VFG Communication #9 Comments
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Total Responses – 26 responses representing 15 conferences as of 3/30/2007 Responses grouped alphabetically by conference. |
In a nutshell, I believe that
allowing athletics leadership aid would re-open a Pandora's box that I thought
we had properly closed. I would be open to hearing any
"exceptions" that folks might suggest, but the bar would have to be
pretty high to get my vote.
Donna M. Ledwin,
As much as I would like to have
leadership in athletics as a part of the financial aid package, I feel it would
be a huge mistake to do so. I have
no doubts that there are institutions that would abuse this opportunity. I
strongly oppose this possible change!
Gib
Romaine,
I echo the majority of the responses you have received to
date. Leadership scholarships to
include athletic leadership opens up a back door to financial aid packaging
based on athletic ability. The
concern would be how to enforce and oversee these scholarships. The worry is no matter how strongly it
will be enforced some institutions will open up the back door, and some may
have the financial ability to create large leadership grants compared to most
institutions.
I do not want to see student-athletes miss scholarship
opportunities that they should be considered for due to the fact that they are
a potential student-athlete. If the student-athlete has shown leadership
in a number of categories (class officer, club officers, outside organizations
boy/eagle scouts, etc.) and athletics is just another to add to the list
– that should be acceptable.
If a student-athlete is a captain in 2 or 3 sports but is not involved
in any other school activities or leadership roles – then they should not
be considered, it opens up the can of worms of athletic ability related
financial aid.
I know this is a tough topic to get our arms around –
if there is a way to strictly enforce it and any infractions will have a
significant impact on the college – maybe that would be a deterrent to
abuse.
My 2 cents - Best of luck!
Jill McCabe,
This is an interesting topic. Much of the philosophy of collegiate
athletics is aimed at treating student-athletes no differently than the rest of
the student population, yet this is one of many areas where we do treat
SA’s differently, perhaps to their detriment. Are institutions telling prospective
students who displayed outstanding leadership in their high school science club,
that they cannot get a leadership grant for this at their institution? It
would be great if there was a reasonable way to allow
institutions to award very limited aid based on leadership of SA’s, as
they have for their general student body.
Without knowing how this could be achieved I cannot say whether
significant loopholes would exist, but considering the inequities between
SA’s and the general student body peers, I think it would be worthwhile
to explore, although I am not certain a great model can be drafted. If such a system could be established, I
do not think all-American or all-conference awards/recognition of any type
should be considered – that speaks primarily to athletic ability and is
not in the spirit of leadership. I
share serious concern of abuse and of those who have the money to award
unreasonable amounts in this area, but those are all issues which the
membership can thoroughly review.
Chuck Mitrano, Empire 8
I agree
with Chuck, especially if a student is captain of more than one sport. Where would the time for class
president, working on the student newspaper, or other such tasks which take an
inordinate amount of time come from?
Maybe the key would be captain of more than one sport.
That
said, I sympathize and agree that this could be a chance for some institutions
to take advantage of a loophole. I
find it interesting that when benefits for athletes is the point of
conversation, it almost always focuses on the potential violators instead of
determining a way to police problems.
Wenmouth
Williams, Jr.,
1. Is
creating an exception to allow athletics-leadership activities (e.g., high
school team captain) as an awarding criterion in the best interest of Division
III? I believe that holding a leadership position on any team (whether it be
athletics or academically related) is an awarding criterion, and that it would
be unfair to exclude athletic team captains. By holding a captain position, no
matter what the case, the person who was chosen or voted in obviously has
leadership qualities that should be recognized.
I do
believe that each captain/leadership position should be held equitable between
academic and athletic teams.
2. If
an exception is created, what should it include?
a. Objective
leadership criteria or experiences such as being nominated team captain or peer
mentor? Yes, I think it should be limited to captain, peer mentor, team tutor
etc... it should have nothing to do with statistics nor ability.
b. Are
there any other objective leadership criteria that should be considered?
c. Are
awards like all-conference and all-
3. Can
you anticipate any loopholes if the division allows the awarding of aid based
on athletics leadership? I feel as though there will be no major loopholes if schools make the
question specific enough on the applications. In my experience within the past few
years, applications now have separate spaces that ask specifically for academic
awards/leadership positions as well as athletic awards/leadership positions.
