Dec. 10, 2003

BY JOHN BEAUGE
For The Patriot-News

LEWISBURG - His day job is a biology professor at Bucknell University, but Richard Ellis at other times might be found on the sideline at sports events.

Ellis is among those who have participated in a sideline coaching program established to foster a better understanding by the faculty and administration of the roles of coaches and athletes in the university's 26 intercollegiate sports.

Last year, 95 faculty members and administrators took part in the program, said Amanda Backus, associate director of athletics and senior women's administrator. Ellis was the first sideline coach in the program that began in 1989.

His participation has included football, wrestling, volleyball, tennis, softball and women's basketball, at times with his wife, Judith, who is retired from Bucknell's admissions office.

The reason for starting the program was to give the faculty an idea of what occupies an important segment of a student athlete's time, he said.

"I don't think most faculty understood the time or emotional commitment the kids put in," he said.

Backus does not know if the program has been copied but said she receives calls from other colleges that hear of it.

This is a student-driven program, she said. The athlete proposes the name of a faculty member or administrator and the coach serves as the conduit to the make the contact, she said. Involvement can be as great or little as the individual wants.

"I think there is a lot of benefit on both sides," she said. For the prof and administrator, "it gives them a little insight into the preparation of a game."

It provides a way for students to get to know a new staff member and see the ones they know outside a classroom setting, Backus said.

"It helps bridge what we do at the bottom of the hill with what is done in academics," she said. Bucknell's classrooms are on a hill.

"I have seen professors in soccer go out and kick the ball around in practice," she said. "It's pretty cool. I think the kids really like it."

When Ellis was a sideline coach for football, he was given a playbook, went to a Thursday night practice and had dinner with the two co-captains.

On Saturday, he was in the locker room prior to the game and at half. He was on the bench during the game and was present afterward to listen to the coach talk to the players.

"It's fun," he said.

Ellis believes in the program. He cited several profs who were anti-football until they became sideline coaches.

"Now you can't get them off the sidelines," he said. "It's an emotional experience like no other."

Keith Willoughby, an assistant professor of management and another frequent sideline coach, said he better appreciates the role of student athletes at Bucknell.

"It really creates a stronger connection between the faculty and student-athlete," he said.

"From the faculty's standpoint, we see how dedicated the student-athletes are. From the students' side, they are happy to see someone take interest from outside the classroom."

"It gave me a chance to see students with whom I work in an entirely different light," said Robert Midkiff, associate dean of the college of arts and sciences, who termed his experience a positive one.

Karin Wegener Knisely played field hockey, lacrosse and basketball in the 1970s and is in Bucknell's sports hall of fame but still finds the program educational.

The lab director in the biology department said she learned as a sideline coach there are differences between the intercollegiate and recreational versions.

Bucknell is initiating another program also aimed at improving relations between student-athletes and faculty. A faculty volunteer will be assigned to each of the sports to serve as a mentor or liaison, said Mitchell Chernin, chairman of the biology department and the NCAA faculty representative.

The liaison is someone the student can contact other than his or her adviser to address a problem with a faculty member who may not see the role of the athlete at Bucknell, he said.

Chernin is aware of coaches giving a test on a bus or in a hotel room because a professor demanded it be given the same day as those in class.

In cases like that or when a professor does not want to excuse a student, it is easier for one faculty member to talk with another, Chernin said.

He has recruited 20 volunteers to cover the major sports and said he hopes to soon have enough for the rest.