In a time where many universities have put winning ahead of academic integrity, it is refreshing to be a part of a university that still values learning above all else.
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Primetime college sports are at the height of their popularity.
Big athletic programs now have the ability to reach a national audience and attract a diverse portfolio of corporate sponsors — and these schools are reaping the benefits. After winning last year’s NCAA men’s basketball national championship, the University of Louisville reported earnings of more than $25 million.
This opportunity for profit has created an incentive for many programs to recruit big-time talent, even if the athletes are vastly underprepared for college coursework. A recent investigation conducted by CNN found that between 7-18 percent of athletes in the profit-driven sports (basketball and football) read at an elementary school level. But the injustice doesn’t end there.
Many universities have also been known to give improper and favorable academic assistance to their student-athletes. While the NCAA has cracked down on many schools, including recent BCS National Champion Florida State, for academic scandals, these practices still exist and have become ingrained in a college culture where student-athletes are seen as less student and more athlete.
How, then, does Cal Poly — a school known for its academics — deal with this compromising situation?
Carly Head, academic advisor for Cal Poly Athletics, stressed the importance of responsibility.
“For every student, they have challenges depending on what quarter it is and what classes there are, but our students know that it is their responsibility to take care of their academics first, because without their academics they aren’t going to have their athletics,” Head said.
In addition to responsibility, Head thinks Cal Poly’s focus on studious habits has an effect on athletes.
“When you go to the library and you see that there are hundreds of other students there studying, that makes it easier to get up and go to the library,” she said.
Student-athletes are also motivated by their coaches, who keep a watchful eye over their players’ grades. Head meets with coaches often, she said.
“Our coaches here at Cal Poly are so much a part of the success of our student-athletes; their responsibility is to keep these students accountable,” Head said.
The minimum GPA the NCAA requires for an athlete to compete is 2.0, but Cal Poly coaches have a higher standard. Head said coaches often set their minimum team GPA significantly higher.
Athletes have the option to receive one-on-one tutoring that is meant to accommodate a hectic schedule. Head is in charge of the athlete-tutoring program at Cal Poly and makes sure all the student tutors she employs know the regulations of the NCAA. Tutors are even warned not to buy any meals for their students, as it could be seen as an “extra benefit.”
When asked if she is ever concerned about possible NCAA infractions, Head coolly responded:
“We haven’t had a violation; part of the reason for that is hiring the correct people, people that understand the significance of the NCAA.”
And the results are in the scores. Many Cal Poly athletic teams have achieved outstanding academic NCAA recognition. The Academic Progress Report released for all Division I schools several weeks ago, returned above average scores for all athletic teams.
The report labels 900 as the minimum score for any athletic team to compete in their respective seasons. Thirteen of Cal Poly’s 20 athletic teams improved their scores from the previous report, with the women’s swimming and diving team and the men’s golf and tennis teams achieving perfect scores of 1000.
But there are more meaningful statistics, Cal Poly Athletics Director Don Oberhelman said.
“For me, the ultimate goal is how you graduate your student-athletes, and we are at the same percentage as the regular students,” he said.
When it comes to graduation rates, mere percentage points separate student-athletes and their peers. Student-athletes graduate at a 77.6 percent clip while the student body resides at 77.2 percent.
The CNN investigation also found a significant “achievement gap” between athletes and the general student population at many universities. This is not a problem at Cal Poly because of a high academic standard set during the recruiting process, Oberhelman said.
“I don’t believe (that gap) exists here,” he said. “Our admissions standards for athletics are very close to what they are for the university. We have some special admits, as many other groups on campus do, but it’s not like we are admitting a student with a 2.3 high school GPA. We’re not. Because they can’t compete academically with the other students here.”
Oberhelman believes the admission standards for athletics are among the most rigid in the state, but maintains that the athletic program is still faced with an expected amount of problems.
“We have 550 total student-athletes and out of that number … there is always going to be one or two that aren’t getting done what they need to get done,” Oberhelman said. “There is going to be someone that is on academic probation. Out of 550 there are going to be a few that we have to worry about.”
One athlete Oberhelman doesn’t need to worry about is Kelsey Engel, a member of the swimming and diving team and a mechanical engineering senior.
“It is difficult sometimes to keep up with the demands in the classroom and on the pool deck,” Engel said.
She explained that the academic rigor of Cal Poly had a big impact on her decision to come to San Luis Obispo.
“Cal Poly is a highly ranked engineering school, and that was very important to me,” Engel said. “To go to a school with a good engineering program.”
The example that Engel, along with many other academically astute student-athletes, has set speaks volumes about the priorities of Cal Poly Athletics over other institutions.
In a time where many universities have put winning ahead of academic integrity, it is refreshing to be a part of a university that still values learning above all else. Not to say the university’s teams have not succeeded on their respective fields of play — it’s just that Cal Poly’s athletes keep the student in student-athlete.