Also,
I do not believe that schools should base financial aid on athletics leadership
alone, I believe that grades and other extra curricular activities as well as
volunteer services should all be taken into account as well. If a regular student only had one extra
curricular activity, i.e., "Chess Club Captain" that wouldn't merit
for awards either, it is all relative.
4.
Is
that loophole significant enough to maintain the current standard of not
allowing financial aid based on athletics leadership?
Ashley Snell, student-athlete,
1. Is
creating an exception to allow athletics-leadership activities (e.g. high
school team captain) as an awarding criterion in the best interest of Division
III?
The NCAA Division III
philosophy statement states, “…Division III places the highest
priority on the overall quality of the educational experience…”
The statement goes on to suggest that athletics is an integral part
of the educational experience where coaches play a significant role as
educators. Corporations are now actively seeking student-athletes from
institutions because of the leadership skills that these students have learned
as a result of participation in athletics. Student-athletes learn skills
such as team-work, a goal oriented mentality, and mental endurance through
participation. Athletics offers a bridge between the age-old debate of
the disconnect between academia and practical application of knowledge learned
in the classroom in “real world” experience. Unfortunately,
the unintended consequence of the new prohibition against the consideration of
athletics participation (not ability or performance) has been a
disadvantage to our student-athletes who participated in athletics that deserve
a merit based award based on an array of extra-curricular involvement that
enhances leadership skills. What we are finding is that our admissions
office has to now separate our student-athletes from receiving institutional
grants for fear of being over the 4% threshold. The NCAA Division III
philosophy puts an emphasis on participation in athletics to enhance the
overall educational experience for our student-athletes. Therefore, a
merit based grant that allows athletics-leadership as a criteria is consistent
with the Division III ideology. However, I temper this statement with the
necessity of admissions departments and/or financial aid departments that would
award these grants/scholarships to remain completely unbiased by criteria based
on ability, performance, or coaches recommendations.
2. If
an exception is created, what should it include?
a. Criteria
should be outlined for experiences that enhance leadership skills.
b. Nominations
that outline performance and/or ability should be avoided to be consistent with
the philosophy of the Division III tenet.
c. Aid
given out should not exceed more than a designated dollar amount such as $1000
or less
3. Anticipated
loopholes.
a. Coaches
pressuring admissions/financial aid departments to award aid to
student-athletes based on ability rather than participation
b. Pressure
from executive management to increase win/loss record
4. Loophole
significant enough to not allow financial aid based on athletics leadership.
If the dollar amount of
the award is within reason, the loophole for dishonest institutions would not
pose a significant imbalance.
Jennifer Pacelli,
Creating an 'exception' for
athletics-leadership activities goes against the foundational principles of
D3. In my experience at the D3 level, as both an administrator and coach,
I am hearing more and more schools create loopholes – like this proposal
– which is creating a distinctive competitive advantage for those
institutions over those who are following D3 legislation as it is written.
Offering this change would create a 'slippery slope', and only encourage the D3
level to become more like D1 and D2.
As a general rule, it is assumed
that D3 offers a 'level' playing field across the board. However, D3 is
less 'level' than those levels who offer athletic scholarships. For
example, at both the D1 and D2 levels it is clear how many scholarships
each sport is allowed to offer. However, at the D3 level each institution
is allowed to offer financial aid and scholarships that fit into their
institutional philosophy, providing it does not violate D3 legislation.
In other words, the same student may be granted a much larger scholarship at
one institution over another even though that student has a certain
academic/need profile. That is what makes D3 unique, but it also creates
an unlevel playing field based on the realities of institutional scholarship
philosophy.
Adding this 'team captain' criteria
would only create opportunities for greater inequality. My position is to
keep a 'pure' D3 identity, and this proposal would not follow D3 fundamental
tenets.
Tony Duckworth, Huntingdon (AL)
College, Great
1.
Is
creating an exception to allow athletics-leadership activities (e.g., high
school team captain) as an awarding criterion in the best interest of Division
III? NO—this
is at the heart of what makes Div. III different!
