University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: October 24, 2002

By ANN WHITCHER
Contributing Editor

Chasing the Platonic ideal of scholar-athlete, members of an elite advising unit encourage, prod and support hundreds of UB student-athletes, making sure they keep their grades up, even as they compete hard on the field, the court or in the pool.

Despite the understandable concern that student-athletes comply with all NCAA eligibility standards, the work of this office has a higher purpose. "Our focus is on the educational development and intellectual stretching of these young men and women," says Stephen N. Wallace, director of the Office of Athlete Academic Services, which has been fostering the development of UB athletes since 1983.

Their work is starting to pay off. In 1999, the men's and women's swimming and diving programs achieved the top Division I team grade-point average among swim teams in the nation. Moreover, UB student-athletes, as a whole, had a graduation rate of 82 percent throughout the 1990s. This contrasts with a 62 percent graduation rate for UB undergraduates throughout the same period. While it's true that athletes as a whole tend to have higher graduation rates than students generally, UB's graduation rate for Division I student-athletes is among the highest in the country, Wallace says.

"Our focus is on the educational development and intellectual stretching of these young men and women," says Stephen N. Wallace, director of the Office of Athlete Academic Services.
PHOTO: ROB FETTER

"It may be the connection the student feels, that there is a greater reason to persevere, that there are more people paying attention to him or her," adds Wallace, a former athlete at the Coast Guard Academy and SUNY at Potsdam. "If a student-athlete gets off track, it is more likely that someone will tap him or her on the shoulder and say, 'what's going on?'"

Each semester, the Office of Athlete Academic Services helps about 500 student-athletes who are competing in a total of 20 Division I varsity sports. Advisers are assigned to specific teams; team members are eligible for these specialized services for as long as they remain on a roster. Once the student chooses a major, usually at the end of the sophomore year, these services are complemented by the work of departmental academic advisers.

"The overwhelming majority of our student-athletes have been recruited," says Wallace. "This means they have been identified by their athletic prowess as individuals coaches would like to have come here." Most student-athletes enter the university through the regular admissions process, though a handful are admitted through "special admissions," in which admission to the university is based on documented evidence of special talents or circumstances.

"What's interesting about student-athletes is that they pretty much represent the spectrum of undergraduate majors," says Wallace. "There are a significant number of engineering and business majors. There are large numbers in the social sciences. And you always have in the ranks of UB's student-athletes some theater, dance and language majors. It's a nice mix."

"I think the best way of helping the student-athlete juggle his or her life is working with the whole student," says Irene Holohan-Moyer, adviser for the women's basketball, volleyball and crew teams, "giving them a place where they feel comfortable talking and asking for help. Their life is very similar to students who work to put themselves through college. They need to actively work on time management. They also need help on whether they should take on campus clubs or other activities. How much responsibility is too much? Providing a place to talk out issues helps student-athletes structure themselves and gives them support in making tough decisions."

According to Wallace, student-athletes who were involved in high school sports—and many of them also were involved in other extracurricular activities—have learned to budget their time and succeed in multiple spheres of life. "This doesn't mean that we sometimes don't need to remind someone that they have to go to class regularly. As in almost any other academic setting, it's 10 percent of the students who give us 90 percent of the problems."

"With Division I-A and a college education at UB comes longer practice times for some, and heavier academic demands for practically all," adds Pat Wilson, who advises the men's and women's tennis, and men's and women's track and field and cross-country teams.

The landscape has changed dramatically since 1983, when then UB President Steven B. Sample and former Dean of Undergraduate Education Walter Kunz tapped Wallace to head a new advising unit to complement the planned move to Division I-level competition. Wallace has since moved from a one-person operation to a staff of eight.

"The issues the kids have to deal with are still the same, but the expectations—from an athletic standpoint—are different," Wallace says. "At Division III, the time constraints primarily occurred during the season. In Division I, on the other hand, the season tends to be all year for these kids. If they are not competing, they are conditioning themselves in a very organized way. Football, for example, has a whole spring ball program, whereas there is no such spring program in Division III football."

