UNC's athlete working group stresses academic rigor to recruits

While UNC conducts another investigation into academic fraud, the Student-Athlete Academic Initiative Working Group is looking to uphold the University’s reputation by better communicating admissions standards during the recruiting process.

The group met Tuesday morning to discuss improvements in recruiting as well as changes to the Academic Support Program for Student-Athletes.

Athletic director Bubba Cunningham said it is important to remember that student-athletes at UNC should be held to the same academic standards as the rest of the student body.

“The reputation of Carolina is you have to be a good student to come here,” he said.

Cunningham mentioned the example of Zadock Dinkelmann — an eighth grader who was recently recruited by Louisiana State University — to illustrate the ways athletes often come to college unprepared.

Members agreed that one of the biggest issues among new recruits is a lack of understanding of the University’s academic expectations.

“Talking about the academic standard at Carolina is something we need to continue to communicate with our coaches,” Cunningham said.

Vice Provost for Enrollment and Undergraduate Admissions Steve Farmer said too much emphasis has been placed on athletes’ test scores.

“We’re not just expecting a certain grade or a certain test score, we’re expecting a certain attitude about work,” he said.

“There are students with weaker grades who would be better candidates to thrive here than students with higher grades.”

Entrepreneurship professor Jim Johnson said his biggest concern is that athletes often do not have the life skills they need to operate independently when they arrive at UNC.

“Since the eighth gade or the third grade, they have had everything done for them,” he said.

Johnson said there are five things he thinks are necessary for student-athletes to succeed at UNC: analytical reasoning, contextual intelligence, entrepreneurial acumen, agility and flexibility.

“All of those things you need in sports and on the academic side,” he said.

To increase transparency between the athletic department and the rest of the University, weekly meetings between the men’s basketball coaching staff and the Academic Support Program for Student-Athletes have been implemented to complement similar meetings which were already happening with the football coaching staff, director Michelle Brownsaid.

Brown said plans for meetings between the women’s basketball coaching staff and ASPSA are also in the works.

Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Jim Dean said the committee has identified 22 stages student-athletes go through at the University, beginning with recruiting and ending with graduation.

“Where recruiting starts is probably a question for the NCAA,” Dean said in a press conference. “Where the message starts for us in terms of how to prepare you to be an effective college student, eighth grade probably sounds about right.”

He said providing athletes with agency is an important step the group hopes to take.

“There’s always a bit of a tradeoff between trying to help students not make mistakes on the one hand and help students develop their own capability on the other hand,” Dean said.

university@dailytarheel.com