Introduction

The University of Tennessee and its Athletics Departments are committed to the academic success of each student-athlete. The mission of the Thornton Center is to provide the academic support, the educational programs, and the learning environment in which all student-athletes have the opportunity to achieve their academic and personal goals. The Special Needs Program (SNP) is a comprehensive academic support program through the Thornton Center which assists male and female student-athletes with disabilities (physical, psychological, and learning). All student-athletes who have official disability diagnosis documentation from a psychologist, physician, audiologist, or learning specialist are eligible for the program. We work with the Office of Disability Services to ensure that the student-athletes in our program receive their university approved accommodations. Many of the student-athletes in the SNP are eligible for notetakers.

Pledge of Academic Integrity

Academic integrity must be at the foundation of everything we do at the Thornton Center. To violate the boundaries of academic integrity would create fundamental problems. In the first place, doing work or providing inappropriate assistance for students would negate the work we’re trying to do here, which is to help students build their own base of knowledge and develop their own academic skills. Students build this knowledge base and develop these skills as they work to complete their own assignments; any shortcuts deprive a student of his/her right to an education. In the second place, academic dishonesty is fundamentally wrong and is justifiably punished by harsh penalties. Students who violate the code of academic honesty can face a variety of sanctions, from failing grades for particular projects to failing grades for courses, and can face the ultimate sanction of being dismissed from the University of Tennessee. If a notetaker helped a student cheat, that notetaker would face immediate dismissal from the Thornton Center. Additional sanctions might include notification of the notetaker’s academic department and judicial affairs. Because we value academic integrity so highly, the Thornton Center requires that notetakers sign and agree to honor a pledge of academic integrity before they can work with students.

NCAA Rules Overview

This is a brief overview of the NCAA rules that can affect note takers. Once he/she becomes an employee of the Thornton Center, any prior relationship that a notetaker has with a student-athlete changes. If you have an established relationship (which began prior to your employment with our department) with a student-athlete, let us know so that we can document it. The fact that you may provide some of the benefits listed below for your non-student-athlete acquaintances does not justify similar action with our student-athletes.

According to NCAA bylaws, student-athletes shall not receive any extra benefit. The term “extra benefit” refers to any special arrangements by an institutional employee or representative of the institution’s athletics interest to provide the student-athlete or his/her friends or relatives with a benefit not expressly authorized by NCAA legislation (By-law 16.02.3).

Examples of non-permissible benefits are:

• movie tickets, sporting event tickets, or other entertainment
• dinners
• use of car
• providing or lending of money
• guarantee of bond or paying bail
• providing transportation (includes providing a ride across campus)
• signing or co-signing a note with an outside agency to arrange a loan
• performing school work or taking tests for student-athletes
• use of departmental copy machines for or by student-athletes
• special discount, payment arrangement or credit on a purchase (i.e., airline ticket, clothing) or a service (i.e., laundry, dry cleaning) from an institutional employee
• providing a student-athlete with professional services (for which a fee would normally be charged) without charge or at a reduced cost
• allowing a student-athlete to use a telephone (including mobile phones and pagers) or credit card for personal reasons without charge or at a reduced rate

The above list is just a sample of some of the more common extra benefits that are NOT permissible.

Always check with a Special Needs Program staff member if you are unsure about a situation or if you have questions about NCAA rules.

Notetaking Protocol

• Introduce yourself to the professor and obtain syllabi/handouts.
• Be on time to the class.
• Be inconspicuous.
• Do NOT introduce yourself to the student-athlete(s), initiate contact with the student-athlete(s), or participate in group assignments in class.
• You are to have NO interaction with the student-athlete. You do NOT participate in class.
• Maintain confidentiality. You may neither confirm nor deny that you take notes for a particular person. Doing so may disclose a student’s disability status and is grounds for termination.
• If the student-athlete(s) does not show up after 15 minutes, leave the class. (Explain this policy to the professor at the beginning of the semester.)
• Make copies for each qualified student-athlete and one copy for the SNP files.
• Do not give notes to other students.
• Email ksager@utk.edu and methridg@utk.edu after each class before 3:00 pm to inform us of who was present, late, left early, or had behavior problems. (If it is an evening class, please send the email by 3:00 pm the following day.) Failure to notify SNP staff may result in your termination.
• Be committed throughout the semester, especially prior to finals. A notetaker whose attendance is sporadic is not an asset.
• Notes must be brought to the Thornton Center and put in Katie and Melissa’s mailbox by the following day.