The University's Division of Kinesiology traditionally has been overpopulated by athletes - but some faculty members said they are ready to see these student athletes study something outside the science of movement.
"What we've basically found is that there's a very high concentration of student athletes in the Kinesiology department," said Education Prof. Percy Bates.
Bates discussed NCAA accreditation issues when he addressed the Senate Assembly at its monthly meeting yesterday in the Rackham Ampitheater. Bates is the faculty's representative to the University's NCAA Athletics Certification Steering Committee.
At the meeting, he presented six "key recommendations" that came out of the Academic Integrity Subcommittee's self-evaluation - part of the NCAA's two-part process for accreditation.
Among the subcommittee's major concerns was the issue of student athletes in the Kinesiology department.
"We've found that there's a view that that is where they should be and where they will be successful," Bates said, adding that this viewpoint limited students' academic perspectives.
Other subcommittee objectives include improving the opportunity for student athletes to transfer from Kinesiology to other schools and colleges and ensure that student athletes understand what admission to Kinesiology means if it is the applicant's only admissions option at the University.
Other concerns include developing a plan that would help student athletes gain admission to the courses they want, examining training requirements in the off-season and eliminating extended travel for training and competition when it conflicts with the academic calendar.
Education Prof. Milan Marich said he is concerned by the lack of counseling student athletes receive.
"I've worked with some of these kids that want to get out (of Kinesiology) and they don't really know how to," Marich said. "(Departments) need to give them some counseling that will explain their options."
Although the subcommittee is not required to implement its initiatives before the University becomes accredited, Bates said the initiatives will be worked on during the year.
"When all of this is done, it is my hope that the committee will go back and look at each recommendation and decide the appropriate person or unit in the University and work with them until the fruition of it," Bates said.
Chemistry Prof. Thomas Dunn, chair of the faculty's governing body and a former collegiate athlete, said the chance that a student athlete will be able to earn a living as a professional athlete is less than one-tenth of a percent.
"The only way we can help altogether is to give them something of value so that if they don't go into athletics, they have something they can go on with," Dunn said.