Boston College open its playbook on how it fosters academic success.

By Kenny Berkowitz

Kenny Berkowitz is an Assistant Editor at Athletic Management. He can be reached at KBerkowitz@MomentumMedia.com.

Boston College Athletic Director Gene DeFilippo has a lot of reasons to be proud of his program's academic successes. In 2004, the football team graduated 100 percent of its student-athletes, and the entire athletics program currently has the sixth highest GPA in the nation among NCAA Division I schools. BC graduates 87 percent of its student-athletes, compared to an average of 60 percent in all of Division I and 51 percent in Divisions II and III.

How do they do it? According to DeFilippo, who gives much of the credit to the student-athletes themselves, academic excellence begins at the top. "I report directly to the president of the college, who holds me accountable for our academic performance, as he should," says DeFilippo. "When student-athlete graduation rate is a priority for the athletic director, it becomes a priority for the head coaches, the assistant coaches, and the student-athletes.

"Believe me, if our graduation rate dipped, I would hear about it," he adds. "I would hear from the president, the deans, the admissions people—all sectors."

CONNECTING WITH COACHES
An integral component of BC's success, says DeFilippo, has been placing expectations of academic success on the shoulders of coaches. "Number one, we expect our coaches to provide a great experience for our student-athletes. Number two, we expect them to field teams that are competitive. And number three, we expect them to graduate their student-athletes," says DeFilippo. "We view fostering academic success as part of our coaches' jobs."

This starts during the hiring process. DeFilippo searches for people who've worked at institutions with similar academic missions and talks with each candidate about his or her academic background. "We've done a good job hiring coaches who share our beliefs," he says. "They have their own personalities, styles, and ideas, but every one of them buys into our system of both academic and athletic success."

DeFilippo consistently stresses academics in his meetings with the coaching staff and taps into their natural competitiveness. "There's a great sense of community here, and coaches are both supportive and competitive with each other," he says. "The competition is never really talked about, but it's always there. Nobody wants to be the one coach who doesn't have a good graduation rate.

"And if a team falls back in academics, that's something myself and others bring to that coach's attention very, very quickly," continues DeFilippo. "In fact, we often talk about how the players are doing academically. And if an athlete has left, we talk about the reasons why. In some cases, the student-athlete may have had a personal issue. But those departures will influence our graduation rate, so if there's a potential problem, we discuss it."

The effect trickles down to those in the trenches, says Academic Counselor Lee Metzger, who works with the football and volleyball teams. "All the coaches here value academics," she says, "and they make sure to get that message across. Then, if an athlete isn't buying into the program, they use all their means as coaches to get that to change.

"For example, if an athlete isn't doing what he's supposed to in the classroom, [Head Football Coach] Tom O'Brien will send him here for study hours instead of keeping him on the field," continues Metzger. "That's very special—he might be one of the few head football coaches in the country who would do that, and it's because he's supported by his athletic director. All it takes is one star player to be told that he can't practice or play in a game for the others to get the point."

Once, O'Brien benched an athlete who didn't want his parents to see his academic records. Another time, academics kept one of the team's stars from playing in the Aloha Bowl. He usually tailors punishments to get a student-athlete's attention, such as assigning early morning runs, or holding out the ultimate penalty: losing playing time.

"My main function in this process is to enforce the rules set by the academic advisors," says O'Brien. "We create an atmosphere where academics are important, and if student-athletes are supposed to show up for tutorials, either they show up or they get punished. I've suspended athletes because of academics, and that sends a powerful message to everyone."

Similar strategies are employed by all the coaches at BC. "Our coaches are very influential in helping us," says Jonathan Gomes, Assistant Director of BC's Learning Resources for Student Athletes. "When we talk with coaches about our concerns, we get that extra, added support, and it helps get our message across. The student-athletes see that their coaches and our office are really on the same page, and that we communicate regularly with each other."

CHECKS & BALANCES
Another key element of BC's success has been creating a system of checks and balances to monitor student-athletes' academics. The system involves a lot of people checking progress and maintaining communication across many areas, which ensures that problems don't go unnoticed.

At the heart of the system is the college's athletic-academic support unit, called Learning Resources for Student Athletes (LRSA), which includes a staff of six full-time professionals and a team of 12-15 student tutors. Led by Ferna Phillips, LRSA works closely with the athletics staff but reports to the vice president for student affairs.

For DeFilippo, that structure is an essential part of the program's success. "We work hand-in-glove with the academic advisors every day, but the fact that they don't report directly to us provides additional credibility from faculty and administrators," he says. "It also cuts down on some of the temptation to take shortcuts in helping athletes through the academic challenges at a school like this."

