University of Akron (UA) students juggle challenging academic schedules, participate in student organizations, volunteer with worthy causes, hold down part-time jobs and maintain social relationships.
For UA’s student-athletes, the challenges extend even further. In addition to balancing academic responsibilities, they must dedicate significant time to practice, training and competing, often requiring travel for off-campus games, meets and matches.
The Department of Athletics recognizes the unique pressures these athletes face, including the need to maintain their grades to remain eligible, and is committed to providing the extra support they need on their journey.
“We have a really strong student-athlete support team,” said Jackie Wallgren, UA’s senior associate athletic director and senior woman administrator, whose supervisory responsibilities include academic success. “Our academic coordinators make sure the student-athletes are in the right classes to meet benchmarks.”
The NCAA sets those benchmarks, which require student-athletes to reach a certain percentage of degree progress each year and maintain a 2.0 grade point average. If a student-athlete does not reach benchmarks and is unable to maintain a 2.0, they could be ruled ineligible.
UA academic coordinators meet with student-athletes to ensure they are in the right classes to make that progression toward degree attainment and also provide a hybrid of tutoring and advising — a kind of case management for academics. Student-athletes also have mandatory study hours and access to tutoring.
Kellen Fletcher, a member of the women’s lacrosse team from Pittsburgh, Pa., accessed this support during her freshman year. She struggled with the transition from high school to college, especially with a calculus class, and met with Jane Uecker, coordinator of academic support services in the Department of Athletics.
“I was a good student in high school, but it wasn’t clicking for me and I was having a hard time adjusting to not being at home anymore,” she said. “I sat down with Jane, and she sent me to the tutoring center in Bierce Library. She connected me to other student-athletes who were in the same class, and we worked on homework and studied together.”
Fletcher’s coach had also noticed she wasn’t doing well in the calculus course. Wallgren said UA’s coaches play a valuable role in ensuring student-athletes are on the right path. They begin to develop relationships with future Zips when they are in high school, which builds trust between the student-athlete and their coach, creating a relationship between the family and the University
“Coaches are almost like a second family,” Wallgren said. “They can flag things for us to get the student- athlete into the office as soon as possible if there is an issue.”
Summer academic programs also help student- athletes to stay on top of their degree progression. Teams such as football and men’s and women’s basketball have on-campus summer training sessions for several weeks, during which time student-athletes take courses to catch up, maintain their progress or even work ahead.
“Summer courses are a great way to lose some of that fear of being ineligible,” Wallgren said. “It gives them a little cushion.” Student-athletes can also access support with life skills such as time management and financial management.
The result of UA’s dedication to academic success is that UA’s student-athletes consistently have higher graduation rates than their peers. The graduation rate for student-athletes who received scholarships is around 20 percentage points higher than UA’s general student population.
Zips student-athletes are regularly recognized nationally and in the Mid-American Conference for their academic successes. The 2023-24 academic year marked the 11th straight year that UA student-athletes had a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better. The men’s and women’s soccer teams had the top cumulative GPAs (3.39 and 3.67 respectively).
Once she was able to receive support with her schoolwork, Fletcher said her confidence grew. She finished her first semester with new energy, and finished the following spring semester with all A’s and one B. Now a junior marketing major, she was named Academic All-MAC at the end of the 2024 lacrosse season while appearing in every game for the Zips. Fletcher is also a member of the Women in Business and Sport Analytics and Business Association student organizations.
“Once I got comfortable going to class, talking to my teachers and reaching out to my fellow students, it helped so much. It translated on to the field with my teammates,” Fletcher said. “Jane was really easy to talk to and we found a solution. I was able to be myself and do what I know I can do.”
Story by Jessica Whitehill