Time constraints notwithstanding, UB student-athletes are not only keeping pace academically, but they are also excelling. Once they make the team, even the best students can find the support services reassuring.

"Coming to a university as an 18-year-old freshman can be overwhelming," says Jeff Mills, starting tackle for the football Bulls and a member of the University Honors Program. "But the academic support that I received upon arriving on campus was tremendous. Literally, from day one, a student-athlete benefits from this support at UB. The first memory I have of my freshman football season was 'Academic Day,' which took place before any football-related activities."

Another role model for what a student-athlete can achieve is softball player Breanne Nasti, a regional All-American who led the MAC Conference in batting average in the spring 2002 season while maintaining a 3.66 GPA as a double major in psychology and women's studies. "The Office of Athlete Academic Services helps me organize my time so that I can make my schedule challenging, while allowing me to take classes I am interested in, as well as those that are required," says Nasti. "Because of this, I have also become a better athlete as my time is managed very constructively between classes and practices."

"It is always astounding to me how some young men and women in highly organized majors such as engineering, or health sciences, or the other professional schools—where the curriculum is a lock-step sequence with little flexibility—can do well in their academic studies and still compete at the Division I level," says Wallace. "After all, there is not just the schedule to consider, there is also practice time and conditioning time and, of course, traveling."

While Wallace is proud of the accomplishments of student-athletes who are also stellar students, he's equally interested in what has been significant academic improvement for UB student-athletes across the board. "Our goal is to have at least 50 percent of all our student-athletes have a QPA of at least 3.0 or better," says Wallace. "We are now at 45 percent. It has varied from 38 to 43 percent over the past three to four years; it is increasing incrementally."

Some student-athletes enter with mediocre high school records, but flourish—both on and off the field—because of UB's demanding curricula. "The academic advisers are like my family," says Clement Smith of the men's basketball team, who plans graduate work in his final year of eligibility. "They keep me focused and on top of all my work. Coming to UB as a freshman, I had bad grades and no confidence in my academic ability, but now I have graduated with a 3.0 and will be getting my master's in school counseling. So I feel that the goals I have achieved—and the ones I am striving for—are in reach because of the help and supervision they provide."

By now, Wallace and his staff have built up sufficient rapport with university faculty that they can help student-athletes better manage the demands of the classroom, often preventing run-ins with instructors. "Because of the certain amount of integrity we've built up over a period of 20 years," says Wallace, "I think there is a belief among faculty that we expect students to do what is required of them academically, just as would be expected of any student, only that on occasion we may need some flexibility as well."

Though university policy requires that student athletes not be penalized for travel time, it is the development of goodwill with faculty that ultimately ensures the policy's success. Wallace explains that students who must be absent from class are required to get all the notes; if there is an exam, they must try to reschedule it.

Healthy interaction with coaches is another vital component to the program's success. "The coaches have to be constantly communicated with, so they can be aware of any academic issue that team members are having," says Wallace. "Obviously, they are concerned with any issues that might have an impact on the athlete's eligibility to practice and compete. But I find that most coaches are very much interested in the welfare of the students on their teams. This is something that goes beyond their athletic prowess, their level of play on the court, or in the pool. They're just as concerned with such matters as, 'Are they sleeping well?' 'Are they going to class?' 'Are they doing well academically?'"

"Being a student-athlete is all-encompassing," says Tyra Goodgain, assistant director of the Office of Athlete Academic Services and adviser to the men's basketball team. "Our office works with the 'whole person' concept. That is, we help students not only with their grades, but also with all the other aspects of life that are so important to 18- to 23-year-olds: personal problems, career plans, learning to take personal responsibility, etc. Part of our mission is to teach our students 'life-skills' that are transferable beyond their academic and athletic careers.

"Indeed, our office has a motto—Mens sana in corpore sano—'a sound mind in a sound body.' That phrase really cuts to the heart of what it is like to be a successful student-athlete at the Division I level."