By Dr. Sandra Slabik

Sandra Slabik, EdD, is Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR), Professor, and Program Director for Sport Management at Neumann College. The former Director of Athletics at Alvernia College, she can be reached at: slabiks@neumann.edu.

From an athletic director's perspective, it seems like a no-brainer: Student-athletes should have priority scheduling over other students. With student-athletes devoting so much of their time to their teams, the least a school can do is allow them to build their class schedules so they have as few conflicts as possible.

Most student-athletes want to do well academically and don't wish to miss classes for practices and games. So giving athletes first dibs at signing up for courses helps ensure they can be in class and achieve their best academically.

From a faculty perspective, however, it's not so cut and dry. Some faculty members think student-athletes already have enough privileges. They feel it's the student-athlete's individual responsibility to resolve any conflicts on their own.

In addition, at some schools, there are longstanding traditions for who receives priority in class schedules that are not easy to alter. If student-athletes ask for a change that would be unpopular among the general student body, that becomes a negative for athletic-academic relations.

Those were some of the initial thoughts I had here at Neumann College when our athletic department first considered advocating for priority scheduling a few years ago. But we also felt confident that with the right approach, we could make the change happen without causing negative feelings among non-athletes and academic leaders on campus. And we did.

CULTURE CHANGE
Over the past decade, Neumann has upgraded its athletics department, adding several sports and support programs for our student-athletes. We now field 15 teams with approximately 300 student-athletes competing at the NCAA Division III level. Our men's ice hockey team brought home a national title this winter, the first for any sport at Neumann.

But a little over five years ago, the campus was still adjusting to an increased emphasis on athletics. Faculty were not accustomed to student-athletes frequently missing classes for away games and they were not pleased. Many penalized student-athletes for these absences just like they would any other student, with grade reductions that kicked in after a certain number of no-shows.

From the athletic side, I heard coaches complaining about having to practice with partial squads because of class conflicts for some of their players. And as Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR), I was concerned about student-athletes falling behind academically due to missed classes. I was also worried about them dealing with the stress from being pulled in two different directions.

I knew that implementing priority scheduling for student-athletes would be a perfect solution. We are a small school, but there are usually multiple sections of most classes, with some in the morning, so students have choices.

But I also knew that the campus administration and faculty would not rubber stamp the idea. People were wary of giving student-athletes any special privileges and proud of the traditions the school had. One of our traditions, like at many institutions, was giving priority scheduling to upperclassmen.

START WITH DIALOGUE
As is the case in any setting, changing a culture can't be done in haste. Time must be built in for stakeholders to discuss and become comfortable with the change. For institutions of higher education, this starts with opening channels of communication.

Therefore, my first strategy toward our goal was simply to start dialogue with other faculty members about the problem. This began informally at several faculty meetings as members voiced their concerns about student-athletes missing classes. I explained that student-athletes don't purposefully schedule their classes in the afternoon so they don't have to go to class on game days. Nor do they have any input when it comes to scheduling their games. They would rather be in class so they don't miss lectures or have to make up work.

The faculty response was usually, "So why didn't they choose the morning section?" The reason was that the morning sections were closed by the time they were allowed to register. Most of the student-athletes with class conflicts were freshmen and sophomores, so they registered last.

I also asked faculty members what other problems they were seeing with student-athletes. Some noticed that student-athletes in their late afternoon classes were inattentive, because they wanted to join the rest of their team at practice. Another issue was that it's a burden to provide make-up work and make-up tests to student-athletes who miss class.

These informal discussions helped faculty understand there was a problem, which was an important first step. A second step was to convince them that the majority of student-athletes try to be responsible students, and would rather not have to miss classes for early afternoon travel to away games. I explained that our student-athletes are working hard to be successful in both the classroom and in their sport, and that my function as FAR is to help provide an environment on campus where they can do both without unnecessary obstacles and frustrations.

But faculty are only one change-agent on campus. There were students and administrators I also needed to start a dialogue with. Fortunately, our Vice President of Student Affairs at that time, Benjamin Shearer, was very supportive of priority scheduling and he helped get the ball rolling with these other groups. He strongly suggested the inclusion of student government to address the concerns of students who are not student-athletes.

Shearer also sought feedback from the registrar, who would obviously be affected by the changes that were being discussed. The registrar was supportive and eventually instrumental in working out the details of the final proposal.

PRESENTING THE OPTIONS
With some great discussions started, an ad hoc task force was formed. It included the student government officers, registrar, and officers of the faculty senate. The group's mission was to develop a framework for a new registration schedule that would permit some level of priority scheduling for student-athletes.

Several alternatives surfaced. One was a plan where all student-athletes could register first, but this was immediately dismissed, as seniors thought it was unfair. They earned that right, they said, and freshmen and sophomores were not going to register ahead of them--this culture was firmly in place and the seniors would not be swayed.

The registrar presented some information next. He explained that most junior- and senior-level classes (300 and 400 level) were specific to a student's major, and that any student in that major would have no difficulty getting into the sections of their choice. Since we are a small school, each department knows how many students are moving on in their respective majors, and sections are offered accordingly.