Phillips agrees. "By reporting to the vice president of student affairs, there are no questions about LRSA having a conflict of interest," she says. "We keep the reporting lines clear, not blurry, and avoid any compromise of our academic integrity."

DeFilippo also likes that the structure requires him to maintain regular contact with the Vice President of Student Affairs. "It gives us another chance to work with student affairs, which provides a sense of closeness within the campus community," says DeFilippo, who attends vice presidents' meetings every other week.

Another part of the checks and balances involves progress reports. Every week, LRSA distributes a progress report on each student-athlete to DeFilippo, the athletes' head coach, and the office of student affairs. Academic advisors fill out the reports, which detail whether the student-athlete came prepared for his or her tutoring session, arrived on time, and demonstrated motivation to do the work. Along with being generated as a report, the information is entered into a database, which allows the entire LRSA staff to check a student-athlete's academic history at any time. If a report indicates a potential problem, DeFilippo immediately calls in the head coach for a conversation.

Academic faculty members are also part of the system. At the start of each term, academic advisors make contact with each of their athletes' professors, and at mid-term, professors are sent a progress card for each athlete, which they return with grade summaries, attendance records, and any other comments they may have.

"It's a way for us to keep student-athletes from falling through the cracks," says Metzger. "If there are students who are not doing well in a particular course, we get them the support that they need, immediately.

"Professors here are very understanding, supportive, helpful, and interested in students being academically successful," continues Metzger. "I've worked at other places where students are just numbers, and it's not like that here."

THE RIGHT FIT
The third reason for BC's academic success is its focus on student-athletes as individuals. This starts during the recruiting process. "As athletic directors, there are many different ways we can have an impact on our student-athletes' academics," says DeFilippo. "It starts in the admissions process, when we make sure we're recruiting students who have what it takes, both academically and athletically, to succeed at Boston College."

Head Baseball Coach Peter Hughes says he only recruits those who he feels can balance athletics and academics. "We're definitely more selective than other schools," he says. "We're recruiting for a certain fit, and if the fit doesn't work, it's not going to be healthy for the student-athlete or the team. "It narrows our recruiting pool, but it's still the best way to do it," continues Hughes. "It's not fair to bring recruits into an academic environment where they're going to be playing catch-up for four years. If they're going to be overburdened academically, they won't be able to reach their potential athletically."

Recruiting for football, O'Brien agrees. "From an athletic standpoint, I lose the chance to recruit some people who could definitely help the program," says O'Brien, who was awarded the American Football Coaches Association's 2004 Academic Achievement Award. "But if that athlete isn't going to be here two years from now, it doesn't do me or the department any good to sign him."

To assess a recruit's academic potential, coaches work closely with admissions officers, who have a much clearer picture of the academic qualifications needed to succeed academically at BC. Starting in the fall, Hughes meets regularly with the admissions staff, discussing about a dozen potential recruits at each visit.

"I talk about what we think of the young man as a baseball player, and I listen to what the admissions officers think of him as a student," says Hughes. "Transcripts don't lie. So we look at their academic track record—what kind of classes they've taken and how they've done. If the athlete has been making an effort in the classroom, he's going to do the same on the baseball field. And if either of us thinks the athlete isn't going to fit, we tell him to look at other schools."

During high school recruiting visits, O'Brien's assistant coaches make sure to stop by the guidance counselor's office, where they obtain a transcript and begin creating an academic profile of each potential recruit. Then, as the recruits come for their official visits, athletes and their parents are taken on a tour of LRSA, where they meet with academic advisors, hear about the challenges of college courses, and learn about the support system that's been created to help them.

The academic counselors informally share their thoughts on the recruits with the coaches, who discuss them with the admissions officers, who ultimately make the decision on who will and won't be admitted to the college. "I can not offer anyone a scholarship without the approval of the director of admissions," says O'Brien. "The director of admissions tells me whether he feels a recruit has what it takes to succeed, and if he doesn't, I won't be able to offer him a national letter of intent."

ONE-ON-ONE
The focus on individual student-athletes continues when the freshmen arrive on campus. They participate in the general student orientation, meeting with deans and faculty advisors, along with attending a special student-athlete academic orientation.

Before the beginning of the semester, student-athletes sit down with their assigned LRSA counselor to discuss their course schedules, making adjustments to help them balance classes with practices, and deciding what tutorial support they plan to use. Freshmen are required to have six hours of structured, monitored study time in the department's study center each week and to meet with their LRSA counselor at least once a week, when they are expected to report on their progress in classes.