2. If
an exception is created, what should it include? No exceptions
a. Objective
leadership criteria or experiences such as being nominated team captain or peer
mentor? NO…this
is a leadership award that is in itself an award and used by many on their
resumes to show this—it is not meant to be a “paid position”
b. Are
there any other objective leadership criteria that should be considered? NO this
can easily get out of hand quickly and would basically lead us down the path of
offering athletics-based scholarships.
c. Are
awards like all-conference and all-
3. Can
you anticipate any loopholes if the division allows the awarding of aid based
on athletics leadership? No
4. Is
that loophole significant enough to maintain the current standard of not
allowing financial aid based on athletics leadership? No
Francis
Marie Thrailkill,
1.
Is
creating an exception to allow athletics-leadership activities (e.g., high
school team captain) as an awarding criterion in the best interest of Division
III? I
think that looking at things such as leadership in sports should be considered.
This wouldn't be like DI or DII because those athletes are getting money simply
for their athletic ability. I think it's a good idea, many times I feel
that athletes are overlooked in areas like this. I think this wouldn't hurt what Division
III stands for, athletes who play for the love of the game, not because someone
is paying for their performance. If these athletes go above and beyond
playing the game by showing exceptional leadership, they should be rewarded for
it. Those are skills that will carry on in their lives after their
playing days are over.
2. If
an exception is created, what should it include? I would stay
away from anything that deals with athlete performance--that is for DI and
DII. It should be limited to leadership they display, like in practice,
games, or other team activities.
a. Objective
leadership criteria or experiences such as being nominated team captain or peer
mentor? I would not consider people who are simply nominated---too
much of that involves politics. I
think it should be more of looking at how that athlete used their membership to
a team to be a leader--like coaching a youth team, or letting coaches and
opposing coaches nominate athletes based on their leadership in practice or
games. Lots of sports teams participate in activities that help
communities and non-profit organizations. Athletes should be rewarded for
this. Also, captains shouldn't be
the only ones considered; you can be a leader without having that title. I think by simply looking at who was
labeled a captain for a team would backfire.
b. Are
there any other objective leadership criteria that should be considered? Like I said
above, look at what they do in association with their team or sport.
c. Are
awards like all-conference and all-
3. Can
you anticipate any loopholes if the division allows the awarding of aid based
on athletics leadership? There are always going to be loopholes, that's just the way
it is. But I think if it is clearly
defined that things such as all-conference awards are not taken into
consideration it would be ok. I
think that you would have to be very specific in what is acceptable and what is
not. No matter what you do there will always be people looking for some
kind of loophole.
4.
Is
that loophole significant enough to maintain the current standard of not
allowing financial aid based on athletics leadership? No
Jill Louis Janke, Heartland Conference
1.
Is
creating an exception to allow athletics-leadership activities (e.g., high
school team captain) as an awarding criterion in the best interest of Division
III? No
2. If
an exception is created, what should it include?
a. Objective
leadership criteria or experiences such as being nominated team captain or peer
mentor? Yes, but (should such an exception be recognized) I would stick to
actually serving as team captain - not just nomination. But this leads me
to ask: do all teams always have captains - how about golf, cross country,
tennis?
b. Are
there any other objective leadership criteria that should be considered? I can think of none.
c. Are
awards like all-conference and all-
3. Can
you anticipate any loopholes if the division allows the awarding of aid based
on athletics leadership? I think
this is a "slippery slope" that would basically lead us down the road
to offering athletics-based scholarships - then, we're no different from DI,
DII, and the NAIA. This is a bad idea!
4. Is
that loophole significant enough to maintain the current standard of not
allowing financial aid based on athletics leadership? Yes, absolutely.
Georgana
Taggart,
Our position is there should be no exception to the rule and
no loopholes.
Cheryl P. Aaron,
I apologize for not responding sooner with respect to
athletic leadership as a criterion for financial aid packaging. With
respect to your 4 points, my answers are as follows:
1. NO.
2. No
exception should be acceptable.
