U.S. Naval Academy superintendent Vice Adm. Jeffrey Fowler is so impressed with the Navy football team’s work ethic, he is using the team as a motivation for the; 4,300 midshipmen.
He even calls himself the “Leadership Development Head Coach.”
“Everyone gets it with the football team,” he said. “Our coach wants our players to achieve the reputation as the hardest-working team in the land … as I want varsity, Division I leadership.”
Fowler used the football analogy not only to inspire the brigade in his address to the returning midshipmen this past week, but to explain to reporters Friday his approach to the 2008-09 school year.
“Missing class and trying to make up for it later in your room is like missing team practice and trying to make up for it later alone — it is just not the same,” Fowler told the brigade Monday.
The football team, along with other iconic symbols of the academy and Navy, is featured prominently in the academy’s new television commercial to air during games, playing on the theme of the academy helping midshipmen achieve career goals.
The Annapolis academy also plans this fall to release a graphic novel portraying the life of a midshipman.
The hope for the commercial and graphic novel is to narrow the recruiting focus on students seeking technical majors, as well as more women and minorities, Fowler said.
The five midshipmen in the ad were mostly minorities, and two were women.
Fowler said he would not start his second year at the academy with more of the major changes he employed this past summer: Severely restricting liberty; enforcing mandatory study hall during weeknights and requiring all midshipmen to eat their meals together.
“Hopefully this has set up a lasting impression, because now it’s an expectation,” said Fowler, who noted the academy has seen a reduction in missed classes.
One of Fowler’s new initiatives is the “Midshipman Attributes” meant to be a character guideline for each midshipman and part of the academy’s mission statement.
Though Fowler said such principles have been found in midshipmen, each prospective officer must be selfless, inspirational, proficient, innovative, articulate, adaptable and professional.
“We will allocate our resources of time, people and money to most effectively achieve these attributes,” he said.
Academy drops in college rankings
The academy fell in the U.S. News & World Report collegiate rankings, dropping substantially from its spot in 2007 as a top undergraduate school.
The academy now is ranked as the 22nd small public undergraduate/liberal arts school, after being No. 1 in that category.
The school’s undergraduate engineering program also dropped from fifth to sixth best.
The aerospace-aeronautical engineering and electrical engineering programs remained fourth and fifth best in the nation, respectively.
The news comes as the Navy is pushing for more technical majors from the academy, mandating an increase from 60 percent to 65 percent in majors focusing on science, technology, engineering and math.
That has been problematic for the academy, as many midshipmen are moving away from the technical majors, Fowler said.
The academy will likely have to shoot for 70 percent technical majors to account for those who opt out, Fowler said.
The rankings were released Friday and will be in the magazine’s September edition.
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