Daily Egyptian Reporter 17

Watching student-athletes grow into responsible adults during their four years at SIUC is one of the many joys Brian Bartolini and Kristina Therriault receive from their job.

Bartolini and Therriault are the academic coordinators for SIUC athletes. The main objective of their occupation is to provide academic, athletic and personal support to student-athletes.

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Therriault said she and Bartolini are readily available whenever an athlete has problems or concerns.

Basically, what we do is provide academic support for them, said Therriault, of Menominee, Mich. They are never required to make an appointment. Our door is always open.

Academic coordinators monitor the progress of the athletes to determine whether or not a student is eligible to compete in a particular sport. Progress reports are sent to each instructor for all student-athletes and are returned to the Academic Coordinators Office with information about attendance and grades.

All athletes are required to take at least 12 credit hours each semester and maintain a 2.0 grade point average. Students who earn a 2.25 GPA or less are required to attend study table. Study table is monitored study time that takes place from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday.

Bartolini and Therriault try to help students avoid study table by teaching Journalism 101, a course designed solely for student-athletes. The course teaches time management skills, career development, NCAA rules and media relations.

We take them to the library and teach them anything that has to do with being in class, Therriault said.

But Bartolini, of Bethel, Conn., said the program goes further than just focusing on academics. He said new programs such as Saluki Partners give upper-class athletes who have had successful academic careers the chance to guide freshmen.

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We’ve gotten more in the concept of life skills, he said. We encourage (upperclassmen) to apply as mentors to new student-athletes. We hope that all the ones that have done a nice job will start to apply for that the next year and the year after.

The program has been a perfect fit for freshman volleyball player Audra Allen. She said having Beth Hasheider as a mentor helped ease the college adjustment process.

Hasheider, a senior point guard for the women’s basketball team, earned a 4.0 GPA last year.

She has just given me a lot of good advice, said Allen, a freshman in biological sciences from Kansas. Every now and then she will come to one of my games or drop me some lines of encouragement.

The Academic Coordinators Office has also organized the Saluki Extend a Paw program. The program is designed to provide community service opportunities in the Carbondale area.

The program helped bring a group of elementary students to the Oct. 25 SIUC football game against Western Kentucky University.

We have projects where athletes read to students at elementary schools and Special Olympics activities, Therriault said. We plan on taking another groups of children to the men’s basketball game against (the University of) Miami (Nov. 14).

In the end, Bartolini cannot describe the feeling he gets from knowing he has helped make a difference in someone’s life. But he said the real reward comes later down the road.

We have an influence on their lives, but (we) don’t know [what influence we have on them] when they are here, Bartolini said. But we find out later when they call us or stop by then that’s when we know we’ve made a difference.