3. NO.
4. N/A.
John Nazarian,
1. Is
creating an exception to allow athletics-leadership activities (e.g., high
school team captain) as an awarding criterion in the best interest of Division
III? Yes,
depending on how they handle other leadership activities. If they consider leadership for clubs
and outside organizations, sports should not be limited; however, if they only
consider sport leadership and not other leadership activities, then I
don’t think it is right to just single the athletic leadership. Also, one has to consider that some
people come from larger schools vs. smaller schools where the opportunity to
have a leadership position is easier, so it might not be fair.
2. If
an exception is created, what should it include? Captain or any
initiative the student highlighted that displayed leadership
qualities…but also look at club involvement.
a. Objective
leadership criteria or experiences such as being nominated team captain or peer
mentor? – No – nomination should not be considered.
b. Are
there any other objective leadership criteria that should be considered?
c. Are
awards like all-conference and all-
3. Can
you anticipate any loopholes if the division allows the awarding of aid based
on athletics leadership? The abuse or students finding ways to put things down just
to get money…i.e., where some school says that all the seniors are
captains, just so people can put it down.
4. Is
that loophole significant enough to maintain the current standard of not
allowing financial aid based on athletics leadership? I think overall
it would be hard to define and keep pure, and it is easy to have this mirror
athletic scholarships.
Jennifer Myhre,
1. Is
creating an exception to allow athletics-leadership activities (e.g., high
school team captain) as an awarding criterion in the best interest of Division
III? I
think yes, Division III athletics is about valuing the whole person, both the
student and the athlete. If we can acknowledge the leadership ability of
student athletes I think it would be beneficial.
2. If
an exception is created, what should it include? I think it
should include more than being the captain of his/her team.
If
an individual participates in clubs, charity work, or any organization where
he/she shows leadership qualities I think it should be considered.
a. Objective
leadership criteria or experiences such as being nominated team captain or peer
mentor? I don't think nominations
should be considered.
b. Are
there any other objective leadership criteria that should be considered?
c. Are
awards like all-conference and all-
3. Can
you anticipate any loopholes if the division allows the awarding of aid based
on athletics leadership? I think it would be hard to measure because some students
may list a variety of organizations in order to receive a monetary reward. If they list being the captain of their
team, they may have only been given that title because of their seniority, not
their leadership.
4.
Is
that loophole significant enough to maintain the current standard of not
allowing financial aid based on athletics leadership? No.
Sara Fuller,
1. Is
creating an exception to allow athletics-leadership activities (e.g., high
school team captain) as an awarding criterion in the best interest of Division
III? Yes,
it all depends on how they look at other leadership activities. You can not single out any sort of
athletic leadership achievements.
2. If
an exception is created, what should it include? Any initiative
the student has displayed should be looked at. It does not matter whether it is from a
club/organization or achieved in athletics.
a.
Objective
leadership criteria or experiences such as being nominated team captain or peer
mentor? Nomination
should be considered when looking at this criteria.
b.
Are
there any other objective leadership criteria that should be considered? At
this time, I can not think of any but I am open to any suggestions.
c.
Are
awards like all-conference and all-
3. Can
you anticipate any loopholes if the division allows the awarding of aid based
on athletics leadership? I think there are loopholes to this awarding. If a team has only two seniors on the
team, these two might very well be named captains just because they are the
only seniors on the team. These two
may not have fully earned this role but have been handed this because of their
years in school.
4. Is
that loophole significant enough to maintain the current standard of not
allowing financial aid based on athletics leadership? I think this
would enter a grey area. How could
we determine what is right and what is wrong?
Scott Kennell,
1. Is
creating an exception to allow athletics-leadership activities (e.g., high
school team captain) as an awarding criterion in the best interest of Division
III? I
believe that is should be considered.
Some of our best leaders, currently on our campus, were involved in
athletics as team captains at some point during their high school or even
college career.
2. If
an exception is created, what should it include?
a.
Objective
leadership criteria or experiences such as being nominated team captain or peer
mentor?
b.
Are
there any other objective leadership criteria that should be considered?
c.
Are
awards like all-conference and all-
3. Can
you anticipate any loopholes if the division allows the awarding of aid based
on athletics leadership? Some
captains are nominated because they might be the only seniors, and not actual
leaders.
