Class Details
Moving the goal posts: Exploring the effects of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) policy on modern college athletics, athletes, and university administration
Name, image, and likeness (NIL) policy has changed the landscape of higher education. A policy that was initially thought to open the door for college athletes to earn money from their social profiles has evolved to a paradigm shifting force that has changed the way institutions view student athletes, fundraising, and the intersection of academic and athletic goals. This seminar will provide the framework to understand NIL policy and the reach it has on higher education. In the process, students will explore the ripple effects of NIL on topic areas including gender and race equity, engagement with third-party collectives, student athlete classification, higher education finance, shifts in the intersection of education and athletics, social and political speech. Students will read contemporary research on these topics and evaluate how NIL has changed the landscape of both athletics and university processes and missions moving forward.
Enrollment
- Enrollment through your home campus; contact your OSLEP campus coordinator for information
- OSLEP provides all required reading materials at no additional cost-NO books to buy!
- Housing and meals provided
- In-person residential seminar
Scholar
Dr. Darrell Lovell
West Texas A&M University
Darrell Lovell is the director of the Master of Public Administration program at West Texas A&M University where he teaches courses in public policy and public management. His research interests include policy implementation and diffusion in higher education, street-level bureaucracy, and exploring the impact of anti-tenure and DEI policy.
Dr. Lovell has an extensive background in policy research and is an expert on name, image, and likeness (NIL) policy. In the past three years, he has published articles on NIL in journals including the Journal of Non-Profit Affairs and Administrative Theory & Praxis on the implementation and spread of NIL policy at the state level. He is the lead author of Name, Image, and Likeness Policies: Institutional Impacts and State Responses that was released in 2023 with Routledge Publishing. Most recently, Dr. Lovell published an article on the interaction between Title IX and NIL in January 2025 in the Journal of Social Equity and Public Administration. His upcoming projects explore the narrative framing of NIL policy as well as exploring the impact NIL policy is having on student-athletes’ willingness to express their political and social views on social media. He is also working on a book that will explore anti-tenure, anti-DEI, and divisive concepts policy that is scheduled for publication by Routledge Publishing in early 2026.
Class Prep