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Athletics Committee
April 2000

The following committee report was presented to the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate on April 17, 2000.

Tutoring, grade changes, and learning disability programs at the University of Tennessee Men's and Women's Athletics Departments

Executive Summary

Tutoring

A member of the UT faculty should be appointed to provide ongoing academic oversight of tutoring in the AD. This person should be directly involved in the orientation and training of tutors and should directly observe tutoring sessions on a regular basis. The committee suggests that this position be established under the Provost. However, the amount of time (1/2 to full) required for this position must be determined.

A committee should be established that consists of

the men's and Women's NCAA compliance co-ordinators,

the NCAA faculty representative,

the Athletic Departments' Directors of Student Life,

a faculty representative from the Faculty Senate Athletics Committee, and

the faculty member mentioned in recommendation 1, who should serve as the committee chair.

This committee should meet on a periodic basis to review the tutoring system including any identified problems, the tutor manuals, and tutor training.

All tutoring of Student-athletes, including study halls, but excluding other academic department's tutoring labs, should be conducted in the Student Life facility under direct supervision of a tutor coordinator.

The roles and responsibilities of tutors including what is/is not allowable behavior should be clearly stated in the tutor manuals.

The manuals should clearly state that tutors may not write any portion of any assignment for a student.

The manuals should include a copy of applicable NCAA regulations concerning academic support and special benefit prohibitions, in addition to a summary of these regulations.

The Athletics Departments should continue to require all tutors to complete a structured orientation session prior to beginning to tutor. Ongoing training should be required with documented periodic assessment (written and oral) of each tutor's understanding of policies.

Additional guidelines for tutor activity should be established with the following policies:

Tutors should not be allowed to tutor for a course he/she is teaching even if in a different section than the student being tutored.

A tutor should not, under any circumstances, contact a course instructor. The student or the academic adviser must do this. A student's right to privacy must be upheld.

The committee supports continued prohibition against tutors typing anything for a student-athlete.

To the extent possible, tutors for student/athletes as well as all students should be graduate assistants established in the department whose specialty is needed. Tutors required to meet special needs are to be approved by the faculty member mentioned in recommendation 1.

Tutor payment scales should be established with attention to educational level, experience, subject matter, continuing education, supply and demand, and merit.

The Athletics Department comply with the English Department requirements with regards to English103 and 104.

Grade Changes

The NCAA Faculty Representative needs the resources (qualified staff) and authority to fully monitor grade changes (ability to conduct an independent review of grade changes for grade changes that are used for athlete eligibility). This should include the review of individual grade change records and the periodic assessment of overall trends.

Learning Disability (LD) Program

There needs to be some institutional oversight of how the Athletic Department implements the accommodations that have been approved for the LD student/athlete. The faculty member mentioned in recommendation 1 could conduct this institutional oversight. A regular review of the SNP program should be implemented This review should include a monitoring of how accommodations are being provided.

Handle the "at risk" and LD programs independently within the Athletics Department.

The work of the UT Athletics Accommodations Review Committee, chaired by Vice Provost, Mr. Phil Scheurer should continue. This committee provides valuable oversight of the program and is in a good position to catch and correct problems before they become widespread.

The review by the independent psychologist of student-athlete cases should also continue. This review makes it more likely that student-athletes with learning disabilities will be properly identified and that those students will receive suitable accommodations.

University-Wide Programs

Provide mandatory training for faculty on working with student with learning disabilities. Educate the faculty on what the legal requirements are and what accommodations are prescribed for specific disabilities.

Tutoring for students should be centrally coordinated and perhaps internet-based. Hilltopics should include accurate up-to-date information about the type of tutoring, eligibility and costs for all departments. Adequate resources should be allocated to insure that tutors are available in all subject areas.

Tutor payment should be scaled across campus with attention to educational level, experience, subject matter, continuing education, supply and demand and merit.

Peer tutoring programs should be encouraged and developed across campus.

Office of Disability Services needs additional staff, including a testing specialist for testing students in general and evaluating test results for student-athletes to better supervise the documentation process, the prescription of accommodations, and keep up with the increasing work load.