The registrar also regularly attends all the Dean's meetings on class scheduling, and they discussed that whenever there will be more than one section of a specific upper-level course, at least one of them has to be in the morning. Therefore, the registrar explained, junior and senior student-athletes really don't need priority scheduling.

The conflicts would be isolated to transfers, or other students who might be out of sequence for a variety of reasons. It was decided these conflicts would be handled on a case-by-case basis.

The committee then moved its efforts to the bigger problem, which is that freshmen and sophomores are mostly taking core courses that have multiple sections offered throughout the day. The big question was: Do we allow freshman and sophomore student-athletes to schedule those courses in the morning so they can reduce conflicts with their teams?

After much discussion among members of the faculty senate and student government, a registration scheduling plan was ready to be presented. It allowed seniors to register first, then juniors, then freshman and sophomore student-athletes, then sophomores, and then freshmen. Only student-athletes in season during the semester that they were registering for could register early, not all student-athletes.

Student government approved the proposal. Most of the discussion centered around protecting the traditional practice of upperclassmen registering first. Our student-athletes who were also in student government did a great job advocating for student-athlete needs while being sympathetic to the privileges of upperclassmen.

In bringing the proposal to the full faculty senate, it was decided that our student government president should present the plan, with the registrar and myself there to field questions. Other students who were in favor of the plan (who were not student-athletes) were also present. This turned out to be key, as faculty wanted to know that students who would be affected by the change were on board.

It was also important that we could answer faculty members' questions. One was how faculty would know which students were eligible to register early. Since, as FAR, I certify academic eligibility at our institution, and therefore have all the rosters of eligible student-athletes, it was decided that I would certify the student-athletes. However, it would be the student-athlete's responsibility to request an early registration certification from me through e-mail and present it to their academic advisor when registering.

Some faculty wanted to know if other groups would now be able to have this privilege. The registrar noted that students with physical and learning disabilities already had the right to register early. The faculty wanted to leave the option available for additional groups who might have specific needs for early classes.

Another question that arose centered on students who were not members of sports teams this year but were planning to play next year. How could they register early without being on the roster, while also preventing abuse of this privilege? We decided that students would have to go to the coach of the team and discuss the possibility of trying out before the coach would submit their name to be added to the roster. This extra step might dissuade those just saying they would try out. There are typically very few names added to the roster prior to registration, so this process has worked well.

The faculty approved the new priority registration schedule and were very impressed with the presentation by the student government president. They were also convinced that non-student-athletes would be supportive with student government advocating for the change. The faculty's main concerns were the logistics of how the process would function, which we addressed by explaining the certification process.

ATHLETICS' ROLE
In our particular situation, the athletic department did not play an active role in developing the priority scheduling proposal. Because I am a former coach and former athletic director, I was able to represent athletics in all discussions. It probably worked to our advantage that the advocating came from a faculty member and students, not athletic administrators or coaches.

However, the process did bring forth the idea that the athletics staff should take on a bigger role in helping to solve the overall problem of student-athlete scheduling. For example, coaches were asked to look more closely at their practice and game schedules to avoid as many class conflicts as possible.

If coaches knew their sport would have practices at a certain time that might cause a conflict, they were to make sure both the players and the faculty were aware of it prior to registration. One example is the men's and women's ice hockey teams. Their practice time is 2 p.m., so they need to have all their classes scheduled before then.

The athletic department also decided to be more cognizant of class conflicts in scheduling away games. We began scheduling games with those opponents farthest away on weekends in order to reduce early departure times during the week. And we are providing student-athletes with schedules at the beginning of the season that list precise departure times for each contest, so they can plan ahead with their class instructors.

Another important role athletics now plays is to teach student-athletes of their responsibility in working with faculty. Athletes are reminded to be proactive with their instructors about conflicts--they need to let professors know ahead of time when they will miss a class for an away game, inform them of make-up games not on the original schedule, and ask how they can make up missed classes or tests.

THE RESULTS
Priority scheduling went into effect as planned with very few complaints or problems. Over the past couple years, a few other groups were provided with the privilege, such as a club that used a specific facility at a specific time.

What has been really interesting to watch is the campus culture gradually change so that student-athlete priority scheduling is now an accepted part of registration. In fact, when the school restructured class scheduling time slots this past fall, which extended our traditional class day, we were very worried about what this might mean for our student-athletes. But it was decided with hardly any debate that all athletes could register early, to assure that they could get into the morning class sessions. So now, all student-athletes can register during the first two days of our registration--even before the seniors!

Another change in the process that has made it a little easier for all involved has been the inclusion of athletic rosters in our internal computer system. This has eliminated the need for all student-athletes to request an early registration form.

The new system has now been fully accepted as a part of the registration process. The understanding is that student-athletes are not trying to get out of any academic work--they just want to take classes in the morning so they won't have conflicts with afternoon games and practices. They want to have the same opportunity for academic success as all students do, and priority scheduling gives them just that.