National Association of Academic Advisors for Athletics
Model Practices/Interventions Information
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the National Association of Academic Advisors for Athletics (N4A) have collaborated to gather information concerning strategic actions that have been or will be implemented in relation to campus student-athlete support unit programs and services. Scroll down to see the types of practices taking place at other institutions.
Mentoring Program (University of Albany)
Academic Student-Athlete Program (ASAP) (Long Beach State University)
Faculty Mentoring Program (Long Beach State University)
Tutor and Evaluate (Gonzaga University)
Mentoring Program (University of Albany)
During the 2004-2005 academic year, a mentoring program was developed to assist freshmen student-athletes with adjustment to college life and more intense athletics demands. The program is still in development (to fine tune the structure), but has received positive feedback to date.
For the current year, freshmen were invited to workshops where they had the opportunity to mingle with upperclassmen over pizza. Once everyone was broken into groups, they were given a list of questions/topics to discuss while eating. These topics included registration procedures, classes offered, balancing athletics with college life, roommate issues, and homesickness, to name a few. Depending on the topics and makeup of participants, groups were divided among the sports so that members of the same team were separated. The goal of mixing the groups was to allow the freshmen to meet other student-athletes who were freshmen and/or upperclassmen. Participants were also provided surveys to complete at the end of the workshops so they could anonymously provide feedback, ask questions that were unanswered and give suggestions for future meetings.
For the next academic year, the program will also feature Web-based chat discussions where freshmen student-athletes will be able to participate in discussions on various topics led by the upperclassmen. These discussions will be coordinated through a university account that connects the student-athletes in a 'class' through WebCT, an online course management program. This method should also allow for greater anonymity in asking potentially personal questions.
The program was started because it was felt that freshmen are often overwhelmed with everything they face in college and do not know where or how to seek help. They also seem to get easily ingrained in a culture that keeps them segregated to their teams and uninvolved in the general campus community and other teams. By developing this program, it is hopeful that new student-athletes will become more involved and attached to their roles within the university and develop a deeper connection that allows the staff to get to know them better.
Staffing for the program consists of upperclassmen who volunteer to help as mentors. The program is also designed with the upperclassmen in mind so that they can develop leadership skills that will aid them through their transition into life after college. The number of mentors does impact the size of the groups. Typically we had five to eight freshmen, per group. Budget issues included the cost of pizzas. Challenges to the program included scheduling workshops so that large amounts of freshmen could attend. Also, some of the freshmen wanted the meetings to occur weekly, whereas others felt that monthly was enough. Using the online chats might help address this issue. Getting the coaches to buy into the program was also another challenge. We found that freshmen were not always informed by their coaches of the meetings. The programs were supervised by one staff member who was present during the events, but did not interact in the conversations, unless asked, to allow for open and honest communication between the student-athletes. Mentors were encouraged to address any issues of concern regarding the freshmen with the supervisor.
To find out more information concerning this program use the following contact information:
Institution:
Academic Student-Athlete Program (ASAP) (Long Beach State University)
Supporting needs of student-athletes since 1980 is the center for student-athlete services, which coordinates all academic advising, life skills, tutoring and academic support for Division I student-athletes. In the spring of 2001, the learning assistance center added a learning strategist to their staff, who developed a pilot program for academically at-risk entering first time freshman student-athletes. The Academic Student-Athlete Program (ASAP) is responsible for coordinating all academic assistance for the NCAA student-athlete population designated as academically at-risk. The learning strategist works directly with student-athletes, coordinates needs with various academic support providers, communicates with coaches and works collaboratively with learning assistance center staff and with academic advisors in the center for student athlete services to ensure at-risk student-athletes receive the necessary services to succeed at Long Beach State University.
Another component of ASAP is the development and implementation of intensive academic strategy workshops presented each fall semester. CSAS staff and the learning strategist coordinate the placement of specific first-time freshmen with the lowest SAT, ACT, and EPT scores into the workshops.
Workshops consist of the following sessions:
In the spring semester, more time is spent on one-on-one sessions that take the place of the fall freshmen workshops.
To find out more information concerning this program use the following contact information:
Institution:
Faculty Mentoring Program (Long Beach State University)
This academic and student-support service program provides second and third year student-athletes with the opportunity of being formally mentored by a
Program goals for this program include:
To find out more information concerning this program use the following contact information:
Institution:
Tutor and Evaluate (
We have established a structured tutoring program with tutor training. Both tutor and tutees evaluate one another throughout the term and on one final evaluation at the end of the term.
To find out more information concerning this program use the following contact information:
Institution:Gonzaga University; Contact Person: Mike Miller; E-mail: miller@athletics.gonzaga.edu; NCAA Division: DI-AAA; Staff Size: Small (1-2 full time); Number of Sports: 14; Total Student-Athlete Population: 280; Model Practice Category: Tutoring
page contact: jcromer@ncaa.org
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