The University of Iowa announced last week that starting this spring, athletes will be allowed to take all but three (one course) credits per semester online. The decision, as reported in a local newspaper, The Gazette, reverses a previous policy that limited athletes to one online course per semester, even while other residential students at the institution had more flexibility.
The rule change highlights an ongoing debate over whether athletes benefit or suffer from taking some or all of the online courses – and whether institutions want them to take distance courses to bolster their eligibility for the course. competition or to improve their academic performance. Observers believe more institutions are likely to follow Iowa’s lead, although some are skeptical that athletes will benefit from more online classes.
“Athletes should have the same type of access to educational options as the regular student body,” said Dave Ridpath, associate professor of sports management at Ohio University who is also chairman of the board of directors. Drake Group, which promotes integrity in college sport. “It could mean online classes. The flip side is, is this going to be used as a measure of maintaining eligibility rather than an actual choice by the athlete?”
Rules from now on
“Inside Digital Learning” contacted the 14 institutions of the Big Ten Sports Conference, of which Iowa is a member, to inquire about the institutions’ online course policies regarding athletes. In addition to Iowa, eight of the league’s member universities responded to our request.
Rutgers University and Indiana University allow their athletes to take up to two online courses per semester, although they can sometimes get approval for a third. Rutgers has an additional rule: first-semester freshmen are not allowed to take classes online, a spokeswoman said. Pennsylvania State University and the University of Minnesota, meanwhile, allow athletes to take one online course per semester, with the option of requesting a second. The University of Michigan, Ohio State University, University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Northwestern University, and Purdue University allow athletes to take as many online courses as they want.
The University of Maryland and the University of Illinois were unable to locate the information in time for publication. Michigan State University and the University of Wisconsin did not return a request for comment.
At the University of Iowa, the proliferation of online courses available to all students has prompted athletes to expand access, officials said.
The National College Athletic Association first weighed in on this issue in 2011. Its members, now more than 1,100 colleges and universities, at the time considered two proposals, according to NCAA spokeswoman Michelle Hosick: one that limited athletes to 50 percent. of their courses per semester through a distance format, and one that placed no limits on the registration of athletes’ online courses. This last proposal won out.
“The general consensus at the time was that student athletes should have similar access to non-traditional classes as all students at a particular school,” Hosick said.
According to Hosick, those who argued for the old policy wanted to recognize the benefits of the classroom environment and establish an additional safeguard against potential cheating or academic misconduct. No NCAA body has considered a rule change since 2011, she added.
Culture change in Iowa
When Iowa began offering online courses a few years ago, the institution’s Presidential Athletics Committee was reluctant to let athletes follow them, given the uncertainty over academic integrity, according to Elizabeth Tovar, deputy director of athletics for student-athlete academic services. More recently, the institution has warmed up to the idea slightly, creating a waiver system whereby athletes could ask their academic advisors for the option of taking more than one online course per semester.
Counselors generally encouraged athletes to request a waiver if their busy schedules meant that the lessons they wanted to take face-to-face would not be offered at convenient times. Tovar said all waiver requests that came to his office were likely to be approved because they had already received an adviser’s blessing.
Waiver requests began to arrive with increasing frequency as Iowa expanded its online offerings, according to Tovar. Since then, the institution has granted between 120 and 140 exemptions, mainly for students wishing to take two online courses. Two students successfully applied to take all of their courses online because they were traveling abroad with the field hockey team, she said.
Iowa always prefers that students, including athletes, take face-to-face lessons whenever possible, Tovar said. But the presidential committee ruled that since the online courses are approved by the university and its board of trustees, there is no reason to prevent athletes from taking them.
“We have to ask ourselves the question: do we want to treat our students differently from any student on campus? Tovar said. “Right now, with our policy, we have higher expectations of student-athletes in terms of online courses. Even with the change in policy, athletes in Iowa are still held to higher standards – non-athletes have no restrictions on the number of online classes they can take per semester.
Iowa State University has had a version of the University of Iowa rules in place for several years, since the institution began offering online courses. Non-athletes have no restrictions for online courses, while athletes must take at least one on-campus course.
“We want to make sure that they are here in town, training, participating in their sport and receiving academic support, especially if they are scholarship recipients,” said Patrice Ayeni, senior associate director of sports for the Iowa State student services.
Some Iowa State athletes continue to take all of their classes face-to-face, while others are more inclined to take classes online, Ayeni said. The flexible policy allows athletes to choose the path that best suits their learning style and training schedule.
Possible ramifications
Not everyone sees the prospect of athletes taking more online courses as a step in the right direction. Ridpath believes that the policies of the two Iowa institutions could be more harmful than helpful in the long run. Athletes, who are already in a different social position and have more time constraints than regular students, might become even more isolated from the campus culture they are supposed to experience.
Ridpath also said he believed that individual guidance from instructors in face-to-face classes might be of more benefit to athletes than online classes, which require more self-starting discipline.
“We are more concerned about their eligibility and their ability to compete in the field or in the field in order to be able to generate this income and have this point of pride for the institution. So we often look away when we don’t properly educate these kids, ”Ridpath said. “It’s just not exclusive to online courses. [But] I think there is a little less online monitoring because you don’t know who is actually on the [other end of the] computer.”
Online courses, despite their rigor, can be the “path of least resistance” for institutions that hope to keep athletes academically eligible to compete while allowing them to be further removed from the watchful eye of an instructor, he said. said Ridpath. “The big problem with online courses is that most of the time we don’t know who is on the other side of the computer,” he said. “While the tests can be monitored etc., there is still a level of monitoring that is lacking and could be exploited. “
On the other hand, the prospect of more flexibility to navigate busy schedules is appealing, Ridpath said.
How institutions deal with skepticism
University of Iowa administrators say the university has had an easier time monitoring student performance online because all documents are electronic. While Tovar did not offer specific data points, she said athletes’ scores in online courses are generally “equal or very comparable” with the scores they receive in face-to-face courses. face.
As for isolating athletes from their peers, Tovar said the institution has many programs aimed at helping athletes settle academically and on campus, including a program called Hawkeye Life, with a rigorous course. on the balance between athletics and academics. Athletes are also encouraged to participate in student government and campus programs, she said.
Meanwhile, the state of Iowa requires residential and online course athletes to meet in person with faculty for progress updates throughout the semester; athletes can ask detailed questions about upcoming assignments at that time. The university’s registrar’s office also compares the grade distribution reports for student-athletes with the student body in general. So far, the institution has not detected any difference with athletes taking online classes, Ayeni said.
