The following commentary by Dave Hackenberg was published in the Sports Section of the Toledo Blade on January 27, 2012.  We have re-published it for you without change or comment.  A link to the article is also provided below.

 

 

Among his duties as vice president for external affairs at the University of Toledo, Larry Burns oversees the recruitment and retention of students. While neither is a walk in the park, he will suggest the former is easier than the latter.

 

So Burns has gone to school, so to speak, and one place he has identified as a success story is right across campus.

 

"We're trying to learn from our athletics department to improve our overall academic performance and retention of students," he said. "There are reasons those kids do so well."

According to figures provided by UT, the latest available study of retention rates for freshmen who stick around to become sophomores is 65 percent for the general student population and 83 percent for athletes.

 

UT's 357 student-athletes set a departmental record during the recent fall semester with a cumulative 3.167 grade point average. The general undergraduate student population's GPA was 2.7.

 

Fifty-two percent of the university's undergrads posted GPAs of 3.0 or higher. The athletic department recorded 63 percent at 3.0 or above.

 

"It's a combination of things, I think," said athletic director Mike O'Brien. "Our coaches have bought into the belief that we can compete on the field, on the courts, in the pool, wherever, and at the same time have excellent academics. As a result, we are recruiting athletes who are more committed than ever to being students.

 

"Look, all you have to do is pick up the paper. We know here in athletics that our world is about wins and losses. And I feel we've been extremely competitive in a lot of sports. But we're doing it the right way because our kids are taking care of business in the classroom."

 

That warming glow in the wins-and-losses world heated up last winter as the women's basketball team won 29 games and the WNIT championship. The football team won 17 games the last two years, played in consecutive bowl games, and beat Air Force in the recent Military Bowl. The women's soccer and cross country teams won Mid-American Conference titles this past fall. The men's basketball team is exhibiting signs that it is crawling back to a competitive level.

 

Those are the things that fans notice. Those are the things that sell Rocket Club memberships, fill stadium and arena seats, and bring in alumni contributions and lucrative marketing/sponsorship dollars. But it should be remembered that UT, like all universities, is first and foremost an academic enterprise. And, as the NCAA television commercial points out, the vast majority of student-athletes leave school to become professionals in something other than sports.

 

The news hasn't always been so good. UT's football and men's basketball programs have had some APR (the NCAA's complicated progress/retention rating) issues in the recent past and the basketball team is still operating under reduced scholarship sanctions.

 

But O'Brien said the football team had the MAC's best team GPA this past fall and the basketball GPA was over 2.9.

 

Athletes, of course, have a carrot dangled in front of them -- eligibility. They benefit from mentoring, tutorial services, and the team framework that includes coaches, when necessary, breathing down their necks.

 

Burns would like to devise a way for the general student population to have some of the same advantages. "From the day our athletes step on campus there is a model to guide them and for them to work with," he said. "Other students sometimes struggle early with study habits, fall behind, and if we lose them they don't come back. We need to find ways to help fix that."

 

It is a compliment to UT's athletic department that the university is looking its way for inspiration.