http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/feb/05/...academics/
Probably best for all of USF Sports...even if Leavitt disagrees with it. Just seems a little odd that it took this Wilcox guy over 5 years to make these "common sense" changes at USF.
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USF Takes Control Of Athlete Academics
By ADAM EMERSON and BRETT McMURPHY, The Tampa Tribune
Published: February 5, 2008
TAMPA -
The University of South Florida has reined in the control its Athletic Department has long held over the scholastic lives of student-athletes.
Concerned over the weakening academic progress of its players, especially those in football and basketball,
the university has recently revoked much of the discretion coaches had in recruiting athletes with poor grades and test scores.
And mindful of past scandals that embarrassed other college programs, the school, beginning last semester, barred Athletic Department employees from teaching student-athletes and blocked their access to student records.
Specifically:
•A newly formed academic committee summoned USF's heralded head football coach, Jim Leavitt, late last week to discuss the admissions status of some of his recruits before National Signing Day on Wednesday, and shared whether the committee would deny admission to some of his prospects or accept them with conditions.
•One week before school started in August, USF Provost Ralph Wilcox issued an urgent order prohibiting Athletic Department employees from teaching classes where student-athletes are enrolled, according to e-mail obtained recently by The Tampa Tribune under the state's open records law. Administrators reassigned nine students to other classes.
•Just days before the start of fall classes, USF's undergraduate studies division took oversight of the academic support network for student-athletes. For years, the Athletic Department controlled that network, which consists of academic advisers, tutors and "class checkers," who typically are students who ensure athletes attend class.
Despite the urgency of those moves, Wilcox and other university leaders say they found no academic misconduct in the Athletic Department, nor did they suspect any. Rather, Wilcox said he grew alarmed that a number of academic advisers were teaching student-athletes.
"That was absolutely inappropriate," said Wilcox, who helped reform athletic programs plagued by scandals at the University of Memphis and the University of Houston before coming to USF in 2002.
"They're employees in the Athletic Department, and the coaches make it known to those advisers in no uncertain terms that their job is to keep these young men and women eligible to compete in athletics."
As administrators moved student-athletes out from under the instruction of Athletic Department employees, Wilcox and other academic leaders took official oversight of the athletic Academic Enrichment Center.
The enrichment center, housed in the university's athletic center, employs about 50 tutors, academic coaches and class checkers. There are also several academic advisers who map out an athlete's academic support.
All of that used to report to the athletic director.
The sudden priority of these moves can be seen in a string of e-mail among USF officials.
On Aug. 21, a note went out to the Athletic Department asking for a list of all of its employees to spot those who were teaching student-athletes.
That same day, Wilcox ordered that practice be stopped. On Aug. 24, employees in the Academic Enrichment Center learned that the university's academic side would take oversight of their operations.
Three days later, school started.
USF is not alone in making these changes. Other colleges and universities have made them during the past few years. "It makes sense academically, as well as ethically," said Richard Lapchick, who directs the sports business program at the University of Central Florida.
Head Coaches 'Need To Understand'
USF leaders say that no one incident prompted the changes, but the university will learn this spring whether it faces sanctions by the National Collegiate Athletic Association because of the poor academic performance of many athletes.
"My interest, and the university's higher interest, should always be: Are we ensuring that students are progressing toward their degree, rather than simply remaining eligible," Wilcox said in an interview last week.
Fewer than half of USF's football and basketball players are on track to graduate, according to reports compiled by the NCAA to survey an athletic program's academic success.
USF's programs have not been sanctioned, but that could change this year, and the NCAA could restrict the number of scholarships USF awards to players if their performance fails to improve.
That, in turn, could make it harder to recruit top students.
Exceptions Made
Toward the end of last semester, the university formed a committee of five faculty members to examine the special exceptions made for prospective student-athletes who don't meet the university's or the state university system's standard admissions requirements, which are higher than the NCAA qualifying standards.
The average high school grade-point average of freshmen who entered USF this fall was 3.71. Student-athletes had an average 3.23 GPA. For football players, it was 2.75.
Special admissions aren't just reserved for student-athletes at USF, but student-athletes historically have had a much greater chance at getting an exception, particularly football players.
Eleven of 18 new football players at USF last summer and fall, or 61 percent, were admitted as an exception to the state university system's admission standards, according to university records. About 26 percent of all new student-athletes, including football players, got an exception for last summer and fall.
By comparison, 49 nonathletes -
less than 1 percent of the more than 12,000 accepted to USF last summer and fall - received an exception to state standards.
In Leavitt's 11 seasons as USF's football coach, getting recruits admitted was easy.
Leavitt and his staff would recruit the state's best players, even if they had not met the NCAA's initial eligibility requirements, and they would sign on National Signing Day each February. Then, if the recruits met the NCAA's qualifying mark later that year, they would apply for admission to USF.
"We've gotten every one in," Leavitt said before this season.
But now, the committee decides the admission status of recruits who are academically at-risk.
Wilcox said the idea is to bring coaches in just before players sign their letter of intent to play for USF. If the student is denied admission, the coach can tell the athlete to make other plans, Wilcox said.
"I think we owe it to the coach, we owe it to the prospective student-athlete, to tell them that the University of South Florida might not be the place for you," Wilcox said.
Leavitt, who has led his team to three consecutive bowl games, appeared before the committee Thursday, six days before National Signing Day when most high school football players sign their letters of intent to play for their chosen university.
Neither Wilcox nor Leellen Brigman, USF's associate vice president for enrollment planning and management, would say whether they denied admission to any of Leavitt's recruits. The committee hasn't formally told Leavitt the status of his recruits, Brigman said. She said, however, that coaches can usually "project what may happen."
Whatever the outcome, under university policy, there is no appeal.
Leavitt declined to comment Monday.
However, men's basketball coach Stan Heath, women's basketball coach Jose Fernandez, baseball coach Lelo Prado and softball coach Ken Eriksen all said they favor the new committee.
"If I know I have to go before the committee with a kid, I more than likely will discontinue the recruiting of that individual," said Eriksen.
Reporter Adam Emerson can be reached at (813) 259-8285 or aemerson@tampatrib.com.
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/feb/05/...academics/
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Tampa Tribune: USF Takes Control Of Athlete Academics
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