Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs & Provost
U of M aims to improve student-athlete academic performance
Contacts: Daniel Wolter, University News Service, (612) 625-8510
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL ( 1/19/2007 ) --Improving the academic outcomes for student-athletes is an important priority for the University of Minnesota, Provost Thomas Sullivan said today in announcing a series of actions aimed at achieving that goal. The steps come from the final report of the Task Force on Academic Support and Performance for Student-Athletes (ASAP), formed by Sullivan and university President Robert Bruininks more than a year ago.
“Our goal is to be one of the top three public research universities in the world,” Sullivan said. “That involves improving the academic outcomes and graduation rates of all of our students, including student-athletes. The university is mindful of the challenges we have historically faced in this area and we're committed to continuously improving the academic opportunities and support for our student-athletes.”
Athletics Director Joel Maturi added, “In intercollegiate athletics, our focus is on the student-athlete and giving them outstanding learning opportunities both on and off the field. We've made significant progress in recent years, but need to do more -- which is what this report is all about.”
The ASAP task force was formed as part of the university's strategic positioning initiative and in light of new NCAA requirements for student-athlete outcomes at Division IA institutions. The task force was co-chaired by professors Mary Jo Kane, director of the department of kinesiology and the Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sports, and Perry Leo, associate department head in the department of aerospace engineering and mechanics.
“This task force spent hours poring over data and developing a comprehensive profile of the student-athlete at the University of Minnesota to determine indicators for success,” Kane said. “Then we looked at what our challenges were, what other schools have done and came up with specific recommendations of ways we can better prepare our student-athletes for success.”
The task force recommendations include the following:
• Centralize and standardize data collection of student-athlete academic information to enable academic counselors, athletics compliance officers and other relevant campus units to more effectively monitor student-athlete performance. “This really is a simple step that will make a big difference in ensuring adequate academic support,” Leo said.
• Help student-athletes -- especially those who are academically fragile -- successfully transition into the academic and social rigors of campus life by creating an intensive and comprehensive summer bridge program that would help “jump start” their academic careers. “Summer bridge programs have had demonstrable results in helping at-risk students succeed,” Kane said. “Providing programs that prepare student-athletes for the challenges they face in college is a good idea we want to take to the next level.”
• Increase access to academic programs that are relevant to student-athletes as a way to increase interest and motivation. The university will pursue expanding access to traditional majors and develop areas of emphasis that would build on student-athletes' interests, such as sports marketing and promotion and sports journalism. “It only makes sense that student-athletes are interested in the business of sports and we need to find more opportunities to capitalize on that interest,” Sullivan said.
• Intensify efforts to track, engage and provide opportunities to former student-athletes who left without graduating, but who have accumulated enough credit hours so that graduation is within reach. “There are a number of examples of student-athletes who leave the U to pursue a professional career with just a few credits left to earn their degree,” said Leo. “Even if it's later in life, we want to engage people to come back and complete their college degree.”
• Strengthen efforts to more fully integrate intercollegiate athletics with the broader university community by eliminating unnecessary barriers and creating opportunities for integration. After the academic scandals that occurred in Division I athletics in the 1990s, a number of “firewalls” have appropriately been erected to between the academic and athletics side of the institution. While maintaining strong oversight, there needs to more, positive interactions between coaches and faculty.
Sullivan said the university would begin implementing the recommendations immediately.