Does Gailey have a mandate to up grad rates?

[GT Ace]

1st let me give you what has set me to thinking. This has been reported from several sources & here is a direct quote to gt51 that he says came straight from Coach Gailey. Coach Gailey told me
At 1st blush, this appears to be an excerpt from any Duke or Wake Forest or Vanderbilt coach & some could argue from Notre Dame as well, but without the Catholic draw, it's more like Duke or WF or Vandy. Has Gailey been told he must up grad rates to a certain % or else, irregardless of what happens on the field? If it is a mandate, where did it come from? From AD Dave Braine? From Pres Clough? Are the GT 'powers' more concerned about the image problem with poor grad rates than having a conference champion? True, an Institute like GT would like a high grad rate as Duke has maintained (in football NOT basketball).
If we go after student athletes only, forsaking the state of Ga & the deep south, will we take on the identity of Duke & WF & Vandy on the field? Will we ever be able to compete with Clemson & Fla St & UGa? Got to tell ya that the big-time football lover in me is worried. I never want to see the Bowl dearth of '92-'96 ever again & I don't care if our grad rate is 2%. Do you want to compete in NATIONAL LEVEL football or do we want to compete with Duke for the cellar? You WILL NOT have both.
If Gailey is just looking for a 'little' improvement, OK, but U can still take the marginal 'Tech' calibre student athletes & see if they can make it. I can live with a 40% grad rate if we cam compete for the ACC, but I can't live with a 75% grad rate if we can't compete for the ACC championship.

 

[law_bee]

the reason that this is not true is $$$

The school has chosen to spend MUCH money on the stadium increase.

Also the school chose to spend 1million dollars on CG's salary.

They could have spendt much less on someone to bring in academics instead of athletes

and the third reason is CG would not have taken the job under those conditions, IMO. CG would still be the Off Coord. in Miami if he wanted to stay there.

That is not a bad gig and I really do not think he was in a MUST be head coach mentality.

If he was he would have taken the Ugag job

 

[bizzybee]

I think the ACC needs good football more than academics. Good football brings in more money than good academics.

 

[goldeagle]

Question guys, what is our overall regular student graduation rate (w/o jocks) and how does it compare to SA graduation rate and against graduation rates at other schools?

Anyone know this or how to go about getting it?

 

[goldmember]

Our grad rate is very low overall (around 60%) but improving. I can remember when it was below 50%. The recently reported NCAA athlete grad rates also had the overall student grad rates.

 

[GT Stilts]

Being a Tech student, I can tell you that athletes are given more help to graduate than the average Joe (no pun intended). This is my fourth year at Tech and I will eventualy graduate. The reason that is the case is because the decisions I have made to take care of my school work when I should. I think this is the case with every student. If the athlete wanted to graduate, he can. There is absolutely nothing stopping. I know that football takes up a huge amount of time, but it can be done. My opinion would be better football team, don't worry about graduation rates because it is truly out of the AA hands.