For most Dartmouth students, time management is tough enough without adding 30 hours a week of athletics to their schedules.
But over 900 student-athletes in 34 varsity sports struggle to balance academics with athletics -- and to make both their professors and coaches understand their other commitments.
Professors, coaches and students converged to debate the hot topic Tuesday night at "Athletes in the Classroom: Managing a Dual Identity," organized by the Student Athletics Advisory Committee.
The panel opened with SAAC member Mike Strong '04 reading anonymous testimonials from students that touched on everything from "dumb-jock" misperceptions to trying to make time and get extensions for courses.
For varsity squash player Emily Mackie '07, who attended the panel with her teammates, having to leave practice early for a midterm brought the time-conflict home.
"I think that teachers need to understand the pressure that coaches are putting on their athletes; they feel you've committed to this and you have to show up to every practice and every match unless you have an amazingly good reason," Mackie said.
Emotions ran high at the panel, with both academic and athletic sides feeling strongly about the constraints they place on student-athletes.
Field hockey coach Amy Fowler grew visibly upset and was near tears as she spoke at the panel about the demands put on the members of her team. She stressed that good game attendance is important in maintaining the team dynamic, something professors do not always realize, she said. Fowler's voice wavered as she spoke about her athletes caught in the middle of tensions between coaches and professors.
Taking a more matter-of-fact view was Chris Schmidt '96, a former rower at Dartmouth who now teaches part-time in the history department. While acknowledging the frustrations and obstacles in being a successful student-athlete, he also pointed out that sometimes athletes are unwilling to face the facts that they have to work harder and do more.
"Just because you're an athlete doesn't mean you have the right to have the class change around you," he added.
But men's track and cross country coach Barry Harwick complained about professors "creatively" arranging their class times so that x-hours frequently infringe on practice times.
Director of Athletics Josie Harper called for practice times to be reevaluated and perhaps rearranged so that "the flexibility of practice times dovetails better with academic schedules."
Joe Boswell '06, a dual athlete in football and lacrosse, said he has found all his professors to be understanding and supportive of his athletic commitment. In-season almost year-round, Boswell admits that time management is his main concern. "Finding the sheer hours to do it is tough. Some professors say athletics are not a valid reason to miss class but they're better when you talk to them one on one."
Helping student-athletes balance academics and athletics is the role of faculty athletic advisors and academic advisors such as Rob Morrissey, who oversaw the SAAC's organization of the panel.
Morrissey, a former varsity soccer player at Vassar College, has been Academic Counselor/Champs Life Skills Coordinator for two years at Dartmouth. Morrissey estimates that he sees between 50 and 60 students per term on a consistent basis.
It helps to have "someone that understands the demands they put on athletes in terms of time management, as opposed to someone just academically oriented," said soccer player Rowan Anders '07.
Boswell agreed, mentioning the types of academic and athletic time commitments that the panelists focused on: "The way I look at it is, being a student-athlete, you want as many people in your corner as possible."
