Athletes receive more advising funds per person

The financial switch of academic athletic services to the IU-Bloomington annual budget announced last spring caused controversy that has carried over to this academic year. \nWhile some IU faculty members and officials are supportive of the University supervising academic advising for athletes, some protest has arisen among faculty that shouldering the academic side of IU with the financial burden of athletic advising is unfair.\nIU Vice Chancellor for Budget and Administration Neal Theobald said the University spends more money on general academic advising than advising for athletes.\nHowever, Theobald said because there are fewer athletes than general students, more advising money is spent per athlete than per student. \nLeslie Robinson, director of Academic Support Centers, said the three Academic Support Center locations in the dorms are allotted about $300,000 per year. Although it can be difficult to track how many students use the services, she estimated that the 13,000 to 15,000 visits the centers get reflects an average of a couple thousand students using the services each year.\nThe athletics department \nacademic advisers service between 150 to 160 students athletes on a weekly basis, said athletics department's academic services adviser Jennifer Townsend. Last year, 214 student-athletes used the tutoring services in the fall and 182 used them in the spring. \nThe athletics department has received $500,000 of their needed $750,000 budget from the University this year to cover academic services, Theobald said. \nAcademic services learning specialist Scott Maxwell emphasized that student-athletes, especially in their freshman year, have many adjustments to make when entering the University. He said it is the department's goal to provide academic services to aid with those adjustments.\n"I have to stress, the athlete's workout is an extremely high intensity level," Maxwell said. "Most of them have a hard time adjusting when they come in here in the evening to study -- beat up and bruised. I think that's why tutoring is set up, because student athletes are not in the best physical condition to study on their own."\nTownsend said they offer student-athletes academic support such as tutoring and mentoring to complement what students are learning in their classes. There are 150 to 160 student-athletes who meet on a weekly basis with their advisers for academic counseling, such as goal setting, academic planning and dealing with academic issues. \n"Much of what (athletic academic services) do have -- having computers available, having advisors offices, tutoring -- we have much of the same resources," Robinson said. "It looks a lot alike."\nNewly hired Associate Athletic Director of Academic Services M. Grace Calhoun is excited about the changes in academic services, and she hopes to clear confusion brought on by the controversy.\n"Nothing is unique to athletics. It's similar to centers in dorms tutoring," Calhoun said. "We're really just another unit on campus doing those kinds of things -- just within the context of knowing those special needs. Being housed within the same division, there is more of a sense that we are different variations of the same thing."\nCalhoun said the academic services will continue to provide tutoring and advising services, but will continue to develop them now that the department is intertwined with other University academic services.\n"Rather than have student-athletes just be serviced by this department, there is the ability to complement the wealth of programs and services already offered to all students," Calhoun said. "We're really expanding on those services in ways that tailor to special needs of the student-athletes."\nSuch academic services offered to students that fall under the division of Academic Support and Diversity, which academic athletic advising now answers to, include programs like the Academic Support Centers, Honors College and the Hudson & Holland Scholars Program. Vice President for Academic Support and Diversity Edwardo Rhodes said bringing academic athletic advising under this division is bringing IU more in line with other universities around the nation and allowing academic services to include all students.\n"This current form of student athlete support is pretty common in the Big Ten," Rhodes said. "In most campuses, the athletic department is just another part of the campus. Our way is unusual. We're trying to bring our campus a little more in line with what else is out there. The word is student-athlete. Shouldn't they be able to get essentially the same assistance?"\nWhen the change in policy was implemented earlier this year, IU was the only Big Ten school whose academic units -- and not the athletics department -- were monetarily responsible for student-athlete advising. Other Big Ten schools, however, have principal oversight for academic advising that IU now has adopted.\nStudents outside the athletics department looking for academic help have similar services available to them through programs such as the Academic Support Centers in Briscoe, Forest and Teter residence halls, which offer tutoring and advising support.\n"We have a fixed budget that can allow us to offer only certain things," Robinson said. "In terms of other subjects, say psychology, I talk to the psychology department to find out if they offer certain things. Then I convey that information back to the students."\nRobinson said the daily tutoring services focus on introductory subject areas of math and writing, but they do offer other special one-on-one and group tutoring services on various nights. They also have walk-in advising available to students in the evenings. And, she said if they don't offer the specific tutoring or advising students are looking for, they work with specific departments to find that help for students.\nRhodes and Calhoun are working to build relationships with the eight academic colleges and expand services for student-athletes. They both emphasized that the shifts made last spring will enhance the department's ability to partner with other campus services. \n"We're not going to give any special considerations (to student athletes)," Rhodes said. "My worry is on the academic side. Through organization we're making an effort to make this a smoother, more seamless operation. Everybody comes out a little better"