In Higher Education We Trust? Analyzing the Publicy Held University

The NCAA and Student-Athletes: Where We Are and Where We’re Headed

by Austin Miller

Against the backdrop of the arms race that collegiate athletics has become, the regional director of the National Labor Relations Board ruled that student-athletes should be considered employees, which would allow them to unionize.

This union, the College Athletes Players Association (CAPA), wants the players to form at union at Northwestern, where former starting quarterback Kain Colter started the movement to unionize collegiate athletics. CAPA also ultimately wants players to collectively bargain for comprehensive reform to seek better benefits.

The movement and ruling sent shockwaves through collegiate athletics. Northwestern disagreed with the NLRB process and the regional director’s opinion and formally filed its appeal to the NLRB. In a statement, Alan Cubbage, Northwestern’s vice president for university relations, said unionization and collective bargaining are not the appropriate methods to address the concerns raised by student-athlete, a position shared by many college athletics administrators.

 “Intercollegiate athletics and its attendant scholarship opportunities ($2.7 billion/year across all NCAA divisions) are a component of the educational mission,” said the 351 Division I athletics directors in a joint statement. “While providing affordable access to higher education, Intercollegiate Athletics develops 21st century leaders who have been tested in the classroom and in competition – a combination that affords them a significant competitive advantage in life.

“As Athletics Directors, we believe in the collegiate model for all student-athletes and are opposed to differentiating within groups of our overall student-athlete population. We are committed to working with our students every day toward their academic and athletics goals.”

But what is the present collegiate model, or in other words, how does the NCAA and its member institutions serve its student athletes and help them achieve their academic, athletic and professional goals? And more simply, what is the value of being a student-athlete under the current model?

“The value of being a student-athlete offers unlimited intrinsic opportunities where there is no ‘price tag’ if you will,” Athletics Director Ross Bjork said. “The leadership lessons, time management, competition skills, handling emotions of winning and losing, life-long friendships, are all components of being a student athlete that are valuable from the experience. It also provides a platform for exposure to media, fan support, networking for future jobs.” 

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Take Ole Miss football graduate student Deterrian Shackelford, who has already earned his bachelor’s degree in history in May 2012 and nearly completed his master’s in education. Shackelford also recently became the first ever two-time recipient of the Chucky Mullins Courage Award, which honors the late Chucky Mullins, who had his Ole Miss football career come to an end during the 1989 season when he was paralyzed after making a tackle. After returning to his studies at Ole Miss, Mullins passed away on May 6, 1991.

The award is presented annually to an Ole Miss upperclassman defensive player that embodies the spirit of Mullins — courage, leadership, perseverance and determination. Shackelford, who was also the first junior to receive the award in 2011, will wear Mullins’ No. 38 jersey throughout the 2014 season.

“Playing sports has helped me in my academics, and my academics have helped me in athletics, so they went hand in hand,” Shackelford said. “Being a student-athlete you learn a lot of leadership skills that the regular student would not necessary learn, from jumping offside in practices, or having to be on time for weights, or having that extracurricular activity to broaden your horizons and leadership scope.

“I have been able to see different parts of athletics, not only on the field, but what happens through the week and all the things that goes into a Saturday game. A lot of that is interesting to see. As players, we think of it as just playing ball, but I have seen the many things that have to happen for a great showing on Saturday. There’s a lot of stuff that goes into it as athletes we don’t necessarily see, but people are behind the scenes working all the time making sure we have the best college experience. That’s something I have been able to appreciate.”

The Decatur, Ala., native was awarded a sixth year of football eligibility after he missed the entire 2011 and 2012 seasons due to knee injuries.  On the field, he has been a team leader and played a key role at both linebacker and defensive end. Off the field, he has been involved in community service outreach such as pre-college counseling, numerous speaking engagement and mission trips to Panama and Haiti.

“I don’t think I could ever imagine the amount of stuff I have been able to accomplish, on the field and off the field, while I have been here at The University of Mississippi,” Shackelford said. “Originally I was not even coming here; originally I was going to go to Tennessee. Seeing what God led my path to come here and seeing that there was purpose, it’s a humbling experience. I tell the guys all the time that even though I’m a leader, I want to do that in the humblest way. Despite me having ACL injuries and despite the things I have went through, I have been able to be used as an instrument and tool to share my testimony and be a leader on this team. I never could have imagined I would be a situation like I am now.”

