made to the CHAMPS/Life Skills educational material since the program was developed. In the present creative thesis project, revisions and updates were implemented to the current material to satisfy the needs of collegiate student-athletes. Hence, the purpose of this creative thesis project was to update the Academic Commitment module within the CHAMPS/Life Skills manual. Specifically, the Time Management and Study Skills components were revised. These revisions were evaluated by three university professors. In conclusion, the present creative thesis project will assist in presenting CHAMPS/Life Skills material to student-athletes. / School of Physical Education, Sport, and Exercise Science