Sun Yoong Kim, a University of Arkansas doctoral student in sport management, won first place in the student poster competition at the Southern Sport Management Conference held April 10-12 on the Troy University campus in Alabama.

Kim’s research examined “The Mediating Effect of Team Identification on Student College Choice.” He wanted to provide a better understanding of the role of intercollegiate athletics for administrators in higher education to recruit college-bound high school students.

Kim created a conceptual framework of factors that influence college choice. He proposed that team identification may have an effect on both internal factors such as socioeconomic status, high school performance, educational aspiration and aptitude and external factors such as influence of significant people in their lives, fixed college characteristics such as cost and location and the college’s efforts include written information and campus visit.

Intercollegiate athletics can facilitate students’ social and emotional adjustment to college life as well as their academic adjustment, according to Kim, and more research is needed to address the symbiotic relationship between academics and athletics in higher education.

Steve Dittmore, associate professor of recreation and sport management, is Kim’s academic adviser, and Gi-Yong Koo, a recent doctoral graduate of the program, was Kim’s adviser for the poster.