Because of those knee injuries, he was able understand the game from a different perspective and see what goes into the game, such as the different components of the day-to-day life of a student-athlete. It has also helped him continue his college education, and after his football career is over, he would love to be an athletics director one day.

“This is monumental not for me, but for my family because nobody in my family has ever achieved a degree or a master’s degree,” Shackelford said. “For me to break those barriers for my family and for my little nieces and nephews to come up behind me, and now I can show them the way. Now, I’m telling them the way; I’m showing them the way, so there’s a big difference. They’re able to look at my actions, and say, ‘I can do it.’ They have an example right there with them.

“For me to further my education, it goes way deeper than me being able to be financial stable outside of football,” Shackelford said. “It’s an achievement, so my younger cousins and younger generations see me as a light and as an example. Football, although it is great, and I love it and I’m planning on furthering it into professional football, but you should never lose focus of what you can accumulate up top. By that, I mean the amount of knowledge that you can accumulate. You shouldn’t limit that to what only you can learn on the field, but you should take that outside of the football arena and apply it academically, and there’s no limit to what you can do.”

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Based on interviews and data from 21 universities, CNN found 7 to 18 percent of football, men’s basketball and women's basketball athletes are reading at an elementary school level.
In the same investigation, according to several academic experts, the threshold for being college literate is a score of 400 on the SAT critical reading or writing test. On the ACT, that threshold is 16.

At Ole Miss, one of the 21 schools included in the data, 7.5 percent (32 of 428) of football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball athlete score at or below the threshold.
However, student-athletes, whether they’re on no scholarship, partial scholarship or full scholarship, have access to a wide range of support system, including mentoring and tutoring from academic support.

“When the student comes in, just like any other program, you want to see where the student-athlete tests,” said Derek Cowherd, senior associate athletics director for academic support. “You want to see how fast they read, how well they comprehend, their math ability, and if they have dyslexia or anything that will hinder them from being successful. We do a preliminary skills inventory to see if their an auditory, visual or kinesthetic learner so we can push them toward their best abilities while we build up the other areas that they need to improve upon.”

After that testing, the academic support staff sets up an individual education plan and learning specialist appointments for incoming student-athletes. The learning specialists will teach them the soft and hard skills they may or may not have honed in grade school or high school.

“All of those things are necessary for them to become competitive with the 25 ACT and 3.4 grade point average for incoming freshmen,” Cowherd said. “That gets them up to speed over time once they have met with the learning specialist. They also have tutoring support for specific subject to help them with that information. With all that tutoring, there is also mentoring to help them stay on track. They may not help with the content like a math or chemistry; they would have help with being organized, and the bulk of our students benefit from having someone to help them organize their day and set up their calendar.”

This initial testing, tutoring and mentoring for student-athletes are just one piece of the support systems for student-athletes. This past summer, Ole Miss athletics department introduced a new program, “Rising to Excellence and Building Success” (REBS), a summer bridge program for incoming freshmen and transfers. It was a month-long orientation that facilitated the development of academic skills and orientation to responsible University life.

"The REBS program was created and implemented by our FedEx Student-Athlete Success Center staff as a pathway for the best possible start to life as a student-athlete at Ole Miss," Bjork said.
"We believe in providing the best environment for success in all facets of being a Rebel athlete and the REBS program will provide our young men and women the proper tools to succeed in the classroom and socially at the highest level. It has been a rewarding experience for all the instructors who have been involved but most importantly our student-athletes have a great foundation for the rest of their career at Ole Miss and beyond." 

The program consisted of a variety of topics and presenters represents the many facets of the Ole Miss community. Team and individual workouts were also part of a regular day for a student-athlete in the summer, as the student-athletes made the transition from high school to college.

"We're excited to see the student-athletes take pride in their work and get stronger academically," Cowherd said. "I have always heard the coaches say that you win your championships in the offseason. We're winning in the summer by starting it this way.

"If they start off with a strong GPA and six hours under their belt, understanding what professors are going to expect of them, and where the classes are, that's not a stress they will have in the fall. They gain confidence more than anything, and they will know where to go for help. It's all a win-win for this program."

With the conclusion of the REBS program, the student-athlete now progresses to the enrichment program, where they will work with an academic counselor and learning specialist throughout the academic year and reiterate the academic and life skills from the REBS program.

