Since 2010, the athletic department has seen its tutoring budget nearly double, while the number of tutors has fallen significantly. As a result, UNC’s non-revenue athletes have less access to the available tutors.
UNC should re-evaluate its policy to ensure equitable access for all student athletes.
Rising costs have been partially attributed to the athletic department’s move from hiring undergraduates as tutors to almost only hiring graduate students and professionals, who cost more.
This comes after an isolated incident when a then-undergraduate student tutor was caught giving improper academic help to a football player. But there’s no reason to believe that graduate students are inherently more moral than undergraduates.
The athletic department should reconsider using the less expensive, but still effective, undergraduates.
Student athletes who were recruited believing they would have the opportunity for one-on-one tutoring are now finding they don’t have the same access they were promised — and once had.
Student athletes must now pay for the extra assistance out of their own pockets when the department doesn’t have an available tutor.
This disadvantages student athletes. Members of all sports teams came to UNC with the expectation that the athletic department would help them balance academics and athletics with additional tutoring.
Between their commitment to their teams and to their studies, student athletes rarely have the time for employment. But accepting additional tutoring without paying for it violates the University’s policy on tutoring assistance.
