Kadence Otto

Professor Western Carolina University

  • Cullowhee NC

Kadie Otto's research centers on ethical, social and legal issues in sport with specific attention to NCAA corruption and reform.

Contact

Biography

Kadence Otto, Ph.D., is Professor of Sport Management at Western Carolina University. Dr. Otto earned her B.S. degree in Physical Education, graduating Sum Cum Laude from Plymouth State University. She earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in Sport Management from Florida State University.

Dr. Otto teaches courses in Sport Ethics, Sport Law and Risk Management, and Global Sport and Culture. She recently published a textbook with Carolina Academic Press titled Applied Ethics for Sport Managers (2019).

Dr. Otto's research centers on ethical, social, and legal issues in sport with specific attention to NCAA corruption and reform. Her research has been published in scholarly journals including Sport, Ethics & Philosophy, Journal of Legal Aspects of Sport, Journal of Amateur Sport, and the Journal for the Study of Sports and Athletes in Education. Dr. Otto served as an expert consultant for the plaintiff’s attorneys in O’Bannon v. NCAA, offered insight to the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division regarding NCAA scholarship restrictions, and has been interviewed by over 100 national media outlets such as CNN, Bloomberg, USA Today, and ESPN regarding critical issues facing big-time college sports.

Industry Expertise

Writing and Editing
Sport - Amateur
Education/Learning
Sport - Professional
Research

Areas of Expertise

NCAA Corruption and Reform
Risk Management
Sport Ethics
Sport Law
Global Sport and Culture

Education

Plymouth State University

B.S.

1997

Florida State University

M.S.

Sport Management

2000

Florida State University

Ph.D.

Sport Management

2003

Affiliations

  • College Athletes Rights & Empowerment Faculty Coalition : Working Group Member
  • Journal of Legal Aspects of Sport : Journal Article Review Board
  • American Association of University Professors : Member
  • Sport and Recreation Law Association : Member

Languages

  • English

Media Appearances

CNN analysis: Some college athletes play like adults, read like 5th-graders

CNN  online

2014-01-08

Kadence Otto, who once taught at Florida State University, recalled one situation where an academic support tutor would call every week to check up on a starting player.

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Sport management professor Kadie Otto writes her first textbook

WCU Stories  online

2019-07-24

Kadie Otto used to think she would do anything in order to take a sabbatical. That was until the Western Carolina University sport management professor used a recent scholarly leave assignment to write a textbook.

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Faculty Senate approves resolution opposing resumption of in-person instruction for fall 2020

WCU Stories  online

2020-08-11

Faculty Senate Chair Kadence Otto, professor of sport management, presided over the meeting while past chair Enrique Gomez served as parliamentarian, keeping meeting participants in compliance with Robert’s Rules of Order.

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Articles

Demonstrating the Importance of Accuracy in Reporting Results of Academic Clustering

Journal for the Study of Sports and Athletes in Education

2013

The purpose of this study was to lend precision to the reporting of academic clustering results (Case, Greer, & Brown, 1987). Descriptive statistics were used to calculate clustering percentages for Pacific-10 (Pac-10) football upperclassmen (n = 415). Clustering was present in 70% of the football programs; extreme clustering was found in one program, and clustering was found in two separate majors in one program.

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Clarifying Amateurism: A Logical Approach to Resolving the Exploitation of College Athletes Dilemma

Sport, Ethics and Philosophy

2013

In this paper we investigate the logical consequences of the common understanding of amateurism in the context of big-time US college athletics, and in so doing, illustrate a method based on linguistic analysis and logic.

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A Value Oriented Analysis of Proposed Collegiate Athletic Reform Legislation

Journal for the Study of Sports and Athletes in Education

2014

The purpose of this study was to conduct a value oriented analysis of the National Collegiate Athletics Accountability Act (NCAA Act), the Collegiate Student Athlete Protection Act (CSAP Act), and the College Athlete Protection Act (CAP Act). Based on theory of moral development and logical moral reasoning criteria three value classifications served as the orientational framework.

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