By Emily Unsworth and Ann Livermore
Plans are set for August 15, 2003, when Northeastern will open a new academic center for student athletes in the Cabot Center.
The idea for the center has been in the works for a few years, and will join Northeastern with many other Division I schools in the effort to increase academic standards and efficiency for student athletes.
The new center will be structured to benefit the entire athletic department, as well as all of the university’s 500 athletes. The second floor area of Cabot Gym adjacent to Solomon Court, which is currently being used by the Northeastern Cheerleading Team for practices, will soon be utilized as an academic facility in the form of offices, 20 computer stations, study areas and a team meeting area/classroom with a capacity of 60.
One of the plans for the new office space is to relocate athletic personnel in order to make the current athletic department at 219 Cabot more spacious. This will also allow more effective interaction between athletes, coaches and athletic support staff.
Director of Student-Athlete Support Services Dave Sheehan said the new space will be a great asset to the athletic community.
“Just to have available space in Cabot will allow easy contact with coaches and players which will allow instant access to address immediate issues,” Sheehan said.
“Study halls are an integral part of any Division I school,” said Todd Patulski, the assistant athletic director. “A lot of resources will be available in one area and the way the system currently exists, this is an efficient and modular advancement. Soon it will be simple, one stop shopping.”
Patulski said that Northeastern is just mirroring other universities that have already made the same advancements.
“I think if you look at other academic centers, like Boston University or Boston College, they have had [academic buildings for athletes] for a while. In fact, most athletic departments have this already. This is very necessary and it’s an efficient way to go about it,” he said.
Currently, athletes must practice 20 hours a week on average, with study times limited to scattered study areas across campus such as Richards Hall and Ell Hall. This inconveniences not only the athletes, but athletic organizers like Sheehan.
“For us, it’s going to be great to have the amount of space there. We are currently very cramped in Ell Hall. The new study area gives a place for meaningful work. We used to have study hall 6-10 p.m., Monday through Wednesday, but this will be great to have new times available during the day,” Sheehan said.
The new academic center will be able to hold any athlete at any time within reasonable facility hours all year long. The space will also house other relevant activities such as drug education meetings, gambling meetings, seminars and tutoring.
“This is a great day for Northeastern Athletics,” Director of Athletics Dave O’Brien, told GoNU.com. “We are committed to providing the best setting for our student-athletes, both academically and athletically. An academic center housed in our primary athletics building goes a long way toward accomplishing that goal. Our student-athletes are already achieving at an exceptional rate and the new center will only help improve our academic performance.”
The price of Cabot’s renovation has yet to be announced but the entire plan of the new academic center had cost in mind right from the start. One option that was exercised in the original planning was to build another level onto the gym, Patulski said.
“The idea for two levels became a financial concern. That would be modification to the entire building whereas this is modular, this is more efficient,” he said.
Northeastern student athletes on the average maintain an average QPA of 2.94 in the winter quarter, in hopes of raising the average even higher with the new addition.
The project will be put under construction by the company Office Environments of New England.
