Boston University’s Student Athlete Support Service is on a mission to help the school’s Division I athletes succeed off the field, providing academic tools and resources for the student-athlete population.
Established in the late 1990s in response to newly-issued NCAA academic regulations, SASS ensures “student-athletes are meeting university and NCAA standards while making appropriate progress toward a Boston University degree” by offering tutoring, study hall sessions and travel assistance to help athletes manage their time while competing, according to the organization’s website.
Academic standards vary for each sport and are usually established by coaches. Kevin Schaeffer, a member of BU’s Division I hockey team, said all hockey players are required to maintain a 2.5 GPA and spend a minimum of six hours in study hall every week. He said he finds the tutors the most useful.
“I’ve used them for the past three years, and they’ve been pretty helpful,” the College of Arts and Sciences senior said.
Despite the fact that SASS can be used by all athletes, many do not take advantage of the services past their freshman year, athletes said. CAS senior Eric Thomassian, also a hockey player, was able to maintain good grades throughout college without the help of SASS.
“I never really had a reason to go back,” he said.
The NCAA currently uses the Academic Progress Rate to measure the success of student athletes from various colleges around the country. The APR is an average of schools’ teams grade point averages, with a total score based on that average. If a college fails to meet a certain score, it faces losing scholarship grants.
According to University of Southern California Student-Athlete Academic Services Associate Athletic Director Magdi El-Shahawy, schools must score a 925 or above to avoid losing money. The system is “designed to improve the academic success and graduation of all student-athletes,” according to the NCAA website.
The highest APR score a school can achieve is 1,000, and BU Athletics Director Mike Lynch said the university received a score of 980 for the 2004-2005 academic year.
“When the NCAA first came out with the APR, many schools were nervous about the impact that it was going to have on their athletic programs,” Lynch said. “BU never felt that way, because we not only met those standards, but we also surpassed them.”
Lynch said SASS helps BU athletes perform well on the field and in the classroom and is an effective preventative tool against student-athlete dropouts.
“We have roughly 650 athletes [at Boston University] each year, and I can count on one hand how many athletes we’ve lost [for academic reasons] in the past five years,” he said.
Although SASS is open to all varsity athletes, the program is a mandatory requirement for freshmen and athletes who do not meet academic goals in place by their coaches. The services are tailored to each student-athlete’s needs based on individual assessment and evaluation.
BU Student Athlete Support Services Director Phil DeCarlo said the program specifically targets freshmen to ease the transition into college. Advisers view an athlete’s high school credentials and form a program for them based on personal needs.
USC recently received publicity for its athlete academic support program. Like BU’s, the program is available to all varsity athletes but is highly rigorous and more specialized.
DeCarlo said BU’s system works but in a different way that focuses on student independence.
“I think our situation is obviously a little different,” he said. “We try to put as much responsibility on the student while we act as an advocate for them. It teaches them to be more independent.”
In addition to offering its own services, SASS works closely with other academic support centers on campus, including the Educational Resource Center and the Writing Center.