Nov. 3, 2004

Part II: What Student-Athletes Are Saying About New Location
Part III: Former Bear Living Proof of Academic Services Helping Student-Athletes
Part IV: Time for Change

By DAVE CAMPBELL

When the Biology and Geology Departments vacated the first and second floors of the Sid Richardson Building this past summer and moved into Baylor's marvelous new $103 million Sciences Building, it was a case of answered prayers for Baylor Academic Services.

With those two floors becoming available, Academic Services finally has a spacious, centrally-located area on campus where it can pull its five academic service departments together under one roof and serve Baylor students - including Baylor student-athletes - in a manner that those students and the parents of those students will approve and applaud.

Call it the new Baylor Success Center.

On pages 14 and 15 are the artist renderings and illustrations showing what the new Success Center will look like and how it will be laid out.

It will be so far ahead of anything having to do with academic services that Baylor has been able to offer in the past as to be in another world. Heck, it will even include a café and meeting area in the lobby and a landscaped outdoor courtyard.

Getting it in place and ready for operation will cost Ëš5.9 million.

The campaign to raise those necessary funds is currently underway.

MEMBERS OF BAYLOR'S student-athlete success staff have inspected what some of the other universities have to offer in that regard, including members of the Big 12 Conference.

"Without reservation, I can say this new Baylor Success Center will put us on a level playing field with anybody in the Big 12 Conference," said Phyllis Gamble, coordinator for academic and personal success in student-athlete services.

To be sure, those student-athlete success staff members who have inspected other Big 12 facilities have found most of them are plush.

"Our new Success Center will be equally plush," declared Dr. Patricia Tolbert, dean of Baylor's Academic Services. "But most of the other universities have their student-athletes separated from the general student body where their academic services are concerned. Here at Baylor we want them to be a part of the general student body, absolutely. After all, they're in class together, they're together in their other campus activities. We think this makes more sense."

The dean of the entire Baylor coaching staff, Clyde Hart, whose tenure as track and field coach stretches back 42 years and includes the development of runners who have won no fewer than eight Olympic gold medals, endorses Dr. Tolbert's words.

Separating student-athletes from the general student body in their campus life goes against the grain of what the NCAA is urging schools to do, he said. As for the new Success Center, "Anything that will enhance our athletic program is good, and this will," he said.

"Anything that we can show the athlete and his or her parents that will enhance the educational experience and help them succeed when they get out of school is a win-win situation for everybody."

Here is the "before-and-after" view: "With the new Success Center, our coaches will have a great place to take recruits. Right now it's not an attractive environment," said Cindy Dougherty of Baylor's Office of Development who is playing a key role in the campaign to raise the funds needed for the restoration project that will pay off in a grand new Success Center. (Those interested in finding out more details about the Success Center project, including Naming Opportunities, should contact Cindy Dougherty in Baylor's Office of University Development at 254-710-8642, or Associate Athletic Director Doug Smith at 254-210-3650.)

No question, putting those who use the Success Center in an inviting and pleasant environment will be a major plus. But bringing all five departments of academic services together under one roof will provide even bigger advantages. Those five departments now are widely scattered around the campus. Any student using all five departments will spend half his time just getting there.

Those five departments are:

• The Student-Athlete Learning Center, which provides academic advising, tutoring and mentoring to more than 350 student-athletes. They work with faculty and coaches to monitor student-athletes' academic progress toward graduation.

This facility is located in Neill Morris Hall (the old heating plant near Pat Neff Hall).

• The Office of Access and Learning Accomodation, which provides services to students with disabilities. Staff members there facilitate necessary classroom accommodations, administer exams, offer weekly academic coaching and mentoring sessions, and provide tutoring to students with physical, psychological and learning disabilities. This office is located in the Speight Street parking garage.

• The Office of Academic Advisement advises all undecided students, pre-business majors, and freshmen in many arts and sciences majors. Advisors assist students in selecting classes, reviewing degree audits, finding a major, and developing academic goals. They also help connect students with campus resources to support their success.

This facility is located in Morrison Hall in the old Law School Building.

• Academic Support Programs help students develop competencies that directly enhance their classroom success. Staff members supervise the initial academic experience of students admitted provisionally to Baylor. They provide individual academic counseling, mentoring, advisement, and a study skills course.

This department also works with students on probation to help them achieve good academic standing. Additionally, this office provides supplemental instruction, a peer-led study program targeting historically difficult courses at Baylor.

