St. Michael's student-athletes graduated at a 100 percent rate, according to a National Collegiate Association of Athletics (NCAA) report. The report depicted those who entered the college in the 2000-2001 school year, but there's more to this report than a perfect score.
NCAA report vs. ASR report
The National Collegiate Association of Athletics (NCAA) released its annual report of student-athlete graduation rates. The most recent report published was from students enrolling in 2000-2001. The results were published now because the students are given a 6 year window to graduate.
| "The [NCAA] report is misleading in the sense that it's not a large enough number to be meaningful," Athletic Director Geri Knortz says. |
While this report for the 2000-2001 cohort of 100 percent is great publicity for the college, it is misleading.
The report accounted for four student-athletes, all basketball players, as the census included only those who were on scholarships.
The NCAA's Academic Success Rate (ASR) is a much more comprehensive and impressive report, St. Michael’s athletic director Geri Knortz says. The ASR report includes the graduation rates of all student-athletes.
Overall, for the three-year contingent of 1997-2000, 96 percent of 192 student-athletes graduated, an outstanding graduation rate of student-athletes in comparison to other schools, Knortz says.
“The first report is misleading in the sense that it’s not a large enough number to be meaningful,” Knortz says.
The numbers that are reported by the NCAA for student-athletes on scholarships are deceiving. The figure is truthful, but only representative of one good year and a very small sample of the whole St. Michael’s population, Dean of Students Mike Samara says.
In comparison, many Division I schools have horrendous graduation rates for student-athletes, Samara says.
“It is important in my opinion to realize we are college students; we are not professional athletes and sometimes bigger Division I schools lose this perspective,” Samara says.
Friends across the divide
One of the main goals of St. Michael’s College is to focus on academics as well as engaging students to participate in outside activities to further their experiences and knowledge, Samara says.
As it is with many activities, relationships develop that are supportive and contribute to the overall being of the student, increasing his or her performance, Samara says.
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Dean of Students Mike Samara encourages experiences in and outside the classroom.
(Photo by Cailey McDermott)
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Athletes have been said to have a continuation rate and graduation rate that is higher than that of the overall student body, Institutional Researcher John Kulhowvick says.
Although this statistic may be true, some athletes need an extra push toward excellence.
Psychology Professor Dave Landers noticed the grade point averages (GPAs) of some of the athletes needed improvement, namely the men’s ice hockey team. He, along with three other faculty members, implemented a mentoring program in the hopes of raising the overall GPA of the team.
The mentoring program consists of a grade review sheet which is given by the coach to each member of the team every three weeks. The athletes take this form to their professors, who fill out their grades to date and make any comments that they feel are relevant.
The program has significantly helped the athletes in achieving better academic standings, says Seth Cole, sports information director of St. Michael’s. He has been a member of the mentoring program for two years.
“If the athletes are able to raise their grade by half a grade or a full grade, the program has been a success,” Cole says.
So far the mentoring program has only been utilized with the men’s ice hockey and the men’s baseball.
It is not feasible to have all 21 teams on campus be a part of the mentoring program, nor is it needed, Cole says.
Chain reaction
The mentoring program is a success in that it raises the GPAs of the student-athletes individually as well as for the teams as a whole.
Junior baseball player Matt Beaulieu participated in the mentoring program offered at St. Michael’s last year.
The baseball team decided to implement the mentoring program because it had worked well with the men’s ice hockey team. The baseball team had a collective GPA of 2.0 and a couple of the players failed off the team his first year, Beaulieu says.
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Junior Matt Beaulieu plays baseball and is part of the mentor program.
(Photo by Cailey McDermott)
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“I really liked it because it boosted the team’s GPA, and it was a good outlet to learn time management,” Beaulieu says.
Economics professor Reza Ramazani mentored Beaulieu.
Chemistry has to be there in order for the student to come and open up with the professor, Ramazani says.
There’s a tendency in society to believe that student-athletes are not as motivated or that they are attending college for the wrong reasons; this is something that we have to overcome, Ramazani says.
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