Educator says athletic model worth copying

Few people know more about college academics and athletics than Gene Budig. The Isle of Palms resident is a senior presidential adviser for the College Board and served as university president at Illinois State, West Virginia and Kansas, where he presided over the hiring of basketball coaches Larry Brown and Roy Williams.

Budig said he likes the progress colleges with major sports programs have made with expensive academic centers built for athletes -- so much so, he thinks the concept should be expanded to include all students.

"Are they good? Yes," Budig said. "Do they enhance credibility to the athletic department? Yes. Is the need limited just to athletes? No. Could other students benefit from a similar effort? Without question."

The University of South Carolina and Clemson Universtiy both have athletic academic centers, Vickery Hall and the Dodie Anderson Center for Academic Enrichment, respectively.

They also continue to improve their learning centers that are open to all students.

South Carolina's Student Success Center has an annual budget of $990,000; the Dodie Anderson Center budget is $1.1 million.

Clemson's Academic Success Center has a budget of $940,000; Vickery Hall has a donated budget of $1.7 million. Modeled after Vickery Hall and opened in 2001, the Academic Success Center soon will move into its own free-standing building near the center of campus.

"As visible as Vickery Hall has been, our Academic Success Center will continue to have a huge impact on our students," Clemson President James F. Barker said. "It has helped us make a steady rise in our grade point average and in the percentage of students who keep their Life Scholarships."

Both schools also have separate tutoring and other academic assistance available within various programs of study.

But Budig likes aspects of the athletic centers including mandatory study hall and extra tutor emphasis placed on students who are admitted with borderline academic credentials.

"These centers work," said Budig, who also is a part-owner of the Charleston RiverDogs and a former Major League Baseball American League president. "Conceptually they are on the dime and conceptually they could be a great assistance to many, many non-athletes. That's just the way it is.

"The cost is high but so are the rewards," he said.

South Carolina's Student Success Center, located within the Thomas Cooper Library, offers extensive tutoring opportunities. Freshmen get special attention, said Dr. Helen Doerpinghaus, South Carolina's vice provost and dean of undergraduate studies.

"We send an electronic letter to all teachers and ask them to click the names of students with high absence rates," Doerpinghaus said. "Then those students get a call. The faculty really loves that."

Clemson's Academic Success Center has twice as many tutors -- 150 -- as Vickery Hall. The staff includes eight full-time employees; Vickery Hall has 17.