Page 26 - Laker Connection Fall 2016

Champions in the Classroom
Clayton State Athletics commitment to academic success paying dividends
By Joshua Darling
It’s very easy to point out the tremendous athletic accompli- shments in the 26-year history of Clayton State Athletics. A total of 25 combined Peach Belt Con- ference regular season or tour- nament titles, 60 NCAA Division II Tournament appearances, 58 All-Americans and the 2011 wo- men’s basketball national cham- pionship.
However, what is sometimes overlooked in the world of co- llege athletics is the academic component. Not so among the Lakers student-athletes and sta- ff – who have made a commit- ment to true academic success, a plan to maintain it and a goal to surpass all previous expecta- tions.
Since arriving on campus in Au- gust of 2014, Clayton State Di- rector of Athletics Tim Duncan has placed a premium on the “student” part of student-athlete.
“The success of our student-athletes is
a testament to the dedication of the coaches, staff and, of course, the students themselves,”
said Duncan. “Each of those groups immediately bought into creating excellence in their acade- micpursuits.TheonethingthatIam most proud of is giving the students the recognition they deserve throu- gh the creation of the Wall of Cham- pions, Breakfast of Champions, Academic Recognition Nights and the Scholar-Athlete Graduation Stoll program.”
Chief among the mission of the stu- dent-athlete is to graduate and the Athletics Department mission goes hand-in-hand with that with the goal to “promote the education and de- velopment of students through in- tercollegiate participation”.
One of the best methods em- ployed to achieve both of those goals is the Academic Support Policy, which ties in with manda- tory study hall requirements ba- sed upon a student-athletes GPA. Guided by a goal of unwavering academic excellence, these two parts of the support structu- re empower student-athletes to take control of their educational experienceandpreparethemto achieve academic success at an institutional, regional and national level.
Each week student-athletes are required to complete a certain amount of supervised study hall hours based upon their cumulati- ve GPA at Clayton State. Desig- ned to set aside an appropriate level of productive study time for those that need it, the program also rewards those individuals who achieve a 3.0 or better by not requiring any hours.
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