4. Is
that loophole significant enough to maintain the current standard of not
allowing financial aid based on athletics leadership? No.
Janice Luck,
1. Is
creating an exception to allow athletics-leadership activities (e.g., high
school team captain) as an awarding criterion in the best interest of Division
III? No, I
do not think it is in the best interests of D3. Indeed, it seems to be a
rather transparent attempt to create a loophole to allow athletic ability to be
considered as a criterion for financial aid at D3 institutions.
Obviously,
all students who apply to a D3 college or university are eligible for
scholarships because of leadership ability (assuming a given college has
incorporated that into their decision making and financial award
process). This certainly includes athletes and, in this case at least,
they are neither advantaged nor disadvantaged by the present policy.
As
an ex-high school and ex-college coach, I am virtually certain the new
policy, if adopted, would be abused – intentionally and unintentionally.
Are there "all-conference" and "all-American" players
whose "leadership" goes beyond prowess in their sport?
Possibly, but in my experience, the only criterion for that designation is
athletic ability, and other forms of leadership could easily be accommodated
under existing rules. I think the same applies most of the time for
"team captain," as I cannot think of a high school team in my experience
whose captain wasn't also one of their best athletes.
Finally,
I have mentioned this to a number of colleagues on our faculty and not a one
supported the proposed change, all agreeing that it wasn't just the proverbial
slippery slope, but was a hill of ice.
(OK, that metaphor doesn't quite work, but I assume you take my point: they thought it was a bad idea!)
Finally,
should the NCAA agree to something like this? I suspect it would only confirm the
feeling shared by many that D3 must divide into two divisions, one
that continues to adhere to the principles and philosophy we now espouse and
one that begins to model itself after D2.
Stewart
Purkey,
1. Is creating an exception to allow athletics-leadership activities (e.g., high school team captain) as an awarding criterion in the best interest of Division III? I do not think so. I think it will create more confusion in the award process, and open up more opportunity to "get around" the bylaw. The questions that are asked below are an indication of the complexity of trying to define leadership in athletics without using athletic skills/performance as an award criterion.
2. If
an exception is created, what should it include?
a. Objective leadership criteria or experiences such as being nominated team captain or peer mentor? I am not sure that the naming of team captains is always an objective process. b. Are there any other objective leadership criteria that should be considered? c. Are awards like all-conference and all-America 3. Can you anticipate any loopholes if the division allows the awarding of aid based on athletics leadership? As I indicated above, I think it would be extremely difficult to make this process work. I think that leadership is very difficult to define in an objective, measurable way. Who will be the person(s) to evaluate a prospective student and determine that his/her activities in high school qualify as leadership activities above and beyond their performance on the field? 4. Is that loophole significant enough to maintain the current standard of not allowing financial aid based on athletics leadership? Yes, I believe it is. Holly
Gera,
1. Is
creating an exception to allow athletics-leadership activities (e.g., high
school team captain) as an awarding criterion in the best interest of Division
III? NO - I THINK ALLOWING
ATHLETICS-LEADERSHIP ACTIVITIES TO BE A CRITERIA FOR AWARDING FINANCIAL AID
WILL LEAD TO ABUSE AND IS NOT PART OF THE DIVISION III PHILOSOPHY OR
2. If an
exception is created, what should it include?
a. Objective
leadership criteria or experiences such as being nominated team captain or peer
mentor? I THINK LEADERSHIP
SHOULDINCLUDE ALL H.S. ACTIVITIES WITH ATHLETICS BEING ONLY ONE COMPONENT.
b.
Are
there any other objective leadership criteria that should be considered? COMMUNITY SERVICE; CLASS OFFICERS,
ETC... HOW ARE THEY INVOLVED IN ALL ASPECTS OF THEIR H.S.
c. Are
awards like all-conference and all-
3. Can
you anticipate any loopholes if the division allows the awarding of aid based
on athletics leadership? YES! LEADERSHIP IS A SUBJECTIVE QUALITY THAT
VARIES DEPENDING ON WHO IS DETERMINING THIS QUALITY AND WHY.
4. Is
that loophole significant enough to maintain the current standard of not
allowing financial aid based on athletics leadership? YES
Louise
McCleary, athletics director,