برچسب: Universities

College athletes are often in the news because of their achievements on fields or in arenas, or because of the fame resulting from the Supreme Court’s 2021 decision to allow amateur athletes to profit from their names, images and likenesses, or NIL.  But what is sometimes overlooked is that these athletes are also trying to get through college.

Division I student athletes at California public universities have all the obligations of their fellow students, along with additional responsibilities to their teams that can feel like a full-time job. The student-athlete who competes at the highest level is typically taking a full load of courses while juggling practices, weight training sessions, travel and the games and competitions themselves. 

With such a wide range of demands on student-athletes, many university sports programs provide additional resources specifically for student-athletes, with an emphasis on academics. Among the benefits are academic advising, priority class registration, mental health support and tutoring. 

“One thing that they tell us is that you’re a student first, an athlete second, and your main priority is doing well in the classroom,” said Ebba Adinew, a UC Riverside track and field athlete. “If practice starts to affect you performing well in the classroom, then maybe we’ll have to tone down the amount of work you’re putting in for your sport and focus on the classroom instead.” 

Adinew found that having priority registration for course selection is a major advantage that allows him to align his practice and competition schedule with his class schedule. Because of the required time for travel and practice schedules, priority registration for student athletes was made policy by the UC board of trustees in 2016. Adinew also said there is a specific academic adviser for each sport, who creates quarterly schedules for student-athletes to ensure they are meeting their academic requirements. 

The importance of a good academic adviser for student-athletes is stressed particularly at Division I universities with nationally ranked athletics programs like UC Berkeley. The recent appointment of Tarik Glenn as UC Berkeley’s new Athletic Study Center (ASC) interim executive director reflects this; Glenn not only has been working with the ASC for the past 10 years, but is a former Cal football player and Berkeley Hall of Famer himself. 

According to a June news release from former Chancellor Carol Christ, his personal perspective on student-athletes and “the partnerships he has built over 10 years as an ASC staff member … will help athletes succeed in academics and in becoming independent, self-reliant adults.” Glenn’s mission will be to focus on the “holistic development” of student athletes and will include character and leadership development, along with career coaching. 

Other athletic programs have placed an emphasis on career success, as well. UC Riverside assists student-athletes through career fairs and advising. Monea Jennings, a spring 2024 graduate of the UC Riverside track and field program, said her athletic adviser helped her get an internship for her last quarter. 

Beyond advising, some schools have programs that focus on future careers for athletes. UC Davis hosts a program called EVO, allowing student athletes to undergo core clinics to help prepare them for earning their degrees and life post-graduation, according to Danielle Shank, the senior associate athletic director for external relations at UC Davis. These clinics are required for every year of undergraduate education and hold focused sessions on career development, including preparing an elevator pitch, writing a résumé and creating a LinkedIn profile. EVO also focuses on diversity, equity and inclusion training, implementing career fairs and separate networking socials for student-athletes. 

“It’s our goal to launch student-athletes into a career or graduate school that requires their undergrad degree,” Shank said. “We are constantly working with them so that once they graduate, they already know what’s happening in the next step.” 

At San Diego State, Danielle Kelly, senior associate athletic director for student athlete support services, said the athletics program has developed an initiative called Aztecs Going Pro, which began in 2015. Aztecs Going Pro includes one unit pass or fail courses focusing on civic engagement, personal growth and career development. Student-athletes are required to have excellent time management skills and self-discipline, while also spending as much time on sports as one would working a full-time job, Kelly said. 

Beyond career preparation programs, student-athletes face struggles navigating their courses and assignments. When student -athletes have exams or assignments that conflict with a competition time, they can seek accommodations from their professors to take it at an alternative time, request an extension or take the test with a proctor. When UC Davis, San Diego State and UC Riverside athletes travel or have a scheduling conflict with an athletic competition, academic advisers can proctor their exam on the road. 

However, some athletes said they have faced professors who won’t make accommodations. Jennings said she missed a quiz because she was away competing, and a professor refused to allow her to make it up. She said her athletic adviser and the athletic director got involved, and talked to the professor, which made her feel supported and like she “wasn’t trying to fight this fight alone.” 

Jennings said she appreciated the support system she had at Riverside but wanted to better assist her peers. This led to her position as the president of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee, where she strived to make spaces for athletes’ mental health through hosting a variety of events, passing out goodies, running de-stress initiatives and making campus resources more accessible. In addition, she was the student representative for Big West Undivided, a committee that promotes diversity, equity and inclusion among universities that belong to the NCAA Big West Conference. 

Jennings said her access to UC Riverside’s academic and athletic resources allow her to feel supported. 

“Being a student-athlete is the best experience in the world,” Jennings said. “But also with that, it’s really hard. Being a college student is hard in itself, but being a college student-athlete is a whole different mindset, a whole different ballgame.” 

Adinew agreed. “A thing that people don’t know is how tiring it can be, because every day you’re putting your body through much more stress than the average person goes through. Not only do you have to do that, you have to maintain your grades, you have to go to class as well.”

Kelcie Lee is a second-year student majoring in history and sociology at UC Berkeley and a member of EdSource’s California Student Journalism Corps.

Student Corps member Emily Hamill, a third-year student at UC Berkeley double-majoring in comparative literature and media studies and minoring in journalism, contributed to this story.