Good Report On Academic Expectations And Responsibilities

Commitment of Washington State University and Cougar Athletics

We are committed to the following are:
The administration, coaches, and support staff are committed to providing a positive and independent learning environment for the student-athletes at Washington State University.
The student-athlete development staff is committed to creating an environment for student-athletes where progress toward a degree is the focus, rather than eligibility.

The student-athlete development staff is also committed to developing programs, monitoring systems, and support systems to achieve these goals.

Commitment of WSU Athletics Department
The Athletics Department at WSU is committed to the following:
WSU Athletics is committed to developing and maintaining a partnership between the members of the Athletics Department staff and the student-athletes. In this regard, we have an Academic Standards Program that is designed to:

Enhance the level of services currently provided for WSU student-athletes.

Encourage student-athletes to make a serious commitment to their academic performance and success at WSU.
Standardize the academic expectations for all sports and all student-athletes.
Facilitates the equitable treatment of student-athletes, makes the student-athletes’ needs assessment more objective, and emphasizes the Athletics Department’s concern for the welfare of the student-athlete and his/her progress toward graduation.
It is important to realize that you and you alone are responsible for your academic record—accept ownership for your achievement.
You may have several people working with you to help you achieve your academic goals, but you are ultimately responsible for producing on the actual exams, papers, and projects.
You need to recognize that you are the catalyst for your own success. .
If your grade on an exam is not as high as you would like, go see the professor and find out what you missed.

Use the exam as a learning tool for your next exam; quitting is not an option.

One low test score does not mean you will fail the course! Seek out your professor or TA to find out how to better prepare for the next exam.
Build a plan for success from your setback. College life is challenging—those who are successful learn from every setback and move on to the next challenge.
In order to participate in the intercollegiate athletics program at Washington State University, student-athletes must meet all academic requirements of the University, NCAA, and the Athletics Department as highlighted below
All students are also expected to strive for at least a 2.5 GPA.
If a student-athlete falls below this minimum standard, the student-athlete may be expected to meet regularly with an academic advisor and meet specified academic requirements as assigned by the associate director of athletics for student-athlete development.

The following is the student-athlete academic profile in WSU:

New—Students within this profile are first term students at Washington State University, have been admitted through the standard university admission process, do not have documented learning disabilities, and are NCAA Qualifiers.
New High Risk—Students within this profile are first term students at Washington State University, have been admitted through the Extraordinary Talent Pool admission process, potentially have documented learning disabilities and/or are NCAA partial or non-qualifiers who have transferred from a two-year community college system.
High Risk—Students within this profile are “deficient” student-athletes with a cumulative GPA under 2.0, are sophomore (or above) student-athletes who have earned an initial “deficiency” or have had consecutive or non-consecutive “deficient” terms and possess a cumulative GPA less than 2.2, have significant NCAA eligibility deficiencies and are not making appropriate progress towards degree.
Moderate Risk—Students within this profile have above a 2.0 semester and cumulative GPA but below a 2.2 cumulative GPA, are sophomore (or above) student-athletes who have earned an initial “deficiency” or have had consecutive or non-consecutive “deficient” terms and possess a cumulative GPA greater than 2.2 but less than 2.5.
Progressional Risk—Students within this profile are sophomore (or above) student-athletes who have earned an initial “deficiency” or have had consecutive or non-consecutive “deficient” terms and possess a cumulative GPA greater than 2.2 and are student-athletes who have demonstrated a history of academic struggles that have resulted in marginal progress towards degree (associate director of athletics for student-athlete development to assess and assign as needed).
General Contact—Consists of, or applies to, returning students outside the aforementioned academic profiles who appear to be on track to certify in a major of their choice and on track to graduate within a four–five year period. Services for this group are made available based on individual requests and need.
Seniors—Student-athlete development services will be determined on an individual basis for seniors who have exhausted their eligibility. If seniors are over 2.0 and certified in a major, they are expected to work independently.

Non-Scholarship—Student-athlete development will apply programming and assistance based on academic need rather than departmental funding.

Program Components
The following are the program components:
5-8-13 week professor evaluations.
Structured learning environment (completion of “tasks” to improve performance in class).
Monitored study sessions with guided study facilitators.
Meetings with academic advisor.
Learning skill development with a learning services specialist.
Weekly Academic Expectations of Student-Athletes
The following are the weekly academic expectations for all student-athletes:
Attend every class every day.
Meet with academic advisor first week of school.
Attend weekly meetings with academic advisor and be prepared to discuss class notes and results from papers, quizzes, and exams.
Complete all weekly tasks and study sessions as agreed upon.
Come prepared for each appointment with academic advisor, professor, teaching assistant, tutor, or other support staff.
Maintain open and honest lines of communication with academic advisor, coach, and professors.
Return professor evaluation forms when requested.
Meeting the Commitment
It is expected that the above mentions academic requirements will be met. However, if weekly academic requirements are not met, the following procedures will be followed:

Academic Dishonesty: WAC 504-25-015

(http://www.conduct.wsu.edu)

Academic dishonesty, including cheating, plagiarism, and fabrication in the process of completing academic work, is prohibited.

Assisting or encouraging academic dishonesty is also prohibited.
The expectation of the University is that all students will accept these standards and conduct themselves as responsible members of the academic community.

These standards should be interpreted by students as general notice of prohibited conduct.

