Even though being an athlete in college can be time-consuming and stressful, there’s a reason “student” is the first word in student-athlete. To help the athletes succeed in their studies, the U has implemented resources to help them better grasp the concepts they learn in the classroom.
The Burbidge Academic Center is a place student-athletes can go to get help with their schoolwork. They can go anytime for a drop-in session or have a specific tutor help them regularly.
“We advertise openings in our department and receive a ton of applications,” said tutorial and student-athlete affairs coordinator Ashley Lear, who helps find tutors for the center. “We then receive their résumés and bring them in for interviews. After that process, if hired, they will then meet with me and the compliance committee.”
The compliance committee oversees all student-tutor relations. In the meeting between the newly hired tutors and the committee, the tutors are instructed regarding NCAA and university rules. One common misconception is that student-athletes either get their homework done for them or have a lot of help with it. According to NCAA rules, however, it is the university’s task to make sure that does not happen.
“Each tutor goes through all the issues and rules and all other academic legislation,” Lear said. “They sign multiple documents, such as a confidentiality agreement, and are reminded of all the NCAA rules.”
One basic rule all tutors must follow is that no service or activity should be provided to a student-athlete that is not available to the general student body. This includes but is not limited to borrowed supplies, typing for the student-athletes, meals or gifts and free photocopied items.
While some may think these rules are easy to get around for student-athletes, Utah wide receiver Kenneth Scott strongly disagreed.
“If that was the case, I’d be a 4.0 student,” Scott said. “They help you and guide you, but we do all the work. It is far from them doing it for me.”
After a strong sophomore season a year ago, Scott was looking to build on that this season, but he suffered a campaign-ending injury in the season opener. While the injury is a negative in terms of Scott’s athletic career, he has been able to put more time into his studies and is thankful for the resources available at the Burbidge Academic Center.
“These guys become a security blanket for me,” Scott said. “They are the teachers away from class and really help me understand things that I could not understand in class. You want that extra point of view. It helps a lot when you have someone else think about it. The tutors may know how to answer the question better than your own teacher sometimes.”
Even so, athletes are expected to put forth their own effort to learn.
“We ask them to bring questions and be prepared,” Lear said. “We want them to do their work beforehand, so by the time they meet with a tutor, they have questions ready. Tutors are asked to work on problems on hard copies so they can see what the student-athlete is doing right and wrong.”
Even though Scott is not traveling with his team to away games, it is not lost on him, or any of the other athletes, how tutors at the Burbidge Center helps them work when they go on the road.
“It is not easy at all,” Scott said. “With school and practice, it is hard to manage all our time. Our tutors help us spread out our work throughout the week in study hall hours before a weekend trip so we don’t cram over the weekend.”
In other words, services such as the tutoring ones available at the Burbidge Academic Center help keep the “student” in student-athlete.