"All freshmen are a concern for us, even those who might become dean's list students," says Phillips. "On a weekly basis, we expect each of our freshmen to come into the office, talk to us about what's going on in their classes, and fill out a self-report about their academics."

By their second year, student-athletes are divided into three categories, with level one athletes continuing to meet with advisors at least once a week, level two athletes meeting every other week, and level three athletes coming in as needed. Many student-athletes, especially on the football and men's and women's basketball teams, continue to meet weekly with their academic advisors throughout their career at BC. The process works, says Metzger, because it begins as soon as student-athletes arrive on campus and remains a consistent part of their lives for the next four years.

"When students come in, they're put on track to graduate in four years," she says. "That's our expectation, so if they fall behind by either failing classes or withdrawing from classes, we know right away. They'll make up those courses over the summer and start the next school year still on track, which is very different from the way a lot of schools work."

Relationships between academic counselors and student-athletes become crucial, says Phillips. "There's a sense of caring for each individual student-athlete, and though people on my staff may have different ways of expressing it, our approach is, 'We are very focused on your academics, and sometimes that may not make you very happy,'" she says. "'But the concern we have for you as an individual is why we succeed the way we do.'"

"We build a trusting relationship, because they know I'm here to help them—not to watch over them," adds Metzger. "Student-athletes learn really quickly that we notice if they're not in class or not doing the work that they need to do, and they learn to be very honest with me."

For Metzger, the key to building those relationships is understanding each athlete's motivation. "In this office, we do a lot of talking and a lot of listening," she says. "We get to know what's going to motivate each individual to work hard. Their answers may be very different, but the best way to reach each of them is to listen—understand who they are and find out what's really important to them. Once I learn that about them, it's much easier to motivate them to come in and use the services that we offer."

WORKING TOGETHER
In the end, the most important factor, says Phillips, is teamwork. "When you talk about teamwork, you have to include everyone on the team, including the academic support staff," she says. "All of us at BC have the same goal in mind: We want each of our student-athletes to do well in his or her sport, graduate, and contribute to society. And the only way we're going to be successful at that is if we work together."

"I don't think our success is tied to any one thing," says DeFilippo. "It comes from having coaches who share our academic mission and who hire assistants with the same goal in mind. It comes from recruiting people who can do the work and who really value academics. And it comes from providing our student-athletes with the academic resources they need to succeed."

For more information about Boston College's Learning Resources for Student Athletes, see www.bc.edu/offices/lrsa.

Sidebar: IMMEDIATE ACTION
When Boston College student-athletes miss an appointment with their tutor, come late, or haven't prepared their work, Jonathan Gomes knows within 24 hours. Assistant Director of Learning Resources for Student Athletes (LRSA), Gomes asks tutors to red flag any problems so staff can respond as quickly as possible. The information is given to the student-athlete's academic advisor, and the athlete and advisor discuss the situation at their weekly meeting.

"If it happens a second or a third time, we'll really jump into action," Gomes says. "Usually, we'll pull the student in for a talk, sometimes with one of the assistant coaches. We don't give up on those students, we talk to them about their responsibilities as students at Boston College."

At times, the staff at LRSA also finds support from an athlete's parents, who may be called in for a three-way discussion, or an athlete's teammates. "We use the team concept, getting help from people who are used to supporting each other on the field," says Gomes. "We bring in the upperclassmen, and they talk about their own successes and difficulties.

"There are times when I can say something to a student-athlete that goes in one ear and out the other," he continues. "But when their teammate says the exact same thing, it clicks. So student-athletes who have already bought into our program play a significant part in helping us keep the freshmen and sophomores on track."

Sidebar: RECOGNIZING EXCELLENCE
When it comes to academics, it's not enough to impose penalties on student-athletes who underperform, advises Boston College Athletic Director Gene DeFilippo. You need to create incentives for student-athletes to excel in the classroom.

"Awards help create an awareness of what is important to your department," says DeFilippo. "As athletic directors, we all give honors to recognize athletic achievement. When we give academic awards too, people realize that classroom performance is important."

Each semester, DeFilippo gives an athletic director's award to every student-athlete who earns a 3.0 GPA or higher, and at the end of the year, he holds a banquet to reward all the winners. He also names the top male and female student-athlete in each class, and honors two top seniors with the Eagle of the Year Award, which is based on four years of outstanding academics, athletics, character, and community involvement.

"That's the highest honor we give to our student-athletes at Boston College," says DeFilippo, "and it shows that we're here for more than athletics."