Demand success in class, don't reward it
By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist
After saying that June Jones did not qualify for a $10,000 bonus based upon the grade-point average of his freshman classes, the University of Hawai'i now says it is reviewing the possibility that he might have earned one last year after all.
But whether the football coach — or, indeed, any of the school's coaches — gets a bonus for team GPA isn't the question UH should be asking itself.
Achieving a representative grade-point average should be a requirement, not an elective proposition at UH, where the school said at least seven coaches have such bonus provisions in their contracts.
Producing respectable grades and striving to improve them should be understood as a basic part of the job at any university, along with graduating players, staying within NCAA rules and fielding a competitive team.
For years, at UH and elsewhere, bonuses based upon GPA have been less about encouraging academic performance than opportunities to enhance salaries. Many schools are getting away from them and UH should, too.
Consider that while baseball coach Mike Trapasso's original contract carried a $5,000 bonus for a 2.5 GPA (since amended to 2.7), women's volleyball coach Dave Shoji required a 2.9 GPA to collect $2,500 and women's basketball coach Vince Goo needed a 3.0 GPA to earn $2,500, according to school figures. Some other coaches have bonuses pegged to "mutually agreed upon" standards.
As Jones suggests, it is academic programs as much as coaches that help raise GPAs.
If UH really wants to place importance on the GPAs of its athletes, it already has the mechanism available. The contracts of several, if not most, UH head coaches already say they will be evaluated on criteria, including, "Maintenance of an acceptable overall team grade-point average, academic eligibility rate, and graduation rate."
That's the only hammer UH really needs. If GPAs are sagging or graduation rates sliding, the school has several courses of action available at contract renegotiation time.
Salary incentives should more appropriately be tied to financial and on-the-field benchmarks. If season ticket sales or gate receipts pass a certain point or postseason berth is earned, then the coach gets a bonus. When the athletic department makes money, the coach shares in it.
At a university, academic excellence should be the plan, not an option.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.
