KANSAN.COM THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / TUESDAY, MAY 4, 2010 / NEWS
5A
Tanner Grubbs/KANSAN
paper with her Maria Beg, a senior from St. Louis. During the Fall 2008 semester, 86 members of the football team used the free tutoring services provided by Athletics — about 5 sessions each week for every individual
for papers, exam times, practice times and game schedules for the rest of the semester. As freshmen, student-athletes continue to meet with their academic counselors once a week.
About 75 percent of student athletes use the tutoring services provided by Athletics. During the Fall 2008 semester, the program provided 397 student athletes with 1,663 free tutoring sessions, according to the University's assessment of the Athletics Department, which was released in March 2009. That number averages to about four tutoring sessions every week for each athlete who participated.
Of the 30,000 students at the University, 738 paid for tutoring this semester through one of the three main services on campus that are independent of specific departments. They are the Academic Achievement and Access Center, Supportive Educational Services and the Students Obtaining
Academic Resources program.
Brittany Vaughn, a December graduate from Overland Park, has been a tutor for applied behavioral science and psychology with Athletics for the last four semesters. She usually works with the women's basketball team, but has also tutored track and field athletes in the past. She said the motivation level varies among the athletes she works with.
"I don't think any of them are dumb at all. I think a lot of them would just prefer not to have to do the work," she said.
She said all tutors had regular meetings with Athletics officials and were very clearly told what does and does not constitute academic fraud. Tutors are not allowed to provide answers, write papers, or even type or print materials for student athletes.
Vaughn said athletes don't seem to feel entitled to free help simply because they are athletes. Instead,
she said motivating them to put more effort into their schoolwork is a challenge when many of them lack confidence in their academic abilities.
"I think a lot of them do come in with the attitude that this isn't for me and I'm just going to play basketball, and either I can't do it or I'm not going to," she said.
"And that's unfortunate for them because they're lucky enough to have this chance."
To ensure that athletes stay motivated enough to attend classes, some of them are required by their counselors to check in with staff members outside classrooms. These students are usually freshmen or students who have shown a need for it based on school performance or personal issues.
Don Gardner, who works as a class checker standing outside classrooms to make sure athletes attend, said it was usually football and basketball players who were most frequently checked, though Paul Buskirk, associate athletics director for academic success, said this was because there were more football players than any other type of athlete. He said counselors did not choose who to check based on which sport they played.
own agenda in mind. They're covering their own rear. I mean, they've gotta get the kids into class and they've gotta get them to graduate or it hurts the program."
CHOOSING A MAJOR
Despite the extra help Athletics provides its student athletes, common occurrences for college students, such as choosing a major, are influenced by their lives as athletes.
Glenn Quick, an academic and career counselor for KU football and baseball players, said he always tries to be honest with his student athletes about the reality of balancing school with sports — and sometimes the truth is brutal
The class-checking program began within the last 10 years at the request of coaches, Buskirk said.
DARRELL STUCKEY football player, 2009 graduate
"It puts a hamper on you a little bit. You don't feel like you're doing everything to your full potential."
Bruce Guy, another class checker,
said, "The coaches have their
The hardest part of his job is telling them their desired major may not be a realistic goal if they want to continue competing in college athletics.
"One of our balancing acts as a staff is to ensure that they're making academic progress toward graduation," Quick said. "But we also have to be responsible for watching their academic eligibility as it applies to athletics. So if you have an individual pursuing a degree plan in which they're not going to be eligible, you've got to spell that out."
The decision, then, is between sacrificing a more difficult major that could better benefit the student, or losing eligibility and a scholarship that would pay for
"So if you have an individual pursuing a degree plan in which they're not going to be eligible, you've got to spell that out."
GLENN QUICK academic and career counselor
To stay eligible, student athletes must complete 40 percent of their major's degree requirements by the time they enter their third year of study, 60 percent by their fourth year and 80 percent entering their fifth year. If student athletes were to change their majors, credits might not transfer and they could be left without the appropriate percentage of their degrees completed and risk losing eligibility.
"We can't change our major once or twice like a normal student can." Stuckey said.
four years of college.
For that reason, Stuckey said many athletes tend to migrate toward majors requiring classes that can be applied to many different degrees in case they choose to change majors. A communications major, for example, must take many of the same classes as a student in African and African American studies because they are both in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Darrrell Stuckey, who graduated with a degree in communications studies, said most athletes don't necessarily choose majors simply because they are "easy." However, staying eligible is always a concern.
Of the 76 student athletes on the football and men's and women's basketball teams who have declared a major, about 20 percent have declared majors in either communications studies or African and African-American studies. Less than half — about 40 percent — have committed to majors that require admittance to professional schools such as the School of Engineering or the School of Business.
When Stuckey first arrived at the University he was more interested in drafting and architecture but knew the math requirements of that degree would hold him back. Instead, he focused on becoming a motivational speaker.
"The time constraint between architecture and football was not in favor for me at all," he said. "So I took a look at myself and, well, I love public speaking and you always need to be able to communicate with people."
Stuckey began working as a motivational speaker while he was at the University, but has since been drafted to play for the San Diego Chargers in the NFL.
Marcus Morris said he hopes to walk down the hill in May 2012 with a degree, probably in African and African-American studies or
communications studies.
But when his basketball career ends — whether that will be after college or the NBA, he's not sure — what he really wants to do is go into business or broadcasting.
However, basketball doesn't leave him enough time to take harder classes in the School of Business and still manage to stay eligible under NCAA rules. Instead, he's taking a communications studies class this semester that he hopes might help him become a sports analyst or a commentator.
---
For about two minutes every day Marcus Morris wishes he didn't play basketball.
For two minutes, he wishes he could be like every other student on campus so he could skip a class once in a while without alerting the "watchers" who are paid for the sole purpose of making sure he's there.
For two minutes, he wishes he didn't have to be aware of his every move, always careful not to give off a bad impression to fans, critics or the media.
"I can't do certain things that normal college students can do because the spotlight is on us more. I've got to be almost a perfect student, almost a perfect athlete," he said. "I love playing basketball, I love being here, but sometimes you just want to have that space sometimes. You just want to feel normal."
Standing 6-foot-8, Morris fits in with the other players on the court. But on Jayhawk Boulevard he towers over the other students as he makes his way toward class.
He tries not to let it bother him, but he knows everyone watches, amazed by his size. But they know him only for his basketball skills, for his persona on the court.
As he walks to campus he's trying to be a student. Normal. He's trying to leave behind the pseudo- celebrity status.
For two minutes, he wishes he didn't have to worry about all of these things. But then the feeling goes away and he returns his focus to basketball and school. He will attend basketball practices, eventually walk down the hill, and he will hope, like every other student on campus, that what he gained here will help him to be successful.
Edited by Sarah Kelly
Weston White/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Weston White/KANSAN FILE PHOTO Darrell Stuckey, at an FCA meeting in the Burge Union on March 3, 2009.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Darrell Stuckey run a drill at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, March 2, 2010. Stuckey was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the fourth round of the draft April 21.
KANSAN.com exclusives
A behind-the-scenes look at shooting the front-page photo with junior linebacker Justin Springer, sophomore wide receiver Daymond Patterson and sophomore tight end Tim Biere
— An interactive graphic comparing money spent on students by the University and the Athletics Department