The office is located on the fourth floor of Robinson Tower adjacent to I-35.

• Career Counseling staff members meet individually with students to help them discern their vocation and calling, choose a major, and explore careers related to their chosen major. They also work with alumni who are considering career transitions.

This office also is located on the fourth floor of Robinson.

"HAVING ALL THE DEPARTMENTS under one roof will help students be much more efficient with their time," said Tolbert. "They have to be good time managers and this will help them significantly. Being in the center of the campus will be a big plus. We're calling it one-stop shopping.

"Also, it will be a place that coaches will be eager to show off. Neill Morris Hall, where our tutoring center is now, is adequate, but certainly it's nothing to show off."

She suggests the services Baylor currently offers have been significantly underused, and one major reason is because they are so spread out. Bringing all those services together, in a centralized location, will invite students to take greater advantage of what help is available to them.

Said Rick L. Creel, associate vice president for operations and facilities at Baylor: "I'm not sure faculty, staff or students realize the transformation that is about to take place. The Sid Richardson Building was a great building when it was first built, and it's still a great building. We're just going to take full advantage of what it offers, do some necessary renovation and turn those two floors into a Success Center that we can all be proud of.

"As for funding this, I think it's just a matter of potential donors catching the vision because this is going to be terrific for our students and our student-athletes."

ACCORDING TO DON RILEY, director of Baylor Student-Athlete Services whose department has been amazingly successful in its work with the university's student-athletes despite the inadequacies inherent in the current facilities: "It's critical that our facilities be in one location where student-athletes and students in general can be helped to succeed academically.

"As it is now, our coaches are hesitant to bring recruits and their parents to Neill Morris (study hall) simply because of the way it looks and how cramped it is. The new Success Center will solve all that. I think with that new facility our students can truly get help in developing the skills necessary for them to succeed academically.

"Now you might say, well, the good students don't need that help. But I remember the first year I was in charge of this program, in 1996. One day I saw a request for a tutor from a basketball player named Doug Brandt who was majoring in aviation science. Now Doug Brandt was an outstanding student; he made great grades. And I said to myself, 'Now why should we spend money on a superstar student like Doug Brandt?'

"And the reply was, 'Here is a guy who is truly an academic superstar but even he admits the need to get tutoring help. He wants to get better.' And doesn't that send a good message to all our other student-athletes?"

SO ALTHOUGH BAYLOR'S student-athletes have done consistently well in graduation rates compared to other Big 12 Conference members (in five of the last nine years, Baylor has led the Big 12 in student-athlete graduation rates, and was second three years; last year Baylor was No. 1 in student-athlete graduation rates with 78 percent and in football Baylor was first with 88 percent, and both of those figures were higher than Baylor's overall student graduation rates), Riley knows his department can do better.

"Our goal in student-athlete services is for every student-athlete to receive a Baylor diploma," Riley emphasizes. "And I think what our figures prove is that if a student-athlete will take advantage of tutoring and the other help that is available, that they will achieve success.

"And that's what it's all about."

Here is the vision as outlined by the staff of Academic Services:

"The offices in the new Success Center will take a proactive approach, identifying and capitalizing on what is right with students rather than what is wrong with them. Thus the Success Center will seek to combine traditional academic support services and innovative initiatives to highlight and leverage a student's strengths and potential.

"The one-stop shopping" concept will provide opportunities not just for athletes but for all students to access resources and services more easily. As an integral part of the Success Center relocated in the heart of the campus, the Student-Athlete Learning Center will expand its ability to improve student-athlete outcomes in numerous ways. For example:

"1. Centralization and coordination of all services for athletes will improve the overall effectiveness of the entire student-athlete academic and personal success program. Communication will increase between on-campus learning center staff and advisor staff members who are currently located off-campus.

"2. A facility with adequate space and an atmosphere conducive to learning will show recruits and their parents how seriously Baylor takes academics.

"3. As research bears out, retention of students will improve because of the student-athlete/staff relationships that will develop within a caring and community atmosphere.

"4. Academic services and resources for athletes will now be 'on the way' rather than 'out of the way.' Faced with limited time to obtain quality services and support, student-athletes will more readily visit advisors' offices right on campus and will be able to check out books and computers more easily."

"We've been successful and developed a program that allows our student-athlete to continually be at the top in the Big 12," said Don Riley. "This facility will ensure this continues for many more years."