Student development a priority, McCaw says

by Sarah R. Buchholz, Chronicle staff

Athletics director Ian McCaw at the press conference announcing his appointment in July (Sarah Buchholz photo)

ew Athletics director Ian McCaw brings a values-driven approach to running his department. By focusing on providing a high-quality experience for student-athletes at UMass, including their academic and personal growth, as well as their athletic development, he hopes to lay the foundation for winning teams.

     "It's incumbent on us to make sure we do everything we can to reach their full potential athletically, and most of that falls [to] our coaches and our staff - the people who work with them athletically," he said. "We have an academic support area..., and they do everything they can to enhance their academic experience and development in that area.

     "And we've recently initiated a life-skills program: we work with students on time management; we have drug and alcohol sessions; we have career development, how to put a resume together, all of the other life skills that go along with being a college student and developing yourself to be a future professional.

     McCaw hails most recently from Northeastern University, which houses the Center for the Study of Sport in Society, birthplace of the Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) program that has been in use at UMass for more than two years.

     "It was mandatory for all of our teams at Northeastern. We had every team go through MVP training. My understanding is we've done some of that, [already] and so we're going [to continue] to be engaged in doing some MVP training with our student-athletes.

     "The student athletes are the focus; I think that's the most important thing we do. That really goes hand-in-hand with our second goal, which is to build very competitive, successful athletic teams.

     "Some people don't realize that if your student-athletes are not having a good experience, if they're not developing athletically, if they're not performing academically, you're not going to be able to produce successful teams because either they're going to be ineligible or disenchanted.

     "The essence of college athletics is winning. So we want to put our best foot forward in that area and certainly have very successful, competitive teams that are winning games, winning championships, going on to play post-season competition, but we can't get to that if we're not doing the first piece well."

     McCaw said Athletics already is doing a good job of providing a high-quality experience for its athletes, citing the September NCAA study indicating that 71 percent of UMass Amherst athletes graduate, compared with 57 percent of their student-athlete peers nationwide.

     "I've been very impressed with the student-athletes I've had a chance to meet on campus so far," he said. "They're very bright, engaging, articulate young people."

     McCaw acknowledged that Athletics recruits some students whom he would characterize as "at-risk."

     "But the coaches involved in those programs understand that those students need to be in a very disciplined, very structured environment while they're here," he said.

     "[We] have a great track record working with students that aren't as well equipped, maybe haven't had some of the privileges that some other students have had coming in here, and they've had great success. If you look at the way some of these student-athletes have performed, it's remarkable - to not have particularly great high school numbers [then] coming here to graduate with 3.0s and above. I think it's something we have been doing quite well and we're actually going to make it a higher priority than it has been in terms of our overall program and how we're going to run our department."

     These objectives are cornerstones of his strategic plan, which he said his department will develop over the course of this year.

     McCaw said his third goal is ensuring that the environment in Athletics "promotes equity, diversity, good sportsmanship and rules compliance. That's how we're going to conduct our business."

     There is a direct correlation between his fourth goal, revenue enhancement and the department's ability to be successful, McCaw said.

     "We certainly have to do more in all of those areas that produce revenue streams, whether it's development, corporate sponsorship, marketing, ticket sales, licensing, or merchandising," he said. "We need to find a way to enhance revenue streams because we are in a time right now when we can't be dependent on the state, and we can't be dependent on the institution. We're going to need to be very aggressive to generate dollars to fund the aspirations of this athletic program."

     The most likely sport to assist in revenue enhancement in the near future is men's basketball, he said. He indicated that women's basketball might eventually be able to generate a profit, as might football if the University ever has an opportunity to join an "attractive" Division 1-A conference.

     "If men's basketball is successful, it's going to generate enough revenue that it's going to provide us opportunities to fund a lot of other initiatives that are going to help all of our programs," he said, "because it has access to national television revenue and contracts, and the ticket revenue much beyond anything else that we have. Our men's basketball success has a direct corollary to our ability to fund-raise and be successful in the development areas. Corporate sponsorship is a big part of that.

     "So if men's basketball is successful, as we've seen in the past here, the Athletic Department's going to prosper and the institution's going to prosper. If you look at the Calipari years, those were very high times for the institution, in terms of institutional marketing, alumni relations, school spirit, and right on down the line. And that's what we're trying to do overall as a department is bring that level of success to this institution. In the meantime, he said, fund-raising efforts are underway. He noted that Rudd field, is the first privately funded athletic facility on campus, "which is to me very surprising and certainly something that needs to and will change."

     "The fact that the Rudd family was generous enough to give us that lead gift of $500,000 towards the facility is really going to be a springboard for the rest of our facilities projects and give us something to point to and say, 'This is how it's done,'" he said. "We do need our alumni and friends and others to participate and help us if we are going to be able to develop some of these world-class types of facilities."

     In addition to the other four priorities, McCaw said he wants to provide high quality leadership that ensures a healthy administrative approach, the wise use of resources, and approaching the department as if he were running a small business.

     "Athletics is a unique subsector of higher education," he said. "My job is much more like running a small business than anything else, and our business is very much oriented toward entertainment. We need to put on an exciting event so when people come to a basketball game or a football game or a soccer game, they're entertained: we're providing an attractive environment for them; it's an enjoyable experience; it's easy to park; there are giveaways; there's music; it's fun. That's what Athletics is about at the very most fundamental level; it's about enjoyment and fun, and I think we're going to be able to do that."