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Academic Services
The mission of Academic Services for Student-Athletes is to provide academic and personal support to all student-athletes at University of the Pacific. Our goal is to provide our students with the opportunity to achieve their potential for intellectual, social and personal growth and development. We strive to create a collaborative environment with campus departments to help student-athletes integrate into the Pacific community.
ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT HONOR ROLL
Each semester, Pacific student-athletes have the opportunity to
achieve Honor Roll status by meeting the following criteria:
- Pass at least 12 graded units with no incomplete grades or nonreported letter grades.
- Achieve three letter grades with a semester GPA of: 3.15 to 3.49 for Honor Athlete or 3.50 to 4.00 for Scholar Athlete.
ATHLETICS ACADEMIC COUNSELOR
All student-athletes at Pacific have access to Pacific’s
Athletics Academic Counselor. She is a resource to support the
academic success of all student-athletes. The Athletics
Academic Counselor meets with designated student-athletes regularly
throughout the year to assist with any academic challenges or
difficulties that students may encounter while at Pacific.
She assists student-athletes with finding tutors, strengthening
study skills, and using academic resources on campus. The
Athletics Academic Counselor also collaborates with the different
departments, professors, faculty advisors, and staff on
campus. She is an advocate for the success of all
student-athletes, both on and off the field. She organizes,
develops, and coordinates many Life Skills Programs each semester
to facilitate academic success for student-athletes.
FACULTY ADVISORS
Every student at Pacific is assigned a faculty advisor to act as
that student’s primary resource person for all academic
policy, course selection and academic major questions. Students
should meet in-person with their faculty advisor at least once per
semester to plan for the next term. The benefit of such a
system is that a student can build a close, personal relationship
with a member of the faculty while planning his or her academic
progress.
Meeting with a faculty advisor can be instrumental in preventing problems later on (e.g., earning enough credits for graduation, completing the appropriate prerequisite courses, etc.). Students should be prepared when meeting with their advisor and have enough information on requirements to ensure as few mistakes and delays to graduation as possible. Student-athletes should be aware of practice times and usual competition dates to avoid scheduling classes that will conflict with those responsibilities (if possible).
FACULTY ATHLETICS REPRESENTATIVE
The Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR) is a member of the
faculty who is designated to represent the University and the
faculty in relationships with the NCAA and the conference offices.
The FAR is also a link between Intercollegiate Athletics and the
faculty in addition to the link provided by the Athletics Advisory
Board. Dr. Bob Hanyak of the Speech-Language Pathology
Department is Pacific’s FAR. He is available to meet with any
student-athlete regarding issues of concern, academic or
otherwise. He is a good resource for student-athletes because
of his experience and his position does not report to
Intercollegiate Athletics.
LIFE SKILLS PROGRAMMING
The NCAA Life Skills program is designed to address the
“total development” of the student-athlete. It is
a well-rounded plan for students to develop the individual skills
necessary to lead a successful, productive life and become leaders
of and contributors to the community and the nation. The program
consists of five components: academic excellence, athletic
excellence, career development, personal development and
service.
Pacific conducts a Life Skills program based on the NCAA model, which was and continues to be developed with the needs and concerns of Pacific student-athletes in mind. The program includes speakers on such varied topics as drug and alcohol abuse, proper nutrition and eating disorders, time and stress management, gambling and career development. An important component of the program is the wellness program, which includes the Drug Education, Testing and Treatment Program. Anyone with interest in or ideas for the Life Skills program should contact the Associate Director of Athletics for Student-Athlete Services and Compliance for information. Examples of past Life Skills Programs (oftentimes, we partnership with different University groups to administer):
- Resume and cover letter writing, interview skills workshops;
- Financial planning workshops;
- Time management workshops;
- Study skills workshops;
- Test anxiety and stress management;
- Preparing for finals workshops;
- Healthy relationships workshops;
- Academic honestly workshops;
- Year-round community service activities;
- Sexual assault prevention and alcohol and drug abuse prevention programming;
- Nutrition and body-image seminars and proactive education.
TUTORING SERVICES/ WRITING CENTER
Tutoring services are available to all student-athletes.
