Readers know I'm not a total fan of big-money collegiate athletics. That's not entirely true. I bleed Cardinal Red (the shade of "Red" associated with the University of Wisconsin-Madison) and love and support student-athletes everywhere. What I despise are the coaches, administrators, and officials who turn them into a money making machine and steer those
kids who may be first-generation college students, towards easy classes and "bird" majors to keep them eligible to play football and basketball, which rake in huge sums of money, while promising a future of leaving early to turn pro with no safety net, and no compensation for the millions the Universities receive from marketing the students' images, likeness, and televising their efforts on games
In day 4 of their 4 day series, the News tackles the system of academic advisors and the level of control they maintain on pushing athletes into keeping kids eligible with little regard for their academic goals post-college.
This building is the Ross Academic Center, which is where athletes can come to receive access to tutors, advisors, and get a quiet place to study and work in between practice sessions. This is and of itself is actually a good thing. My alma mater, Wisconsin, has a similar building located under the Football indoor practice field, and the academic advising staff was always both realistic and professional. I found that they were quite supportive of athletes (even in Football and Basketball) taking tough classes and worked with Professors to make sure that these student-athletes could get their work done and still perform in their chosen sport. I have nothing but fond memories of my academic adviser, Chris Butler, who was instrumental in helping me find a course of study that I not only enjoyed (History and History of Science) but has continued to affect my career path as I prepare to attend law school and influence my current and future employment, as well as the writing you read here today. Through Ms. Butler, I worked with some fantastic and absolutely brilliant faculty, and I have nothing but great things to say about Wisconsin and their program.
When the University of Michigan dedicated its new academic center for athletes in 2006, the building's namesake reinforced expectations for the university's athletes.
"I am very pleased to help provide a top-notch learning environment in a new facility where these student-athletes and others can study and receive academic support," said Stephen Ross, a New York real estate developer and Michigan graduate. "The 'leaders and best' not only refers to the athletes on the sports field, but also to the students in the classroom."
But three former employees of the athletic department's Academic Success Program, now housed in the Stephen M. Ross Academic Center, said that academics often take a back seat to sports.
To achieve that goal, Academic Success Program employees appear to have found an unofficial path through the university, one that isn't written on any Web site or manual, but is evident in statistics, transcripts, interviews with athletes, faculty and in a 2007 audit conducted by the university.
That path has included:
? Encouraging athletes to pursue a bachelor in general studies degree, on the grounds that other majors are too inflexible and will interfere with sports.
? Telling athletes which classes to take, which has resulted in clusters of athletes taking many of the same psychology, Ojibwe - a Native American language - classical civilization and education courses. Many of these choices are "non-traditional" or non-classroom courses, such as independent study, directed readings, practicums or mentoring.
? Recommending athletes take the minimum number of credits required to stay eligible for sports, a practice that runs contrary to the Academic Success Program's stated principles.
? Using athletes' passwords and log-ins to enroll in classes or make changes in schedules, a violation of university policy.
Let's compare to my alma mater (by the way, the Badgers Basketball team has now reached the Sweet Sixteen, baby!) where I saw athletes in various sports enrolled in pre-law, pre-med, education (one of the toughest non-science schools to get into), engineering, and all kinds of programs, including kinesiology, which at Wisconsin is considered a path to Medical School.
My former team at Wisconsin included several medical school graduates and current med students, at least one who spent a year at Oxford as a graduate student and one who received a Masters' degree there while rowing in the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race, and many who were regularly all Big Ten student-athletes based on their GPA. This wasn't just my sport. I saw football players, basketball players, hockey players, swimmers, and those of all sports sitting in the Fetzer center (the Wisconsin equivalent of the "Ross Center") studying, using tutors and burying themselves in books.
I never saw a advisor use a students' password to change a class. I was never encouraged to take the minimum number of credits. In fact, when I did (because I had the luxury of many AP credits to cushion me) I was repeatedly asked if I knew if I was on track to graduate in four years (which I was) and that I had to certify that I had a "graduation plan." If I hadn't, I would have not been eligible entering my third year.
Now, what would have happened had I been at another Big Ten school? Joe Paterno, the legendary coach at Penn State, is known for his coaching acumen as well as his graduation rate, which looms above the national average, embarrassing his peers in all respects, especially since JoePa, as he is known, is not only a football coach, but a tenured professor at PSU. To JoePa, athletics is only a part of an academic experience, and he'll be damned before he sees a player put the court-work before the coursework. For all his faults, Bob Knight (formerly Indiana, and of Texas Tech) was the same way. People used to get on JoePa and Knight for having losing teams, but you know what? Their players graduated.
As part of a seven-month investigation into athletics and academics at Michigan, The News spoke with Academic Success Program co-director Shari Acho about these issues, as well as the program's mission, challenges and policies.
Acho said Academic Success Program staff do not direct students to majors or classes.
"No, not at all," said Acho, the program's co-director since 2002. "Each individual student will sit down and decide what their interests are and what works for them, and follow the right channels to do that."
Athletic director Bill Martin, who declined to be interviewed, told a university publication in spring 2005 that he wants academics to be the department's foremost focus.
In speaking with 87 current and former athletes, athletic staff, administrators and faculty on academics and athletics at Michigan, The News encountered cynicism about whether that goal can be met.
"Michigan, or any big-time program, they try to say that, and I think they do believe it," said Steve King, a former Michigan football player who later worked in the Academic Success Program. "But at the same time, too, as long as it doesn't interfere with the ultimate objective, which is to win football games, or to win in their sport."
Daniel Horton, who played basketball at Michigan from 2002 to 2006, was more blunt, laughing at the suggestion that academics came ahead of sports.
"There are consequences immediately if you don't show up for practice," Horton said. "The next day, you have to run or aren't going to play or something like that. There's no immediate consequences for not doing your homework or not studying that night.
"It's a farce for the NCAA to say that academics should come first. It's good in theory. ... But it's not really like that, not just at Michigan, anywhere."
Not true. At Wisconsin, we had people in tough majors. It was simply understood that the class came first. If we were out at 5:30am and a player had to make an 8:30am exam, we were done by 8. Coaches understood that. From Pat Richter, who was the AD at the time, and now under Barry Alvarez, I believe they care enough about making sure that
student-athletes get a real, Wisconsin education.
Even other schools can make it happen. Observe the number of Ivy League players in the NFL, such as
Matt Birk, Ryan Fitzpatrick, or my Wisconsin Teammates Beau Hoopman and Paul Daniels. Beau is an Olympic Gold Medalist and Paul has a Masters' Degree from Oxford. Both are candidates for the 2008 Olympics. Neither of them could have ever been accused of skimping on classes, and I doubt anyone at the Wisconsin Athletic Department ever encouraged them to. Even those on the Basketball team, currently known as one of the best in the U.S. is not filled with academic punch lines like many of Michigan or MSU's teams in the 1990s. Indeed, Bo Ryan recruits students he can coach. His system requires students who can study both their own subject as well as basketball. It's a double major, and it pays off. Plus, for those who don't turn pro, they graduate.
Later today I'll tackle the New York Times article dealing with the MLB and NFL players' unions' failure to look out for their veterans while protecting their stars from anti-drug investigations. Why public policy? NCAA gets tax exempt status. NFL and MLB get antitrust exemptions. Congress should (yes, they should) examine how a group of rich owners and universities can exploit such young talented people and reap the benefits.
More on this later, plus my finally un-archived SXSW interview on Cyber Safety, and prep for the Tech Policy Summit.
Go Badgers!
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