Johnny can't read, but Joe Vandal can. And Joe is reading better all the time. Due to procedures set up by the athletic department, a player's intelligence was
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raised for their academic achievements, former Vandal decathlete Trond Knaplund (top) and foot· ball linebacker Tom Hennessey (above) were recognized by Athletic Direc· tors Kathy Clark and Bill Belknap during ceremonies In the Kibble Dome. Both athletes were named to the Big Sky Confer· ence All· Academic team. (Dahlquist)
200 Athletes' Grades
The "dumb jock." Most everyone has a mental picture of one of these creatures. The stereotypical dumb jock is characterized as a beer-bellied football player with protruding buck teeth, who carries his books around for show and answers all questions with grunts or nods of the head. But the dumb jock image is changing. Although the typical athlete may not yet be ready for a three-piece suit or pink polo shirt, studies at this university revealed that the dumb jock myth is just that - a myth. Based on a study conducted by Hal Godwin, Student Counseling Center psychol· ogist and NCAA faculty ath· letic representative, 45 percent of the male athletes who enrolled at this university from 1975-1978 graduated. This number compared favorably with the 44.7 percent of the general male student body that graduated. Female graduation ratios were tipped even more in favor of the athletes. Of the female athletes who enrolled from 1975-1978, 50 percent received a degree, while only 34.1 percent of the nonathletes graduated. Despite the figures, Godwin said he not was happy with the end result. "I'm not satisfied and neither is the athletic department," Godwin said of the statistics. "We feel the
graduation rate should be higher and we're working to make it so." To raise athletes' graduation rates, athletic department officials proposed and implemented a fall orientation workshop. "We start with an orientation meeting before the fall semester starts to familiarize the athletes with the college system," said Kathy Clark, assistant athletic director. At the meeting, studentathletes were given suggestions on how to improve academically, Clark said. Recommendations included advising atheletes go to class and sit in the front row. At the meeting, the athletes were also introduced to Godwin. "I introduce the notion that there are rules that they have to abide by," Godwin said. "I tell them my job is to enforce them." Once the semester started, the job of monitoring student-athletes' progress was accepted by coaching staff members. Although mid-term grades were used as the primary means to indicate progress, Vandal Basketball Head Coach Tim Floyd and staff took a more active interest. Floyd, who came to the
UI from the University of Texas-El Paso, hailed from a program where 30 of his 33 UTEP recruits graduated. "I feel lucky to have worked for a guy [Don Haskins, UTEP's head basketball coach] who required the players to work in the classroom," Floyd said. "We had a lot of success with that system, so I know it works." And Floyd figured, what worked at UTEP, should work at the UI. Floyd's system was simple: players that do not go to class, do not get to practice. And players that do not practice, do not play. Floyd assigned Randy Bennett, a graduate assistant coach, to monitor his basketball players' attendance. In addition to regularly calling professors to update players' progress, Bennett, "will occassionally drop by a class to see if they are there," Floyd said. In conjunction with other athletic department officials, Floyd also conducted a team study table. Although the study table provided no extra tutoring, the table provided, "a structured time to help the athletes with time management," Godwin said. "Many students need that kind of structure." Thus, through the efforts of Godwin and the athletic department, the university did its utmost to remove the "dumb" from the term "dumb jock."