University of Delaware Athletics
John Bishop Lays The Groundwork For Whitney Athletic Center To Be Hub For Student-Athlete Success
2/13/2020 10:09:00 AM | Delaware Athletics
In the late 1980s, John Bishop, then the Director of the University of Delaware's Center for Counseling and Student Development (CCSD), and his staff noticed an area of need in their department's coverage of the student body. Because of extremely demanding schedules balancing competition, practices, team meetings, travel and more, student-athletes were not participating in workshops and other services provided by the CCSD.
"I began to think that this may be a case of where we have to step out of our usual mode of operation and find a way to go where the students were," Bishop said.
After conversations with then-Athletic Director Edgar Johnson and then-President E. Arthur Trabant to gain approval and funding, the CCSD deployed Dr. Janice Jordan in half an office in the blue ice arena, and in the fall of 1987 Student Services for Athletes was born.
Fast forward more than 30 years to today and the construction of the Whitney Athletic Center, a transformational building where the entire second floor will be dedicated to the services Bishop and Jordan laid the groundwork to provide back in 1987.
It's appropriate that Delaware will have such a state-of-the-art building, as it was one of the first college campuses to commit resources to addressing the unique lifestyle that student-athletes live.
In 1990, as Student Services for Athletes was becoming an established program on campus, Jordan and Eric Denson wrote an article for Journal of Counseling and Development, an academic journal in the field, detailing the pillars that made their program so successful: 1) academic monitoring, 2) personal counseling, 3) workshops and special programs, and 4) consultation with the university community.
"I think the University of Delaware rightfully deserves some credit for recognizing an issue, trying to address it, and then watching it sort of develop on a national scale with a bunch of other people now being interested in what's going on," Bishop said. "I think it would be very hard to find a college or university today that doesn't do something to recognize that student-athletes live in a world that is different than many other students."
Bishop eventually hired Tim Morrissey as the third Director of the program, a position he has held since 1999. Now Morrissey and his Student Services for Athletes team are joined by leadership development and career readiness colleagues, operating as an integrated Student-Athlete Success team. With the construction of the WAC, this team can more holistically support the student-athlete. The new building will include:
"It makes great sense to me to have a central gathering place for student athletes, to have the services congregated there in a way that there's going to be easy communication from one department to another," Bishop said. "I think it's a really positive development for both student-athletes and the people who work with student-athletes. I'm excited to see it."
Bishop is now a professor emeritus after having retired in 2013, and continues to be an avid Blue Hens fan and generous supporter of all Delaware student-athletes. He first bought football season tickets when he joined the school in 1969 and has missed just three home games in the 50 years since. His investment in the success of Blue Hens on and off the field made it an easy choice to give back to the WAC project.
"I've been a supporter of the athletic programs in general for a long period of time, and because of my connection to Student Services for Athletes I saw that this facility was going to benefit that program," Bishop said. "My wife and I really wanted to be a part of the group that was going to support it. It wasn't a hard decision on whether or not we're going to do this."
When the WAC opens for the beginning of the 2020-21 season, it will be a testament to the growth and achievement of Student Services for Athletes, and the university's investment in holistic student-athlete success.
"When I look back over my career at the University, which is a long one, that's one of the things that sticks out for me personally," Bishop said. "We saw a problem, we thought about what we could do about it, we learned some things as we went along, but it's a success story."
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"I began to think that this may be a case of where we have to step out of our usual mode of operation and find a way to go where the students were," Bishop said.
After conversations with then-Athletic Director Edgar Johnson and then-President E. Arthur Trabant to gain approval and funding, the CCSD deployed Dr. Janice Jordan in half an office in the blue ice arena, and in the fall of 1987 Student Services for Athletes was born.
Fast forward more than 30 years to today and the construction of the Whitney Athletic Center, a transformational building where the entire second floor will be dedicated to the services Bishop and Jordan laid the groundwork to provide back in 1987.
It's appropriate that Delaware will have such a state-of-the-art building, as it was one of the first college campuses to commit resources to addressing the unique lifestyle that student-athletes live.
In 1990, as Student Services for Athletes was becoming an established program on campus, Jordan and Eric Denson wrote an article for Journal of Counseling and Development, an academic journal in the field, detailing the pillars that made their program so successful: 1) academic monitoring, 2) personal counseling, 3) workshops and special programs, and 4) consultation with the university community.
"I think the University of Delaware rightfully deserves some credit for recognizing an issue, trying to address it, and then watching it sort of develop on a national scale with a bunch of other people now being interested in what's going on," Bishop said. "I think it would be very hard to find a college or university today that doesn't do something to recognize that student-athletes live in a world that is different than many other students."
Bishop eventually hired Tim Morrissey as the third Director of the program, a position he has held since 1999. Now Morrissey and his Student Services for Athletes team are joined by leadership development and career readiness colleagues, operating as an integrated Student-Athlete Success team. With the construction of the WAC, this team can more holistically support the student-athlete. The new building will include:
- A large, comfortable study space with a variety of types of furniture conducive to both individual and group studying
- Opportunities and spaces for in-house tutoring
- Rooms available for group study, mock interviews, or leadership programming
- Easier access to academic advisors, as their offices will surround their study space
- Multipurpose space that can be used for team study halls, group study, workshops, meetings or career development programming
- Lounge space to study, relax and/or socialize with friends and teammates
- Areas devoted to student success, including career readiness and leadership development
"It makes great sense to me to have a central gathering place for student athletes, to have the services congregated there in a way that there's going to be easy communication from one department to another," Bishop said. "I think it's a really positive development for both student-athletes and the people who work with student-athletes. I'm excited to see it."
Bishop is now a professor emeritus after having retired in 2013, and continues to be an avid Blue Hens fan and generous supporter of all Delaware student-athletes. He first bought football season tickets when he joined the school in 1969 and has missed just three home games in the 50 years since. His investment in the success of Blue Hens on and off the field made it an easy choice to give back to the WAC project.
"I've been a supporter of the athletic programs in general for a long period of time, and because of my connection to Student Services for Athletes I saw that this facility was going to benefit that program," Bishop said. "My wife and I really wanted to be a part of the group that was going to support it. It wasn't a hard decision on whether or not we're going to do this."
When the WAC opens for the beginning of the 2020-21 season, it will be a testament to the growth and achievement of Student Services for Athletes, and the university's investment in holistic student-athlete success.
"When I look back over my career at the University, which is a long one, that's one of the things that sticks out for me personally," Bishop said. "We saw a problem, we thought about what we could do about it, we learned some things as we went along, but it's a success story."
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