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A landmark year for scholar athletes
Warde Manuel, director of athletics, paid a visit to the Faculty Senate Executive Committee yesterday to discuss what’s been a landmark year for UB Athletics, as well as assert his commitment to excellence not only on the playing field, but also in the classroom.
Manuel cited as major successes the women’s tennis team’s first-round matchup against UCLA in the NCAA tournament; the rowing team’s win at the Dad Vail Regatta, the largest collegiate regatta in the United States; and the football team’s 42-24 victory over Ball State in the 2008 MAC championship game.
“We’re the first SUNY school that ever went to a bowl game,” he said, referring to UB’s trip to the International Bowl. “We’re one of the 11 [NCAA] conference companions,” said Manuel, “and we did it without selling out; we did it without sacrificing academics. It’s a proud story for us to tell.”
In fact, Manuel said that 2008 turned out to the best year in the past decade for UB Athletics in terms of student-athletes’ overall GPA. Of more than 500 student athletes, he said, 242 had a semester GPA of 3.0 or higher, and eight a perfect GPA of 4.0.
“We’re trying to help them grow academically, and we’re committed to making sure that they understand how to manage the athletic and academic balance they need,” he said. “We’re not interested in raising athletes; we’re interested in student-athletes.”
UB Athletics keeps in touch with the professors of all students involved in Division I sports at the university, particularly incoming freshmen and sophomores, said Manuel, who meets personally with any student who’s experiencing struggles with his or her studies.
“On a normal day,” he says, “they’re with us (athletic teams) three to four hours a day, and what we tell them is, you’ve got another 20 hours to figure out how you’re going to sleep, study, go to class and get the rest of your life done.”
In other business, three members of the Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC) outlined UB’s progress toward meeting the goals set forth in the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment. The commitment, which President John B. Simpson signed in spring 2007, requires the creation of an official plan within two years of its signing by outlining the steps needed to transform UB into a climate-neutral campus.
Addressing the FSEC were Robert Shibley, professor of architecture and planning, senior advisor to Simpson for campus planning and design, and chair of ESC; Bradshaw Hovey, associate director of the Urban Design Project, School of Architecture and Planning; and Joseph Raab, director of Environment, Health and Safety Services, University Facilities, who oversees UB Green.
“This is an extraordinarily aggressive committee structure that’s close to 100 people,” said Shibley of the ESC, which includes six subcommittees focusing on transportation, information technology, human resources, research, teaching and public service. “They are simultaneously working hard themselves, and are well-supported by consultants from the comprehensive plan who are, in turn, reaching out to groups such as UB Green, the Environmental Task Force and Student Engineers for a Sustainable World.”
In addition to basic things like lowering power consumption on campus by encouraging recycling and installing motion-sensitive light fixtures and low-energy bulbs, Shibley said the final plan also will include some major projects. Some of these projects, he added, may take advantage of a grant program through the New York Power Authority and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority that could bring to campus a 7.5-acre photovoltaic array, a energy source strong enough to power every residence hall on campus.
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