Jackson is the Vilas Distinguished Professor of Higher Education and the chair of the School of Education’s Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis. He is also the director and chief research scientist of Wisconsin’s Equity and Inclusion Laboratory within the Wisconsin Center for Education Research. Frazier, the athletic director at Northern Illinois University, earned a master’s degree from the School of Education’s Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis in 2015.

The NSIA, which officially launched last month, was started with the mission of generating an empirical understanding of the organizational culture of the more than 13,000 professionals currently working in intercollegiate athletics.

As one of those professionals, Frazier, who is one of 14 black athletic directors in the 130 Division 1 Football Bowl Subdivision, hopes that the NSIA’s work will move the needle and attract talented people of color to institution’s athletic departments.

Jackson, who heads up the NSIA in addition to his role at Wei LAB, tells Diverse Issues in Higher Education that the organization exists to provide insight into the hiring practices surrounding some of the most sought-after jobs in the country and to provide institutions with actionable insights that can improve institutional culture and ensure organizational excellence.

Frazier remarks that a data-driven analysis about the dearth in hiring is long overdue.  Jackson concurs, suggesting that as the industry grows, it’s not surprising that increased attention has been placed on hiring practices and the experience of intercollegiate athletics professionals.

Read the entire article here.