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September 16, 2002 Volume 27, Issue 7 |
While it's widely recognized that regular exercise promotes better fitness and health, a recent campus survey shows it also may be an indicator of academic success.
Beginning with the first class to use the Joe Frank Sanderson Center when it opened in 1998, Mississippi State's Department of Recreational Sports conducted a random sampling of 900 first-time freshmen to determine if use of the Sanderson Center affects grade-point average.
Survey data was compiled and processed by the Office of Institutional Research, with samples divided among three groups of 300 students each. The groups included non-users of any Sanderson Center recreational activity; less-frequent users with 15-74 visits; and frequent users with 75 or more visits.
According to Laura Walling, director of recreational sports, the survey found that those in the middle category (15-74 visits) fared best with an overall GPA of 2.85 at the end of the 1998 fall semester. Frequent users earned an overall GPA of 2.83 and non-Sanderson users scored the lowest with a 2.54 GPA.
"We also tracked graduation rates for the three categories," Walling said. "The middle category of periodic users again led the way with 26 percent of the 1998 freshman class earning bachelor's degrees in May 2002. This compares favorably to the frequent users' graduation rate of 22 percent and the non-users with 19 percent."
The study also found that among:
--Non-users, 70.7 percent returned for fall 1999 semester, ending semester with 2.74 GPA; 61.3 percent returned for 2000, ending semester with 2.86 GPA; 56 percent returned for 2001, ending with 2.88 GPA. Non-users had an overall high school GPA of 3.21 and a composite ACT score of 23.62.
--Less-frequent users, 85 percent returned for fall 1999 semester, ending semester with 2.96 GPA; 78 percent returned in 2000, ending with 3.02 GPA; 72.7 percent returned for 2001, ending semester with 3.01 GPA. Less-frequent users had an overall high school GPA of 3.32 and an ACT composite of 23.59.
--Frequent users, 87 percent returned for fall 1999 semester, ending semester with 2.93 GPA; 74.7 percent returned for fall 2000, ending semester with 3.02 GPA; 71.7 percent returned for 2001, ending with 3.05 GPA. Frequent users had an overall high school GPA of 3.27 and an ACT composite score of 23.41.
"While the results between the frequent and occasional users were close, they show greater retention and graduation from the more moderate users of Sanderson," Walling said. "We believe part of that is due to the periodic release of stress through exercise.
"Though grades seemed to suffer a bit when students spent a great deal of time at Sanderson, scores were worse for those who never came through the center's door," she added.
Expressing pleasure with the survey results, Walling said her office plans to continue tracking other freshman classes in order to develop a more extensive comparison between academic success and extracurricular recreational activities.