Student-athletes requesting assistance are directed first to the
University Educational Resource Center
and/or Writing Center. If the necessary tutor
is not available through the regular University process,
Intercollegiate Athletics will hire one. If a student-athlete
misses two unexcused tutoring sessions, tutoring services may be
suspended or cancelled. Study skills sessions are also available
through Athletics Academic Counseling to assist students in such
areas as time management, as well as test and note taking skills.
Double study hall credit will be given to students using
tutoring through the Educational Resource Center
and Writing Center. In order to receive double credit,
student-athletes must identify themselves as such to their tutor
and request that the session be recorded and forwarded to
athletics.
STUDENT-ATHLETE PRIORITY REGISTRATION
Student-athletes currently have priority registration
based on class standing. Each semester, student-athletes must
register at their scheduled registration time. If there is a time
conflict with class/practice/competition, please notify the
Athletics Academic Counselor.
BOOK LOAN PROGRAM
The Book Loan Program is available to some scholarship
student-athletes as part of their athletics aid package and is
designed to meet course textbook needs. The Department of
Intercollegiate Athletics provides the schedules to the Bookstore
for textbook distribution during scheduled times at the beginning
of each semester. Only required textbooks are provided through
this process. Student-athletes may request assistance with the
purchase of recommended textbooks by speaking with the Assistant
Coordinator of Academic Achievement.
A student-athlete who wishes to purchase a book for his or her own personal library may do so by having the cost of the book charged to his or her personal account. All books must be returned in good condition to the Student-Athlete Resource Center during designated hours. All books must be turned in by the end of finals week, unless a student-athlete has made prior arrangements. Student-athletes are responsible for repayment based on the full purchase price of all books that are not returned by the designated time.
A hold will be placed on the student’s record until repayment is received. Student-athletes with account holds will not be allowed to register for the subsequent semester.
ACADEMIC MONITORING
Student Athletes are advised and reminded of requirements for
continued eligibility and any changes in University and NCAA
academic regulations or requirements at a team meeting at least
once per academic year. During each semester, the progress of all
student-athletes is monitored on a regular basis with concerns
reported to the coach and student-athlete.
Student-athletes participate in the same advising, pre-registration and registration processes as all other students. Student-athletes may be advised to make changes in their academic program by Student-Athlete Services staff with permission of the student-athlete’s faculty advisor.
Progress reports are received from instructors twice per semester. Students and coaches will be contacted if concerns arise. A student-athlete’s academic difficulty may be addressed by conferencing with the instructor, the Athletic Academic Counselor, the Associate Director of Athletics for Student-Athlete Services and Compliance or some combination thereof. The Director of Athletics may be brought into the discussion at any point as deemed appropriate. Signed behavioral contracts between the student and Intercollegiate Athletics may be developed, as needed, to ensure understanding of expectations and possible consequences.
COURSES TAKEN AT OTHER INSTITUTIONS
Students may file a petition to take a course at another
university or college while also enrolled at Pacific. The
petition must be submitted first to the student’s faculty
advisor and then to the Registrar’s Office. The Concurrent
Enrollment Petition can be obtained in the Registrar’s
Office. If the course at the other institution is approved, a
student may enroll in and complete the class, but no financial aid
for the course will be available from Pacific. As always, units
taken at other institutions count toward a student’s total
number of units taken. The grades, however, do not factor
into a student’s grade-point average. A Pacific grade-point
average only includes courses taken at Pacific. This is the
grade-point average used for eligibility purposes.
The maximum number of units that will be accepted from a community college is seventy (70) and no community college credits will be accepted after a student has completed seventy (70) units from all institutions attended. Courses are accepted in chronological order.
For more information regarding University academic policies, please see the University General Catalog.
STUDENT-ATHLETE RESOURCE CENTER
Located in the Pacific Intercollegiate Athletics Center,
the Student-Athlete Resource Center has been designed to meet the
academic needs of student-athletes. The resource center is filled
with study carrels, assorted reference materials and computers with
Internet access. The computers in the Center are for academic and
research purposes first. The office of the Athletics Academic
Counselor is also located in the Student-Athlete Resource Center.
Athletics Study Hall sessions and some tutoring also take place in
the Center.
ATHLETICS STUDY HALL
Athletics study hall is available to all student-athletes
and is useful in developing time management skills and
providing a quiet place to study in the Intercollegiate
Athletics building (Student-Athlete Resource Center) and the
Pacific Library.
