Integrity matters
Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2004 10:02 amPosted on Tue, Jan. 27, 2004
NCAA president: Schools should be like Penn State
By Gwenn Miller
Centre Daily Times
UNIVERSITY PARK - When NCAA President Myles Brand looks at college athletic programs as a whole, he sees problems.
Penn State, apparently, is excluded from that sometimes-grim picture.
Brand is on a two-day visit to Penn State to speak at events and meetings and talk to student-athletes about their perceptions of sports and education.
"Penn State is the poster child for doing it right in college sports," Brand said, "and it's fun to hear (the student athletes') comments and the respect they have for the institution."
Penn State President Graham Spanier said he was delighted with Brand's observation and attributed the university's traditionally high graduation rates to its employees. Penn State has a strict system of checks and balances, he said, and a top-notch compliance system.
Spanier said Penn State's academic standards for its athletes are higher than for the rest of the Big Ten.
"This is not typical at most universities," Spanier said. "All of these things are designed to infuse integrity and checks and balances into the system so that academics is first, not athletics."
Brand said there are a number of issues his organization must address, including graduation rates, gambling, and keeping programs competitive when universities are under financial pressure. He was also concerned about what he sees as an increased focus on the business of college sports, such as conference realignment and the Bowl Championship Series.
"It has to take place but that interest, particularly to the public's attention, overshadows something that's even more important," Brand said. "And that's the value of college athletics to a university, the role that student athletes play within the university in increasing in increasing educational developmental activities for themselves and for others and the positive influence college sports has on the entire campus."
But for Brand at Monday's news conference, there was no escaping the questions about bowl games and playoffs in college football. In other words, the business of college sports.
Brand said the NCAA has no control over a playoff system in football, or lack thereof, and that the members make those decisions. When asked what his personal preference would be, Brand said he simply wanted the game to be as exciting as possible for fans, and that there are many avenues to do so.
"The president of the NCAA is not the czar of college sports," Brand said.
Spanier, who serves on the university presidents' oversight committee of the BCS, said the unanimous sentiment among the committee members is that they do not want to see an NFL-style playoff.
"We have asked our (conference) commissioners to look at alternative models to what currently exists," Spanier said, "but the changes they're exploring are not substantial."
Brand also fielded questions on graduation rates, which he said in some sports were "nothing less than abominable."
The NCAA is putting forth a resolution to its board of directors in April that will include incentives and disincentives in order to boost those numbers, Brand said.
"What that says is student-athletes, unless they reach a certain level of graduation and academic performance, teams will be penalized in terms of loss of scholarships, postseason play, and ultimately perhaps, even worse, deceritification," Brand said.
The organization is also changing its methods of measuring graduation rates because the current six-year rate does not include transfers. The board will review the new six-year rate in April, Brand said.
One of the methods the NCAA is using to promote academic reform is reaching out to high school students to emphasize the value of a college education. Brand said student-athletes also have an obligation to balance their time in the classroom with time in athletics once they arrive at college. Together, the institution and the student-athlete are responsible for academic success.
NCAA president: Schools should be like Penn State
By Gwenn Miller
Centre Daily Times
UNIVERSITY PARK - When NCAA President Myles Brand looks at college athletic programs as a whole, he sees problems.
Penn State, apparently, is excluded from that sometimes-grim picture.
Brand is on a two-day visit to Penn State to speak at events and meetings and talk to student-athletes about their perceptions of sports and education.
"Penn State is the poster child for doing it right in college sports," Brand said, "and it's fun to hear (the student athletes') comments and the respect they have for the institution."
Penn State President Graham Spanier said he was delighted with Brand's observation and attributed the university's traditionally high graduation rates to its employees. Penn State has a strict system of checks and balances, he said, and a top-notch compliance system.
Spanier said Penn State's academic standards for its athletes are higher than for the rest of the Big Ten.
"This is not typical at most universities," Spanier said. "All of these things are designed to infuse integrity and checks and balances into the system so that academics is first, not athletics."
Brand said there are a number of issues his organization must address, including graduation rates, gambling, and keeping programs competitive when universities are under financial pressure. He was also concerned about what he sees as an increased focus on the business of college sports, such as conference realignment and the Bowl Championship Series.
"It has to take place but that interest, particularly to the public's attention, overshadows something that's even more important," Brand said. "And that's the value of college athletics to a university, the role that student athletes play within the university in increasing in increasing educational developmental activities for themselves and for others and the positive influence college sports has on the entire campus."
But for Brand at Monday's news conference, there was no escaping the questions about bowl games and playoffs in college football. In other words, the business of college sports.
Brand said the NCAA has no control over a playoff system in football, or lack thereof, and that the members make those decisions. When asked what his personal preference would be, Brand said he simply wanted the game to be as exciting as possible for fans, and that there are many avenues to do so.
"The president of the NCAA is not the czar of college sports," Brand said.
Spanier, who serves on the university presidents' oversight committee of the BCS, said the unanimous sentiment among the committee members is that they do not want to see an NFL-style playoff.
"We have asked our (conference) commissioners to look at alternative models to what currently exists," Spanier said, "but the changes they're exploring are not substantial."
Brand also fielded questions on graduation rates, which he said in some sports were "nothing less than abominable."
The NCAA is putting forth a resolution to its board of directors in April that will include incentives and disincentives in order to boost those numbers, Brand said.
"What that says is student-athletes, unless they reach a certain level of graduation and academic performance, teams will be penalized in terms of loss of scholarships, postseason play, and ultimately perhaps, even worse, deceritification," Brand said.
The organization is also changing its methods of measuring graduation rates because the current six-year rate does not include transfers. The board will review the new six-year rate in April, Brand said.
One of the methods the NCAA is using to promote academic reform is reaching out to high school students to emphasize the value of a college education. Brand said student-athletes also have an obligation to balance their time in the classroom with time in athletics once they arrive at college. Together, the institution and the student-athlete are responsible for academic success.