teaching - Should Professors and by extension their TA's, hold student athletes to the same standard?

As a former student athlete at the high school level who played football, the academic requirements asked of me were no different than that of my fellow classmates. I never asked for any special treatment and I rarely if ever discussed my athletic activities with my teachers. I would also suspect that if I had asked, no special consideration would have been given. I had to make decisions that affected my academics as well as limited my ability to pursue other extracurricular activities.

In college, I focused on research, work experience, and academics.

Now that I am in the process of applying to graduate schools where I presume I will be a TA.

• How should I approach the situation?


• Would I hold student athletes to the same standards in terms of deadlines and grading, or should I take into consideration the added-value and extraordinary circumstances that student athletes face at a university setting?


• If I am asked to give special considerations, would I have the right to refuse such requests or would it be strictly the decision of the instructor?


• If I am asked to overlook the actions of a student, whether suspected or flagrant, is 'rocking the boat' an action considered worth pursuing given the cost in terms of time and attention?


• As an undergraduate, my professors had a 'catch-all' offering a case-by-case review of such requests but without explicit determinations, would this be the best course of action as a TA?

I approach the question namely to conceptualize different scenarios in case I find myself in similar waters, balancing the time and effort cost of pursuing such a case as a TA with the responsibilities as a graduate student completing my degree.

Answer

The following is specific to my university, the University of Michigan, but I would guess that the situation is similar at many other universities.

As far as I know, I am not allowed to apply different grading standards to different students in the same class, except that, if a class has both graduate and undergraduate students, then the graduate students may be held to a higher standard. (I've never used different standards for grad and undergrad students, but I believe it is permitted.)

Despite the general rule, there are oft-repeated stories about a particular professor (not in my department but in my college) who allegedly applied easier grading standards to athletes, over a decades-long career, and apparently got away with it. I don't know whether a tenured faculty member could get away with it nowadays, but I certainly wouldn't advise a TA to try it.

Apart from grading, though, athletes in major sports have one advantage, which may compensate for the time demands of their sports. The athletic department provides tutoring for student-athletes and tries to keep an eye on their academic progress (partly so that they don't become academically ineligible to play, partly to keep up a respectable graduation rate, and partly for the genuine benefit of the students). I once had two varsity hockey players in my class, and an assistant coach phoned me (this was long before email) to check on their progress and to ask me to let him know if they had difficulties in my class.