Crammed in a box next to Michael Wasylenko’s desk in the Maxwell dean’s office is a horde of transcripts. He dragged the box to the middle of the room and pulled out a thick stack of the papers. Then he leaned back in his chair and began thumbing through the mass of documents.

In his hands, he held several of the academic records of the hundreds of athletes who participate in a Division I sport at Syracuse. He makes sure the athletes also fulfill their obligations as students.

Wasylenko, the senior associate dean of Syracuse’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, serves as chairman of the Faculty Oversight Committee, a committee whose primary obligation is to report to the chancellor on academic concerns regarding athletes. All Division I athletic universities have similar positions for faculty members.

Wasylenko, in an interview, acknowledged natural tensions between the athletic department of a university and the rest of the school. Coaches want to win, and sometimes an extra practice or an away game can interfere with a student’s academics. He said its one of his objectives is ‘to keep athletics a part of the university and not let it drift off by itself, which happens at a lot of universities.’

Events at Auburn brought to light another shady athletic department and the importance of Wasylenko’s position. The New York Times reported in July that a professor at Auburn was accused of offering high grades to football players at one of the top programs in the country to keep them eligible.

In addition to the Faculty Oversight Committee, Wasylenko also chairs the Athletic Policy Board, works as a member of SU’s University Senate Committee on Athletic Policy and acts as the university’s faculty athletic representative to the NCAA.

He helps manage the athletic budget, fund raising, equity issues such as Title IX compliance and informing coaches, athletes and administrators about NCAA, Big East and university operations.

Wasylenko said all faculty members perform committee work, so his positions do not distract from his role as professor of economics. Wasylenko accepted the position of faculty athletic representative when it was offered by ex-Chancellor Buzz Shaw six years ago.

Wasylenko, an avid sports fan, enjoys his broad and unique perspective on how athletics works at a university.

‘There’s a lot more to it then showing up on Saturday and playing a game,’ he said.

The link between the athletic and academic parts of life is the Faculty Oversight Committee.

The committee reviews student-athletes’ academic transcripts to ensure they are progressing along with the rest of the student body.

‘We are looking for a lot of things,’ Wasylenko said. ‘One: Who are the athletes who are really doing well? And we look for those students who aren’t doing so well. We see if they’re getting all the help they need. Are they going to summer school to make sure they get all the credits? What are we doing to support them?’

High-performing students can be recommended for post-graduate scholarships while students lagging behind in academic performance will receive help ranging from tutoring, to examining a student’s schedule, to help with scheduling conflicts that result from practices and games.

In rare cases, the oversight committee will report patterns in grades, such as when it appears an athlete is rewarded or punished by a professor solely because the student is an athlete.

The committee reports directly to Chancellor Nancy Cantor. Committee member Dr. Catherine Cornwell, an associate professor of psychology, said Cantor has added a facet to the job of the committee. The committee now has discussions on athletic issues with Syracuse Director of Athletics Daryl Gross in the presence of the chancellor.

‘Mike Wasylenko is a solid liaison between athletics and the faculty/academic culture,’ Gross said in an e-mail. ‘We are able to keep Mike informed regarding athletics so he can in turn help incorporate the athletic mission and message into the university mainstream. Mike is also able to give us input from an academic perspective in regard to NCAA and Big East legislation. His role is very valuable to us.’

When new coaches are hired, Wasylenko is involved in making sure the coach understands the school’s regulations concerning student-athlete compliance. For instance, when Greg Robinson was interviewed for the football head coaching position after the 2004 season, Wasylenko was present via conference call.

Although not involved in any hiring decisions, Wasylenko checks on incoming coaches to see if they have the same academic goals as the university. He said coaches typically have no problem cooperating with Syracuse’s academic guidelines. Many of the coaches have children of their own and would also like their children to receive a strong education, so it’s easy for the coaches to relate to what Wasylenko is asking.

Still, there will always be some problems with student-athletes’ academic performances. Wasylenko said working with football players takes up the majority of his time because he’s trying to help 53 scholarship athletes who play one of the university’s most visible sports.

The most complicated dilemmas come from basketball. Basketball players spend much time away from the school, regularly traveling on weekdays for nationally-televised games. Wasylenko said this can be problematic when attempting to ensure athletes have the time to complete schoolwork.

Graduation rates fluctuate because if three basketball players are seniors and only one graduates, the school’s basketball graduation rate is only 33 percent, whereas just one additional graduate would boost the rate to an adequate 67 percent. In the mid-1990s, the men’s basketball team continually turned in six-year graduation rates of about 20 percent.

Overall, athletes at Syracuse have managed to maintain solid academic performances.

‘Student athlete academic performance and graduation rates overall are good both relative to those of the overall student body at Syracuse University and relative to those of students at comparable institutions,’ according to an April 2006 Ad Hoc Committee Report to the Syracuse University Senate

Michael Olivette, a Faculty Oversight Committee member and an associate professor of sports management, believes the committee serves its purpose capably of assisting student-athletes in maintaining a satisfactory academic performance. He said the committee serves as an efficient entity in large part thanks to Wasylenko’s leadership as the chairman.

‘He fulfills the role well,’ Olivette said. ‘He trusts the committee and the people on it. I would say he acts on particularly good instincts. He doesn’t come in with preconceived notions.’

Wasylenko said the members on the committee come from several colleges within Syracuse. That way, if there’s a problem within a specific college, a committee member from that college probably will be best able to fix it.

Cornwell, who has been a part of faculty oversight for five years, said the committee members work well together because they understand the significance of not permitting athletics to hinder with a student’s education

‘When there is a problem, well obviously the athletics department needs to withhold its image,’ Cornwell said. ‘But on the committee, which I am on, there I don’t think there is any divisiveness on what’s important and what’s not. Students are supposed to be here to get an education and the education is supposed to be what determines primarily what happens the rest of their lives.’

Cornwell added that Wasylenko’s wide range of connections throughout the athletic department and the university administration raises the committee’s efficiency.

Wasylenko at times interacts directly with students. Athletes will come to Wasylenko for help with academic conflicts they are experiencing as a result of playing sports. Moreover, one of the committee’s favorite components of working on oversight is the exit interviews.

When athletes graduate from Syracuse, the student will be evaluated on his or her experience as an athlete. Wasylenko said he enjoys hearing students open up about their time at SU. He has even maintained friendships with some graduated athletes.

Furthermore, what an athlete is willing to say before he or she graduates can often provide crucial insight on an athletics program and what issues the committee should discuss with Cantor.

Syracuse athletics has been performing at a commendable level since Wasylenko took his positions. Nevertheless, Wasylenko knows there’s always a new challenge lurking just around the corner and he will make certain he’s prepared for it.

‘One thing I’ve learned from being an athletic rep here is to never say you’re satisfied,’ Wasylenko said. ‘It’s just the nature of athletics. As soon as you’re satisfied someone’s passing you or someone slips. So I’d say our trajectory is a good one and I’d like to stay on it.’

Published on October 31, 2006 at 12:00 pm