Best Practices: Academic Support for Student Athletes
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Best
Practices: Academic Support for Student Athletes
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Policy 2001-2002By Ed Suglia
The key to providing academic support for student athletes at UMass Boston is the integration of Athletics Department and university-wide resources. Involving other departments on campus plays a key role in the support of our student athletes. Programs such as Directions in Student Potential (DSP), Student Support Services (SSS), and University Advising play a significant role in these efforts.
Student athletes face some unique learning situations, including extensive time demands due to practice, games, and travel. When these are combined with the physical and emotional investments associated with the pressures of intercollegiate competition, the need emerges for specific academic support for student athletes. Although most universities have programs that address the needs of student athletes, it is even more critical at UMass Boston because of our status as a commuter institution.
The academic coordinator for student athletes is on staff within the Athletics Department to address issues that are unique to athletics. Instead of creating parallel services, the coordinator works with the existing campus resources to ensure that student athletes are benefiting from those services and that those service providers are aware of their needs.
The university recognizes how important it is to recruit students who have the greatest potential of benefiting from our programs. Liliana Mickle, director of undergraduate admissions, works with the Athletics Department staff on a continuing basis to ensure the recruitment and admission of students who demonstrate a high potential for success.
The cornerstone of the Athletics Department’s academic support is the study hall program in which all freshmen and transfers with less than thirty credits are required to participate. Study hall serves as a place where tutors, trained and monitored by SSS and DSP, provide direct service to student athletes. Student athletes also study in McCormack Hall when tutoring in a specific content area is appropriate.
A number of the freshmen student-athletes are graduates of the DSP program and are currently enrolled in the SSS program. Directors Edith Shillue and Susan Bartzak-Graham monitor the progress of student athletes within their programs. Bartzak-Graham also conducts a six-week study skills workshop for all of the student athletes in those programs.
The success of the academic support is system is the result of a great working relationship between the Athletics Department and the other support programs on campus. This unique relationship is a model for all other urban universities with highly competitive athletic programs.
Suglia is the academic advisor for student athletes in the Athletics Department. This column is a part of a continuing monthly series featuring best practices at UMass Boston. Interested in highlighting your best practices? Submit your ideas to news@umb.edu.