A new location, more hours and a more demanding regimen are a few of the changes to the Radford University Athletic Department’s Office of Academic Support that have occurred in new academic coordinator Holly Kerstner’s brief time at RU.
Kerstner, academic coordinator for the Office of Academic Support , joined the athletic department staff in September from the University of Detroit after three years as the Director of Advising and academic services. She is joined by assistant academic coordinator Janet Nichols and together they have already made changes to the program including increased hours of operation and the relocation of the study center. According to Kerstner, the new Muse location is bigger than the previous one, has tables instead of desks, and utilizes dry erase boards in separate side rooms where group study sessions can be held without disturbing others in the center. Another dramtic change is the requirement that student-athletes attend regularly throughout the entire school year, not just during their respective sports season.
“It is important that the student-athletes know their commitment as a student as well as an athlete. I want them to succeed, not just get by with the bare minimum,” says Kerstner.
The Office of Academic Support provides student athletes with a number of resources and programs to help them achieve academic, personal and athletic growth. Services include academic monitoring, academic progress meetings, registration assistance, tutorial assistance, CHAMPS/Life-skills Workshops, community service opportunities, referrals, and structured study hours in the academic study center.
Kerstner is at the study center during all the hours of operation. She said it is important to interact with the student-athletes instead of just monitoring them. She currently supervises a staff of five who are upperclass athletes. For example, senior men’s soccer player T.J. Rolfing, a first-team COSIDA Academic All-American, is among the monitor staff. Kerstner says this sets an example for underclassmen allowing them to to see someone in their position succeeding in both the role of an athlete and a student.
Kerstner monitors the progress and success of student-athletes on behalf of the athletic department. The program has been successful so far, said Kerstner, who pointed out there are 300 student-athletes and 119 of them have a GPA above a 3.0, 19 above a 4.0. The cumulative GPA of the RU student athletes is 2.8.
Kerstner cited “Challenging Athletes’ Minds for Personal Success” or the CHAMPS program, a student development program sponsored by the NCAA, as a central activity of the Academic Support Center. CHAMPS’ main focus is on five target areas of the student-athletes’ lives: academic excellence, athletic excellence, personal development, service and career development. The CHAMPS program also offers the student-athletes opportunities for community service where the athletes can give something back to the community. Two current community activities are the “Reading is Fun” at Riverlawn Elementary School, and a before-school program at McHarg Elementary School.
For the future, Kerstner has several goals for the office. She said she would like to involve retired RU faculty with the program as tutors and to chair group study sessions for the athletes. Kerstner is also working to have CHAMPS incorporate more workshops focused on guiding incoming freshman and transfer student-athletes through compliances issues, drugs/alcohol awareness, career development, personal relationship issues, financial concerns, nutrition, and time management.
