Post by FIUFanatic on Jan 16, 2008 17:53:12 GMT -5
Congrats to all at the Athletics are in order, as FIU Athletics just had the best GPA ever in a semester as a whole. I hope the renewed emphasis on the support system to student athletes keeps growing and improving, and the culture change in student-athletes's minds. A special note should go to every student athlete at FIU, who have to juggle academic rigors with practices, games, and meetings to achieve that.
www.fiusports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=11700&ATCLID=1369739
FIU Athletics: Making The Grade
Courtesy: FIUSports.com
Release: 01/16/2008
Courtesy: FIUSports.com
The FIU baseball team earned a 3.01 cumulative GPA in the fall semester.
MIAMI (www.fiuathletics.com) – The FIU student-athlete academic report card for the Fall 2007 term is out, and like any proud parent, athletic director Pete Garcia might want to stick this one on his fridge. Nearly half of FIU’s student-athletes posted a 3.0 GPA or better to earn recognition from the University and make it the most successful academic semester in athletics history.
Forty-six percent (177 of 382) of FIU’s student-athletes made the University Honor Roll. Fifty-one of those student-athletes made the Dean’s List for scoring better than a 3.5 for the semester. But the efforts of all in the classroom contributed to a cumulative GPA of 2.90 for the FIU’s student-athletes, ranking ahead of the University’s general population GPA (2.82) for a third-straight semester.
“Our student-athletes worked extremely hard with very busy schedules to raise the standard of academic excellence,” Garcia said. “As a university, athletic department and student-athlete academic staff, we have made a commitment to improving academically. We have done that. Without a complete effort from the student-athletes and Shirelle Jackson’s staff in the Student-Athlete Academic Complex, this would not have been possible.”
The swimming and diving team led the way with a 3.20 GPA and was followed by the women’s cross country team, which had the largest academic improvement of any team from the last term with a 3.13.
“I am so proud of how well we did in the classroom,” head swimming coach Noemi Zaharia said. “With all the work we do in the pool and traveling for meets, it makes for a tough schedule. Our GPA is really a testament to the hard work these young women put in. They performed as true student-athletes, understanding that their first priority is school, while still performing well in the pool.”
Rounding out the 3.0 club was tennis (3.12), volleyball (3.11), women’s soccer (3.11), women’s track & field (3.04) and baseball (3.01). Seventy-five percent of Danijela Tomic’s volleyball team scored above a 3.0 to lead all athletics teams.
But Turtle Thomas’ baseball team may top the list of most impressive accomplishments. As far back as FIU student-athlete academic records go, this is the first time FIU’s baseball team has had a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better.
While the student-athletes deserve a majority of the credit, Shirelle Jackson’s staff at the Student-Athlete Academic Center (SAAC) played a key role in their success. Assistant SAAC Director Liz Borrell, academic advising coordinators James Knapp, Allen Augustine and Mitchell Isle, Learning Specialist Mary Wright, office manager Helen Gonzalez and Academic Liaison Sean Walsh are all part Jackson’s staff, which works behind the scenes with the student-athletes to coordinate class schedules and ensure they stay on track to graduate.
“I am extremely proud of the academic performance of our student-athletes,” Jackson said. “We wanted to implement new and innovative ways to motivate our student-athletes to study and learn. Our student-athletes have been incredibly receptive to our efforts and academic programming.”
Another contributor to the success of FIU’s student-athletes is the commitment from the University administration to student-athlete academic excellence. In the past year President Modesto A. Madique has led the charge to make sure FIU’s student-athletes have the same opportunity to excel in the classroom as they do on the field of competition with a spectrum of improvements:
§ The entire University, including the Athletic Department has implemented multi-term registration, allowing students to register for two terms at once to allow for better planning to fulfill degree requirements.
§ The SAAC as been bolstered with increased funding, tutors, computers, graduate assistants and increased opportunities for summer school.
§ The number of tutors in the SAAC has doubled from seven to 14 in the last year.
§ $72,000 was set aside for technological improvements in the SAAC, resulting in the purchase of 20 personal computers and 25 laptops for student use.
§ FIU has more than tripled the operating budget of the SAAC from $62,000 to $195,000.
§ FIU’s student-athletes responded extremely well to increased opportunities to enroll in summer school classes with 95 percent passing their classes, allowing them to move ahead or stay on course to graduate.
§ Two graduate assistants were added to the SAAC staff to assist the learning specialist.
§ The SAAC is in the process of hiring a fifth academic coordinator.
Of the 352 FIU student-athletes in the Spring 2007 term, 41 percent earned academic honors, whether making the Dean’s List (59 athletes), earning a perfect 4.0 grade point average (11 athletes) or the Honor Roll (87 athletes).