They should be read broadly and are not designed to define misconduct in exhaustive forms.
Definitions
Plagiarism is knowingly representing the work of another as one’s own, without proper acknowledgement of the source.
Falsification is the intentional and unauthorized alteration of information in the course of an academic activity.
Fabrication is the intentional invention or counterfeiting of information in the course of academic activity without proper authorization.
Multiple Submissions includes, but it not limited to, submitting the same paper or oral report for credit in two courses without the instructor’s permission; making minor revisions in a paper or report for which credit has already been received and submitting it again as a new piece of work.
Cheating is the intentional use of, or attempt to use, unauthorized material, information, or study aids in any academic activity to gain advantage.

Academic Integrity Processes

Every act of academic dishonesty affects academic evaluation of the student and also is a violation of the University’s standards of conduct.

Alleged violations will be handled under the WSU Academic Integrity Processes.

If the student-athlete development staff becomes aware of an academic dishonesty issue from a professor or student-athlete, the following reporting procedures will be followed:
Associate director of athletics for student-athlete development meets with student to review the University’s Academic Integrity processes, the specific situation, the student’s rights, and the University’s due process procedures.

The associate director of athletics for student-athlete development ensures the head coach and position/event coach is informed.

The associate director of athletics for student-athlete development notifies the team academic advisor, sport supervisor, senior associate director of athletics, faculty athletics representative.
If staff or coaches become aware of an academic dishonesty case, the staff member should report the situation to the associate director of athletics for academic support services.

Introduce yourself to the professor early in the semester.

Sit in the front of the room. Ask questions, show respect for the professor, focus on the lecture—no music, no talking with friends, make eye contact with professors, be an active participant in class.
Know your professor’s office hours and office phone number. Be sure to get the class syllabus for each course.

Be on time for every class.

Turn in all assignments on time.
Meet the professor during office hours, get to know professors on a one on one basis—personalize your course work.
Provide Class Absence Request Form to professors before leaving on team trips.
Make up all work missed due to team travel.
Do your own work and don’t share your work with others. (The penalties and stress caused by a lack of academic integrity are not worth it!)

Absences

Scheduling/Travel Policy
Absence for Team Travel
WSU Athletics follows the University guidelines for class absences, as approved by the Faculty Senate.
The University recognizes team athletic trips as University-sponsored activities; therefore, instructors are requested not to penalize the student-athlete if an authorized Class Absence Request Form has been filed with the instructor one week prior to the absence.

It is the student-athlete's responsibility to make up all work missed.

We encourage student-athletes to turn in work or take tests before the absence.
Absence letters must be picked up one week prior to your event. Forms will not be distributed after you return from a team trip.

The only team travel allowed during finals week is for Pac-12 or NCAA championships.

The departure date and time must be approved by the sport supervisor. Any exceptions must be approved by the sport supervisor.

The individual student-athlete must have the approval of their professor(s) to make alternative arrangements to take an exam.

Absence Due to Illness/Injury
In accordance with University guidelines, instructors are asked not to penalize the student-athlete if an authorized Class Absence Request for Injury/Illness is filed.

It is the student-athlete's responsibility to make up all work missed.

We encourage the student-athlete to contact each professor prior to surgery or after an injury/illness has occurred.
In emergency situations, the academic staff will contact each professor.
Business Report
Introduction
The Athletic Academic Expectations and Requirements (AAER) printout is a very important document towards the fruitful cooperation between student-athletes and the Washington State University. The document outlines the expectations of the student-athlete by the university council. The document outlines the expectation of the student-athlete by the university council as they relate to various aspects of the university program. The understanding of these expectations is important for the fruitful cooperation between the student-athletes and the university.

Background to issue

Often, students will fail to read documents issued by the university even when these documents outline the modalities of the cooperation between the student and the university. A failure to read such documents undermines the understanding that has been highlighted as important to this cooperation in the introduction. The implication of this is that the expectations of the student-athlete by the university will not be met, a situation that could have dire consequences for the student. While the Athletic Academic Expectations and Requirements (AAER) printout is detailed enough to communicate these expectations, its layout may not readily inspire student-athlete to read through its contents.

Proposed changes

In order to increase the readability of the document, it is important to improve the layout of the document. The proposed changes entail the redesign of the document with the aim being to make the document easier to read, more attractive and concise.

Changes preferred

As part of the redesign process, the prose in the original document has been removed and replaced with a bulleted-point outline. The redesign process did not change the content of the original document even in preferring these changes. While the content is presented in a more readable manner, the themes in the original document remain unchanged. The use of the bulleted-point layout gives the impression of precise points, a factor that makes the document easier to read compared to the original document (Guffey & Richard 335). Additionally, the redesign process also preferred a numbered layout where the main headings were numbered, rather than presented in the upper case. The numbering gives the students the impression that the document contains eight points rather than the previous layout that might give the impression many points presented in prose.

Conclusion

The end product of the redesign phase is more concise, easily to read and has a more attractive layout compared to the original document. It is my belief that it will inspire student-athletes to read through its content.

Recommendations

I recommend that you adopt the changes made to the Athletic Academic Expectations and Requirements (AAER) printout.

Works cited

Guffey, Mary and Richard Almonte. Essentials of Business Communication. Toronto: Nelson Education, 2009. Print.