Bowl games are the goal , All -America honors bring pride, and tournament appearances create lifetime memories. But to remain eligible to play and to graduate, student-athletes must excel in the classroom as well as on the playing field.
Athletic Director Tom Bowen, who took over the athletic program in December 2004, has been upfront about his priorities, emphasizing grade-point averages over rushing and scoring averages. "He has made it very, very clear that our players will no longer be just athletes -- they will be student-athletes," said Eileen Daley, SJSU assistant athletic director for academics, who has become Bowen's right arm in terms of enforcing higher academic standards for SJSU athletes. As a result, GPAs are steadily rising. "We can see the improvement across the board," she says.
Patrick Perry, from San Antonio, Texas, and Chris Reese, from East Palo Alto, are testimony to the higher academic standards now evident at SJSU. Both Perry and Reese have received their undergraduate degrees: Perry in sociology and communications, Reese in radio/ TV. Both will take to the football field in 2009 as master's degree candidates. And both have learned what it takes to succeed as students and as athletes.
"Your football career can be taken from you at any time," says Perry, who plans on earning a master's in counseling education. Perry's college football experience has been complicated with physical injury but he has stayed the course.
"You've just got to keep pushing forward no matter how hard things get," he says. "You always get out what you put in."
Put on academic probation as a freshman, Reese rallied and achieved a 3.4 GPA in his major. Describing the student/athlete relationship, he says: "If I had to make a connection, it would be diligence. The grades that I have earned have been due to hard work, staying up late nights and studying." Reese's "get it done" attitude will take him far in the classroom, and doesn't hurt in getting that extra yard, too.
"A lot of student-athletes focus on making it in the pros," Reese adds. "That's not necessarily a bad thing, but they're putting so much focus on it that they're setting aside their academic degree.
Student-athletes are getting a hand staying focused on academics -- and getting their diplomas -- from three academic advisors, a full-time academic director and a learning specialist. Students come to SJSU better prepared scholastically than in the past, says Daley, and the extra support has resulted in improved APR (Academic Progress Rate) numbers. APR is the metric the NCAA uses to measure progress toward graduation and the benchmark for excellence is 925.
During the 2007-2008 school year, SJSU topped that benchmark with a score of 949. "We have some lofty goals we'll be reaching for in 2008-2009," Daley predicts. "This number (949) will improve."
Across the hall from Daley's office is the former study hall for student-athletes, a tiny room that held 25 people -- at most. With the help of alumni Stan and Marilyn Gadway, football coach Dick Tomey dramatically improved those study conditions. The Scott Gadway Academic Center, established by a generous donation from the Gadways, now accommodates 100 student-athletes, is equipped with desks and computers, and staffed by tutors.
Under Bowen and Daley's watch, student-athletes have the tools to graduate, which Reese says "is the most important thing you can do -- why wouldn't you want something that will put you ahead of the rest?"
"APR 101," Brown, Gary. NCAA News Online, February 14, 2005: The APR is calculated by allocating points for eligibility and retention -- the two factors that research identifies as the best indicators of graduation. Each player on a given roster earns a maximum of two points per term, one for being academically eligible and one for staying with the institution. A team's APR is the total points of a team's roster at a given time divided by the total points possible. Since this results in a decimal number, the CAP decided to multiply it by 1,000 for ease of reference. Thus, a raw APR score of .925 translates into the 925 that will become the standard terminology.
We want to hear from you.
Comment on this article on Facebook.
Read Washington Square Fall 2009.
Read articles, watch videos and tell us what you think. Join us on Facebook.
print
email