There's a lot of misperception of CU Admissions and Academic Support out there and I wanted to help clear some things up.
In the past, the AD did not do a good job of working with these groups. Then, following the "scandal" during the Barnett years, a bit of an adversarial environment that was created. Then, Hawkins came in not understanding the process or need to work with Admissions and Academic Support (Boise State is like Kansas State with the guys it can get in and keep eligible. Before that Hawk wasn't even at a D1 program).
But things have changed.
DiStefano is a friend to the AD and wants cooperation. This makes a big difference. He was the faculty athletic rep for the Big 12 for a lot of years before becoming Chancellor of the Boulder campus. He gets it on this issue.
Bohn has really emphasized funding Academic Support for our athletes. He has secured some major donations in this area and our athletes now have a lot more resources at their disposal than they ever have.
Embree completely gets this. He works with Admissions and Academic Support more than maybe any football coach we've ever had. Same goes for Boyle.
One of the big places we see a change is with recruiting. If a guy has an offer, you can be confident that his transcript has been screened and our head coach has been told where the player is as far as being able to get into CU. If the player comes for a visit, you know that the prospect has a test score that is expected to be good enough to get through the NCAA Clearinghouse.
Now, this may mean that the player still has work to do. A lot can be accomplished during the senior year in high school with the core requirements needed for admission. But when they show up for their visit, we know exactly what they need. In fact, a big part of official visits for both football and basketball is time spent with CU academic advisors to lay this out. Not only what they need to do with the rest of their high school years, but a lot of information on CU programs of study and what a degree path would be. This information can be general or tailored to the prospect if he has indicated he wants to major in a particular area or is thinking about a couple.
In basketball, everyone has been getting in for several years now. Also, no one has lost eligibility for academic suspension in years (although we did have one on the women's side during the fall last year). Every single football player was eligible for this season and only 1 player from last year's class did not make it through the NCAA Clearinghouse (we were able to advise him on selecting a JUCO).
Also, the process of figuring out admittance with JUCOs is now working. CU will always have challenges here since we don't accept "D" grades from transfers like some schools do and we don't have some courses as part of the university academic programs (PE and some general studies) so those courses can't transfer in. But the idea that we can't admit JUCO transfers is incorrect. We just can't take as many as some programs and if our coaches work with Admissions, they know whether they should recruit a particular guy.
Last, I know that not everyone here subscribes to a premium site. But if you do, you would be seeing the full interviews with guys immediately after their CU visits. Pretty much every time, the prospect is now bringing up that he had a great meeting with CU academic advisors and that it was one of the highlights of the visit. Not only has the complaint or excuse of CU Admissions and Academic Support being an obstacle become an antiquated notion, it goes beyond that. This is becoming a strength that is making a positive difference for CU athletics. This is a major change and I wanted to post this so that folks got the credit they deserve.
Hopefully some people with more first-hand experience can add to what I have posted.
In the past, the AD did not do a good job of working with these groups. Then, following the "scandal" during the Barnett years, a bit of an adversarial environment that was created. Then, Hawkins came in not understanding the process or need to work with Admissions and Academic Support (Boise State is like Kansas State with the guys it can get in and keep eligible. Before that Hawk wasn't even at a D1 program).
But things have changed.
DiStefano is a friend to the AD and wants cooperation. This makes a big difference. He was the faculty athletic rep for the Big 12 for a lot of years before becoming Chancellor of the Boulder campus. He gets it on this issue.
Bohn has really emphasized funding Academic Support for our athletes. He has secured some major donations in this area and our athletes now have a lot more resources at their disposal than they ever have.
Embree completely gets this. He works with Admissions and Academic Support more than maybe any football coach we've ever had. Same goes for Boyle.
One of the big places we see a change is with recruiting. If a guy has an offer, you can be confident that his transcript has been screened and our head coach has been told where the player is as far as being able to get into CU. If the player comes for a visit, you know that the prospect has a test score that is expected to be good enough to get through the NCAA Clearinghouse.
Now, this may mean that the player still has work to do. A lot can be accomplished during the senior year in high school with the core requirements needed for admission. But when they show up for their visit, we know exactly what they need. In fact, a big part of official visits for both football and basketball is time spent with CU academic advisors to lay this out. Not only what they need to do with the rest of their high school years, but a lot of information on CU programs of study and what a degree path would be. This information can be general or tailored to the prospect if he has indicated he wants to major in a particular area or is thinking about a couple.
In basketball, everyone has been getting in for several years now. Also, no one has lost eligibility for academic suspension in years (although we did have one on the women's side during the fall last year). Every single football player was eligible for this season and only 1 player from last year's class did not make it through the NCAA Clearinghouse (we were able to advise him on selecting a JUCO).
Also, the process of figuring out admittance with JUCOs is now working. CU will always have challenges here since we don't accept "D" grades from transfers like some schools do and we don't have some courses as part of the university academic programs (PE and some general studies) so those courses can't transfer in. But the idea that we can't admit JUCO transfers is incorrect. We just can't take as many as some programs and if our coaches work with Admissions, they know whether they should recruit a particular guy.
Last, I know that not everyone here subscribes to a premium site. But if you do, you would be seeing the full interviews with guys immediately after their CU visits. Pretty much every time, the prospect is now bringing up that he had a great meeting with CU academic advisors and that it was one of the highlights of the visit. Not only has the complaint or excuse of CU Admissions and Academic Support being an obstacle become an antiquated notion, it goes beyond that. This is becoming a strength that is making a positive difference for CU athletics. This is a major change and I wanted to post this so that folks got the credit they deserve.
Hopefully some people with more first-hand experience can add to what I have posted.