"We'll follow their progress for all four years because our number one goal is graduation," Cowherd said. It always has been, but we want to do graduate our student-athletes at a higher rate and provide a better experience.”

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Ole Miss track and field senior Mary Ashton Nall grew up around collegiate athletics, specifically college football. Her father, Hugh, played football at Georgia and coached at Ole Miss and Auburn. From competing in the NCAA Championships, to working in the athletics media relations office, she knew she wanted to make an impact on student-athletes.

After the track and field season is over, Nall will serve as a championships intern with the NCAA’s broadcast alliances and community service projects. Her passion for student-athletes started at Ole Miss, which also gave her the opportunity to start giving back.

“Growing up, I was always around college football and players and always wanted the best for them,” Nall said. “And then coming to Ole Miss, I have had such a strong support group with Ross (Bjork), to Joey (Jones), to Kim (Ling), to Jamil Northcutt, to the academic office, and my coaches pushing me to better. I knew that I wanted to be that for someone. I’m starting at the very broadest level of the NCAA, but my passion is the student-athletes, and I would really like to end up on campus one day. I’m really excited about this internship because it will allow me to make the impact on student-athletes that so many people have made on me.”

The student-athlete experience, on and off the field, Nall said, helped prepare her for life after her playing career. She credited her practice of time management, as well as her involvement in community service projects through the Rebel Ready program, whose mission is to challenge our student-athletes to be lifelong learners while pursuing continuous improvement academically, relationally, socially, personally, and professionally during and beyond their careers as student-athletes.

“I learned the value of hard work,” Nall said. “It’s something that carries to any position anywhere. It’s done so much for me. I never would have been able to go to a school like Ole Miss or have this kind of experience if it wasn’t for my athletic opportunity. We have so many resources here with the athletics and academic support staff. They want us to do well. They want to be in touch with us. They want us to be successful after sports. Having that support system is the most valuable thing here at Ole Miss.”

Her application centered on her academic and athletic achievement, and then when she went to Indianapolis for the interview, the NCAA mostly wanted to get to know her, as they asked her everything, from what she would change about the NCAA, to what she does in her free time.

“You look at the logo and you look at the NCAA, and you think it’s just a bunch of lawyers and investigators, but I learned how involved they are through the whole process,” Nall said. “They do have the best interest for the student-athletes in mind. They want to make sure that they are continuing their education. They want to make sure that they have a support group. They don’t just want to bench someone for a violation. It’s impacting student-athletes.”

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As evidenced by the support and opportunities provided by the NCAA and its member institutions, as well the example shown by Deterrian Shackelford and Mary Ashton Nall, among others, the present collegiate model and how NCAA and its member institutions serve its student athletes is not broken but could use some tweaks.

“The current model does not provide enough flexibility to offer certain things for student-athletes, such as travel allowances for family, extra tickets for family and things of that nature,” Bjork said.
In that same vein, the NCAA Legislative Council approved unlimited meals and snacks for student-athletes in conjunction with their athletics participation, in addition to the meal plan provided as part of a full scholarship.

And last week, the Division I Board of Directors moved one step closer to approving a new model in August that would grant autonomy to the Southeastern Conference and the other four highest-resource conferences to enact their own legislation.

Areas for legislation include financial aid, including full cost of attendance and scholarship guarantees; insurance, including policies that protect future earnings; academic support, particularly for at-risk student-athlete; and other support, such as travel for families, free tickets to athletics events and expenses associated with practice and competition.

“The model we sent to the membership today is not a final product,” said Wake Forest President Nathan Hatch, chair of the board and the steering committee, in a statement. “Some aspects of the model remain under discussion, and we hope the membership will provide us further input.”

“These proposals move us in the right direction for significant change for our industry to provide more for student-athletes,” Bjork said. “The details need to work out but the conversations move us in the right direction. A more student-centered model is where we are headed and it’s about time.”
While union movement may neither come fruition nor benefit the student-athlete relative to the proposed new model and its accompanying legislation, it may have provided the spark for change to provide more value and a better overall experience for the student-athlete.

About Austin Miller

Austin Miller is a first-year graduate student from Grayson, Ga., majoring in journalism with an emphasis in integrated marketing communications at The University of Mississippi.