Last March, while attending the Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament in Las Vegas, I almost got caught up in the Madness. After taking in Utah’s improbable overtime win over the Cal Bears, my wife and I were walking through the MGM Grand to meet some friends for dinner. 
As we strolled through the casino floor, still caught up in the excitement, we came upon the Sports Book when my wife exclaimed, “let’s put some money on Utah!”. Imagining the possibilities of a #10 seed advancing to the Big Dance, we got in line to throw down our wager, when all of a sudden I remembered, “I can’t do this”. For a split moment, March Madness took over my thought process and I narrowly avoided a preventable mistake.
NCAA rules prohibit all athletic department staff members and student-athletes from gambling or wagering anything of value on any NCAA sporting events. This includes any NCAA tournament games, brackets, and pools.
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Federal law holds members of the Herbst Academic Center to strict standards of confidentiality. Any academic information that is disclosed by a student-athlete is considered to be confidential. This includes disclosing information about student-athletes to coaches, other athletics staff, the press or any individual who is not associated with the Herbst Academic Center. The release of this protected information is limited to the staff in the Herbst Academic Center ONLY. Tutors, as well as the remainder of the staff, are to abide by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (also known as FERPA). This Act deals directly with the protection of the educational records of student-athletes.
Additionally, tutors should not communicate directly with faculty members or coaches about the students they tutor.
Below are links to additional information to help you gain a better understanding of FERPA.
A tutor’s primary objective is to help a student become a better writer by the end of the semester, not to produce a perfect paper by the end of the tutoring session.
When revising work, focus on content such as ideas, phrasing, and organization.
When reviewing work focus on mechanical issues such as grammar, spelling, and formatting.
A prospective student athlete (also known as “prospect” or “PSA”) is any student, regardless of athletic ability, who is in the 9th – 12th grade. Men’s basketball also includes 7th and 8th graders. These individuals will remain a prospect until one of the following occurs (whichever occurs earlier):
You are allowed to tutor prospects; however, you should not initiate the contact with a prospect being recruited by our institution at the request of one of our coaches or staff members. CU Athletics staff should never ask you to tutor a prospect under any circumstances.
You should charge prospects the standard rate for your services. Prospects, especially those being recruited by CU, should not receive any discounts or special deals.
The same restrictions on extra benefits for current student-athletes also applies to prospects. Do not provide prospects with extra benefits – this may include cash, meals, gifts, transportation, etc.
In your conversations with prospects, you are not allowed to talk about CU Athletics, it’s coaches or staff members in a recruiting manner. Likewise, you are not to serve as a conduit for delivering recruiting materials back-and-forth between coach and prospect (i.e. game film, correspondence, exchange of contact information).
When marketing your tutoring services to prospects in the private market:
An extra benefit is any special arrangement by an institutional employee or a booster to provide a student-athlete a benefit not expressly authorized by NCAA rules. Some examples of extra benefits include cash, meals, gifts, co-signing on a loan, and transportation.
The extra benefit restrictions apply to a student-athlete’s friends and families as well.
Occasional Meals/Rides: If you would like to buy a meal for one of your student-athletes, you must make an official request through the Compliance department prior to providing the meal. You can provide occasional transportation only under extreme circumstances (i.e. severe weather).
Here are some real-life, and almost unbelievable stories, of student-athletes who took extra benefits and suffered the consequences (courtesy of IUPUI Athletics).
The essence of integrity is what one does or the decisions one makes if no one is around or watching. Imagine the little angel sitting on your shoulder scrutinizing your every move. Having integrity in your academic pursuits, whether as a tutor or a student, simply means making good choices. Making good choices in this context boils down to three simple rules: Don’t Lie, Don’t Steal, Don’t Cheat. As a tutor, you have the unique opportunity to model this behavior for the student-athletes you work with and it starts by knowing and understanding what NOT to do.
Plagiarism, Cheating, Fabrication, Aid of Academic Dishonesty, Lying, Bribery, and Threat. These are forms of academic dishonesty that you should be aware of as a tutor (see What is a Violation? for examples of each).
Those students that commit various forms of academic dishonesty usually do so when they feel pressured or unprepared. Please help monitor this by being aware of your student’s deadlines, upcoming assignments, and practice/competition schedules. Most of this can be accessed through your GradesFirst account. If you sense a student has reached panic mode, please reach out to their Academic Coordinator.
The following video does an outstanding job of defining Academic Integrity – and the illustrations are fantastic!
What is Academic Integrity? from Emily Paige on Vimeo.
Herbst Academic Center tutors please post comment stating you’ve read and understand this week’s tutor tip.
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