Academic 'coaches' assist student-athletes off the field

By David Porreca

Most freshmen arriving at the UI have to adjust to an academic environment
far more competitive than the one they faced in high school. But
student-athletes confront a double challenge, says Associate Athletic
Director Terry Cole.

Not only are the academics more competitive, but so are the athletics.

"One of the reasons they're here is because they're blessed with an
abundance of athletic talent," said Cole, who has been director of academic
services for the UI's Division of Intercollegiate Athletics since 1979. 	

But freshmen accustomed to starring against their competition in high
school soon find out that the same thing was true for all the other
athletes recruited to Division I-A schools.

"So while the average student has to make one adjustment to college,
student-athletes have to make two," Cole said. "Our office has to make sure
that student-athletes make that academic adjustment smoothly."

With a staff of four full-time academic counselors, three graduate
assistants and a host of volunteer tutors, Cole's department provides
services to 450 student-athletes from 17 sports.

Last fall, the university's student-athletes earned an overall GPA of 3.8.
In addition, according to the most recent statistics, 73 percent of the
student-athletes who entered the UI during the 1988-89 academic year have
graduated.

"We're very proud of our student-athletes," Cole said. "If they graduate
and are happy with their experiences here academically and athletically,
then I measure our success by that. We want 100 percent of our
student-athletes to take advantage of the academic and athletic
opportunities they have here."

Like most major collegiate athletic programs, Illinois offers its
student-athletes a variety of academic assistance, including tutorials,
study halls and orientation sessions on how to cope with combining the
demands of academics and athletics. Study halls, for example, are mandatory
for all freshmen student-athletes and for returning athletes with sub-par
averages.

The UI academic services department also runs two computer labs for
student-athletes, keeps track of their class attendance (student-athletes
are allowed a maximum of 10 absences during a semester, not including
absences for postseason play), and follows their academic progress by
asking their professors to fill out monitoring reports twice each semester.

The academic support that UI student-athletes receive begins with an
assessment of their skills at the start of their freshmen year. The purpose
is to identify academic deficiencies so they can be remedied as quickly as
possible.

"If any other academic problems come up for a student-athlete during the
course of the year, we try to set up a program to address those specific
needs," Cole said.

But for all of the importance that Cole and his staff place on day-to-day
academic assistance, they see their responsibilities as extending beyond
the classroom.

"We go a step further," Cole said. "We want to prepare student-athletes for
the working world with career counseling, resume workshops and job fairs.
We try to address other needs with sessions on wellness. This is our
holistic approach."

The first job fair put on by the academic services department was held
several weeks ago, he said. Eighty-five student-athletes came out to meet
representatives from 23 area businesses. The fair met with such a favorable
response that Cole hopes to make it a regular offering.

One important means by which Cole and his staff keep track of problems
facing student-athletes is by soliciting the advice of the university's
student-athlete advisory board, which includes representatives from each
varsity sport.

"The board meets almost monthly, and its representatives bring information
back to us," Cole said. "One of our best decisions of the past two years
was to start that board. We want student-athletes to look on us as people
they can come to for advice."

Almost inevitably, whenever the subject of student-athletes is raised, the
focus shifts to football and men's basketball, the two primary revenue
sports. And indeed, one of the standard notions about student-athletes,
according to Cole, is that football and basketball players face the
greatest demands on their time and therefore must work harder than other
student-athletes to combine academics and athletics.

But Cole disputed that.

"You'd be surprised at how many student-athletes put as much or more time
into their own sport as football or basketball players do," he said.

What determines and differentiates the workload of student-athletes, Cole
said, turns out to be pretty much the same thing that determines and
differentiates the workload of all students.

"How hard a student-athlete works really depends on an individual
commitment," he said. "How good do you want to be?  Student-athletes who'd
rather be the best are going to work harder."