When sophomore Kelly Haller, a first baseman on the Virginia softball team, discussed the rigorous schedule of being both an athlete and a University student, a friend suggested she take a semester off.
"There are no semesters off," Haller said.
How about taking fewer credits?
"No, I have to take at least 12 credits," Haller responded. "We have to meet all the requirements [of a normal student] as well as getting up at 6 to go lift and have practice four hours a day."
In addition to hitting .380 this season, which is tops for Virginia and in the top five in the ACC, Haller also majors in chemistry.
But while weekend trips to California or Florida get in the way of following a normal student's schedule, the athletic department provides facilities and services for student-athletes to help balance the rigor of papers, problem sets and midterms with the struggle of improving batting average, shooting percentage or the 40-yard dash.
Academic Affairs and student-athletes
With facilities in John Paul Jones Arena and across the street at the McCue Center, student-athletes enjoy the privilege of desks, quiet work space and about 50 computers. The two centers have the capacity to serve more than 100 student-athletes each at a given time. With 663 student-athletes enrolled at the University, Academic Affairs is committed to making a personal connection with each one of them.
To do this, student-athletes are offered a number of programs through which they can excel academically. First, each sport has its own academic coordinator. In addition to advising athletes, academic coordinators connect students to deans, professors and tutors, providing resources to the student-athletes necessary for them to succeed.
"I feel like the athletic department does a pretty good job of putting out the resources" to be successful, Haller said.
The Cavalier Academic Support Teamis Academic Affairs' way of monitoring the off-field work a student athlete does. According to the program's Web site, it is designed to "measure the quantity and quality of the student-athletes' work throughout the semester."
Student-athletes, who have mentors and student tutors available for them, work in a task-based system in which they are assigned a number of tasks each week pertaining to their classes' syllabi.
The task-based system was implemented in June 2007, changing from an hour-based system where student-athletes simply reported the number of hours they spent in study hall. According to the athletic department's annual report, the number of hours had no correlation with grades, precipitating the change last year.
"I think the structure is the benefit, knowing that when you come in to study hall, you have a certain task to perform," said Jim Booz, associate athletic director for academic affairs. "You have something to do, rather than coming and saying 'I have to put an hour in tonight,' and sitting around doing whatever you do. It's pretty focused, whether it be a tutoring session, or working on a paper [or] reading certain parts of a textbook."
According to the program's Web site, CAST "teaches student-athletes responsibility, organization, preparation and effective time management skills." Booz emphasized the necessity of reinforcing these basic skills within anyone receiving an education.
"I think there are some 18-year-olds that know [these skills]," Booz said. "I think there are some 40-year-olds who know that but have a difficult time applying it. When you come into a new environment, understanding the culture, understanding the balance the lifestyle, it's much different than what they experienced in the past."
Missing the point?
While CAST and other programs exist for student-athletes at the University to help them excel academically, some remain skeptical of their effectiveness in motivating interest in academic work. The academic effort of student-athletes came under criticism in January's Faculty Senate meeting when Anthropology Prof. Fred Damon expressed his belief that coaches and professors have different expectations of what is important for student-athletes. After raising these concerns, Damon said, he received compliments from his colleagues for bringing up the issue.
While Academic Affairs has a commitment to seeing student-athletes succeed in the classroom, success might not be so easily obtained.
"If every student doesn't have some serious encounter with some number of faculty, they've missed something in their college experience," Damon said. "It's rare for student-athletes to interact maturely with faculty."
Damon said he sees a lack of interest in education from some student-athletes.
Booz noted that motivation is the job of all educators.
"I think everybody has the capacity and desire to learn in some form or fashion," Booz said. "I think it's our job
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