Page 225 - Toledo Football Media Guide - 2012

226 THE UNIVERSITY

mic Support Services

Student Athletic Academic Services (SAAS)

The Rocket Academic Cen-ter, locatedintheLarimerAthlet-icComplex, isopen toall Toledo student-athletes. This facility includes academic staf ofces and a full-service computer lab. The Rocket Academic Center has laptop computers available for teamtravel. Workstationsare equippedwithInternetExplorer, Microsoft Ofce, and are con-nected to theUniversity’s UTAD email system.

The Department of Inter-collegiate Athletics recognizes the unique needs of student-athletes in regards to academic support at The University of Toledo. SAAS staf provide a variety of services to assist student-athletes with their academic progress. Services include guidance with orientation, course scheduling, targeting (a time management pro-gram), study table, individualized and group tutoring.

Hours of operation

Sun.: 5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Mon.-Thurs.: 8:15 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. Fri.: 8:15 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Academic Advising

UTstudent-athletesmeetwithtwo advisers: one in their chosen major program and their team’s Academic Coordinator in the Rocket Academic Center. Both advisors worktogether to assist thestudent-athletewithcreating balanced course schedules that meet degreerequirementsand willnot inter-ferewith athletic commitments. SAAS professional staf maintain fles on all student-athletes tomonitor academic performance, NCAA athletic eligibil-ity and progress toward graduation. All tracking information (targeting reports, tutorial feedback, academic progressreports fromfaculty,eligibility data, andcollegeadvisingdocumenta-tion) is kept onfle andcommunicated to coaches regularly.

Tutoring

Tutorial assistance is available to all Toledo student-athletes through both the Rocket Academic Center and theUniversity’sLearningEnhancement Center (LEC). SAAS employs a Learn-ing Specialist who focuses on writing and study strategies. The Learning Specialist also coordinates the Aca-demic Coach Program, a core group of volunteerprofessionals inbusinessand education from the local community who ofer their assistance in math,

science, economics, business, social science and humanities. Students can alsovisit theLEC,whichofers tutoring intheCarlsonLibrary toallUTstudents free of charge.

Targeting

Targeting is a time management andorganizational programdesigned for freshmen, new transfer students and returning students who are not performing up to their potential aca-demically.

Student-athletes meet weekly or biweekly with their academic coordi-nator for 30 minutes to discuss their academic progress, upcoming assign-ments, eligibility issues and academic and career planning. The goal of this programistomodel timemanagement skills and develop a comprehensive plan to assist the student-athlete in the transition from high school to col-lege.

NCAA Student-Athlete Afairs

TheNCAA Student-AthleteAfairs program ofers programming to culti-vatestudent-athletes’lives infvemain areas: academic excellence, athletic excellence, personal development, careerdevelopment andcommitment to service. Created in 1991, the NCAA Student-Athlete Afairs program at NCAA member institutions are sup-portednationally through the promo-tional andfnancial efortsof theNCAA Foundation, theNCAAandtheDivision I-A Athletic Directors’ Association.

At the University of Toledo, the NCAA Student-Athlete Afairs pro-gramcoordinatesevents intheareas of communityoutreach through the “Rockets ‘Round Town” program. While continuing to utilize campus services for job search and career planning, the department has en-hanced its career development pro-gramming through its partnership with AfterSport, a student-athlete career planning organization that was founded and is run entirely by two former collegiate and profes-sional athletes who have also been successful in corporate America.

SAAS Staf

Drew Scales, in his sixth year directing Student Athletic Academic Services, is responsible for the daily operations of the Rocket Academic Center. He coordinates academic support for men’s golf, women’s golf, women’ssoccerandwomen’strackand cross country student-athletes. Stacy Bowers is in her 17th year with Student Athletic Academic Ser-vices as an Academic Coordinator. Bowerscoordinatesacademicservices for football, women’s basketball, and men’s and women’s tennis student-athletes. In addition, Bowers helps to organizeRocketLaunch, anewstudent orientation, andservesonthe Intercol-legiate Committee on Advising (ICA). Sue Irmen begins her 13th year with Student Athletic Academic Ser-vices this fall as an Academic Coordi-nator. Irmen coordinates academic services for baseball,men’s basketball, men’s cross country, softball, women’s swimming and volleyball student-athletes. Irmen also directs NCAA Student-Athlete Afairs programing for UT student-athletes.

Laura Johnson starts her 12th year with Student Athletic Academic Services as a Learning Specialist. Johnson specifically addresses the learningneeds of UT student-athletes. Additionally, Johnson is responsible for tutorial services in the Rocket Aca-demic Center.

Sue Irmen Stacy Bowers Laura Johnson Drew Scales