The goal of the Department of Athletics’ Academic Service area is to provide a comprehensive support program for all student athletes at Roger Williams University that promotes both academic success and a positive athletic experience. Student-athletes receive support from the Assistant Director of Athletics for Academic Services by linking the athletic and academic communities at Roger Williams University. The Assistant Director for Academic Services works closely with coaches, faculty and academic services on campus to help student athletes balance the demands of their academic responsibilities and athletic endeavors.
Monitoring Academic Progress
Monitoring the progress of student athletes is a collaborative effort between the student athlete’s Faculty Advisor, coach and Assistant Director of Athletics for Academic Services.
· Faculty Advisor: Matriculating freshmen and transfer students are assigned a faculty advisor, but students may select advisors at any time through the Office of the Registrar. All undergraduate University faculty serve as academic advisors. Although students are responsible for knowing and complying with academic regulations, faculty advisors are available on a regular basis to review academic regulations and requirements, career planning resources, counseling and tutorial services. Questions concerning advisement should be addressed to the student’s dean.
· Coach: In order to track the progress of student-athletes, freshmen will be required to submit academic progress reports to their professors twice in their first semester at Roger Williams, the last week of September and the last week of October. Coaches will assess progress reports to determine who may be in academic danger. If a returning student athlete is not meeting his or her academic potential, they may be required to submit academic progress reports throughout the year. In the event a problem is discovered, the Assistant Director of Athletics for Academic Services will work closely with the coach and student athlete, finding the necessary support on campus to achieve academic success.
· Assistant Director of Athletics for Academic Services: Any student-athlete who is not meeting their academic potential as shown by their progress reports or prior semester’s GPA will be required to meet with the Assistant Director for Academic Services. This will include all student athletes who fall below a 2.25 GPA and all first year student athletes as indicated by their progress reports. A support plan will be put in place to include:
o Regular meetings
o Academic progress reports
o Referrals to all University resources
· Center for Academic Development: Academic Development at Roger Williams University provides programs and services designed to foster student success, encourage academic excellence and promote intellectual curiosity. The Center for Academic Development is comprised of the Math, Writing, and Core Tutoring Centers, Academic Support Services, and Disability Support Services. All services are available in the Center for Academic Development located in the University Library.
· The Tutoring Center: The Writing, Math, and Core Centers offer peer tutoring, while the Writing and Math Centers also offer faculty tutoring. The faculty tutors are instructors in the Writing and Math programs who are available for half-hour appointments in the centers. Students can walk in for a peer tutoring appointment; however, students who want to see a faculty tutor should sign up for an appointment in the CAD. All tutors’ schedules are posted in the Centers, distributed in classrooms, and are posted on the CAD website. All three centers have computers which are networked to a printer located in the Writing Center. Students need to sign in after every tutoring session, as we send instructors an attendance roster of who came in for tutoring. The Writing Center does not allow students to drop papers off and pick them up later. They are not an editing or fix-it service. The Writing Center sponsors workshops to assist with grammar and research topics. The Math Center offers the Tutor in the Classroom Program through which a team of tutors is assigned to every Math section. The tutor attends class and is available as an informed resource in the Math Center for tutoring assistance. The same tutoring teams deliver review sessions a few evenings prior to an exam.
· Disability Support Services: DSS ensures that students with documented disabilities that substantially limit one or more major life activity such as learning, hearing, seeing, reading, walking, and speaking, have physical and academic access to all programs and educational experiences at RWU. Access is provided through the delivery of reasonable and appropriate accommodations. Students with documented disabilities who have registered with DSS make up approximately 9% of the student body. (Students are not required by law to register with DSS as a student with a disability.) Students must request academic accommodations in person in the DSS office each semester. The most commonly requested accommodations are extended time for testing; testing in a reduced-distraction environment; note-taking assistance; and alternate text formats. Students who received academic accommodations through the DSS office communicate their accommodation needs to faculty via the Academic Accommodation Authorization Form each semester. This form must be delivered by the student in order for the student and faculty member to make arrangements for specific accommodations. Students who are registered with DSS are not flagged or otherwise identified on class rosters or within other public informational sources on campus. Disability information is confidential and is not shared outside the DSS office without a student’s written permission and rationale.
· Academic Support: Students wishing to improve their academic footing may request to meet with a CAD staff member to review study skills; time management; test preparation; note-taking, reading strategies. Students can also review concerns they are having and CAD staff will help to make an appropriate referral to Counseling, Housing, the Advising Center, etc.
Scheduling Conflicts
· Class Attendance: Regular class attendance is essential to academic success and will be reflected in final grades. Make sure class attendance requirements are known when the semester begins. Most attendance policies are specific to each class and are outlined in the class syllabus; therefore, it is important to consult professors ahead of time when a class is going to be missed. If a scheduled competition conflicts with class, or a class will be missed because of competition, it is important not to miss for any other reason, no matter what the professor’s attendance policy may be.
· Competition Conflicts with Class: Student-athletes must review competition and travel schedules with coaches in light of academic schedules at the beginning of each semester. This review should include potential post-season play through the last possible play date. Once travel schedules have been discussed with coaches, it is the responsibility of student-athletes to meet with professors in the classes where there is a conflict. Conflicts must be addressed with professors immediately in a face-to-face meeting. If it is then decided by the professor that it is acceptable to miss class, arrangements must be made to obtain notes and make up any work that was missed from that class. A letter can be obtained from the Assistant Director for Academic Services confirming the contest date and time of departure one week prior to the competition date, if requested by the professor. Please note, this letter is not to be used as an excuse to miss the class but confirms to the professor that the competition is taking place on that date. If the conflict cannot be resolved it must be brought to the attention of the coach who will then meet with the Assistant Director for Academic Services and the Faculty Athletics Representative, regarding the situation.
· Competition Conflicts with Exam Dates: If a conflict arises regarding an exam, student-athletes must meet with coaches immediately, who will then meet with the Assistant Director for Academic Services and the Faculty Athletics Representative regarding the situation.
Class Registration
· Returning Athletes: Coaches need to remind student-athletes that scheduling classes around potential athletic conflicts, when possible, is important to academic and athletic success. The following steps should be followed in order to obtain the best possible academic schedule in light of athletic competition. Know your faculty advisor and meet with him or her regularly throughout the semester. Please note students cannot register for classes for the upcoming semester until a meeting with their faculty advisor has taken place during the advising period. Therefore, it is recommended that student-athletes have an appointment set up with faculty advisors as soon as the advising period starts for each semester. Student-athletes should explain to faculty advisors that it is important to craft a schedule, which allows for athletic competition without interfering with academics.