“It is about 100 percent graduation,” Jackson said. “The kids want to be successful and now we have the staff and support for them to do so.
“Our goal is to take this momentum and continue to add to our collective success.”
www.fiusports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=11700&ATCLID=1369739
FIU Athletics: Making The Grade
Courtesy: FIUSports.com
Release: 01/16/2008
Courtesy: FIUSports.com
The FIU baseball team earned a 3.01 cumulative GPA in the fall semester.
MIAMI (www.fiuathletics.com) – The FIU student-athlete academic report card for the Fall 2007 term is out, and like any proud parent, athletic director Pete Garcia might want to stick this one on his fridge. Nearly half of FIU’s student-athletes posted a 3.0 GPA or better to earn recognition from the University and make it the most successful academic semester in athletics history.
Forty-six percent (177 of 382) of FIU’s student-athletes made the University Honor Roll. Fifty-one of those student-athletes made the Dean’s List for scoring better than a 3.5 for the semester. But the efforts of all in the classroom contributed to a cumulative GPA of 2.90 for the FIU’s student-athletes, ranking ahead of the University’s general population GPA (2.82) for a third-straight semester.
“Our student-athletes worked extremely hard with very busy schedules to raise the standard of academic excellence,” Garcia said. “As a university, athletic department and student-athlete academic staff, we have made a commitment to improving academically. We have done that. Without a complete effort from the student-athletes and Shirelle Jackson’s staff in the Student-Athlete Academic Complex, this would not have been possible.”
The swimming and diving team led the way with a 3.20 GPA and was followed by the women’s cross country team, which had the largest academic improvement of any team from the last term with a 3.13.
“I am so proud of how well we did in the classroom,” head swimming coach Noemi Zaharia said. “With all the work we do in the pool and traveling for meets, it makes for a tough schedule. Our GPA is really a testament to the hard work these young women put in. They performed as true student-athletes, understanding that their first priority is school, while still performing well in the pool.”
Rounding out the 3.0 club was tennis (3.12), volleyball (3.11), women’s soccer (3.11), women’s track & field (3.04) and baseball (3.01). Seventy-five percent of Danijela Tomic’s volleyball team scored above a 3.0 to lead all athletics teams.
But Turtle Thomas’ baseball team may top the list of most impressive accomplishments. As far back as FIU student-athlete academic records go, this is the first time FIU’s baseball team has had a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better.
While the student-athletes deserve a majority of the credit, Shirelle Jackson’s staff at the Student-Athlete Academic Center (SAAC) played a key role in their success. Assistant SAAC Director Liz Borrell, academic advising coordinators James Knapp, Allen Augustine and Mitchell Isle, Learning Specialist Mary Wright, office manager Helen Gonzalez and Academic Liaison Sean Walsh are all part Jackson’s staff, which works behind the scenes with the student-athletes to coordinate class schedules and ensure they stay on track to graduate.
“I am extremely proud of the academic performance of our student-athletes,” Jackson said. “We wanted to implement new and innovative ways to motivate our student-athletes to study and learn. Our student-athletes have been incredibly receptive to our efforts and academic programming.”
Another contributor to the success of FIU’s student-athletes is the commitment from the University administration to student-athlete academic excellence. In the past year President Modesto A. Madique has led the charge to make sure FIU’s student-athletes have the same opportunity to excel in the classroom as they do on the field of competition with a spectrum of improvements:
§ The entire University, including the Athletic Department has implemented multi-term registration, allowing students to register for two terms at once to allow for better planning to fulfill degree requirements.
§ The SAAC as been bolstered with increased funding, tutors, computers, graduate assistants and increased opportunities for summer school.
§ The number of tutors in the SAAC has doubled from seven to 14 in the last year.
§ $72,000 was set aside for technological improvements in the SAAC, resulting in the purchase of 20 personal computers and 25 laptops for student use.
§ FIU has more than tripled the operating budget of the SAAC from $62,000 to $195,000.
§ FIU’s student-athletes responded extremely well to increased opportunities to enroll in summer school classes with 95 percent passing their classes, allowing them to move ahead or stay on course to graduate.
§ Two graduate assistants were added to the SAAC staff to assist the learning specialist.
§ The SAAC is in the process of hiring a fifth academic coordinator.
Of the 352 FIU student-athletes in the Spring 2007 term, 41 percent earned academic honors, whether making the Dean’s List (59 athletes), earning a perfect 4.0 grade point average (11 athletes) or the Honor Roll (87 athletes).
“It is about 100 percent graduation,” Jackson said. “The kids want to be successful and now we have the staff and support for them to do so.
“Our goal is to take this momentum and continue to add to our collective success.”
