Faculty Partner Program

The purpose of the Faculty Partner Program is to facilitate interaction between faculty, student-athletes, and coaches in a personal setting that encourages active engagement and open dialogue in order to enhance the student-athlete experience. The Faculty Partner Program is intended to promote an awareness and appreciation of the NCAA Division II Life in the Balance philosophy which emphasizes participation in high-level athletic competition within a comprehensive program of learning and development.

Expectations

Current Participants

Men’s Soccer

Faculty member: Sudeep Sharma, PhD, Associate Professor, Management, Marketing, and Operations
Coach: Graham Shaw, Head Coach, Men’s Soccer

Volleyball

Faculty Member: Elise LoBue, PhD, Instructor, Capital Scholars Program
Coach: Open

Men's Basketball

Coach: Matt Brock, Head Coach, Men’s Basketball
Faculty: Nathan Steele, Associate Professor, Management, Marketing, and Operations

Softball

Faculty member: Angela Doehring, Clinical Assistant Professor, Exercise Science
Coach: Shannon Guthrie, Head Coach, Softball

Men's + Women's Golf

Faculty Member: Marcel Yoder, PhD, CMPC, Professor, Exercise Science
Coach: Mike Leotta, Head Coach, Men’s and Women’s Golf

Women's Soccer

Faculty member: Jennifer Martin, PhD, Associate Professor, School of Education
Coach: Scott Myers, Head Coach, Women’s Soccer

Women's Basketball

Faculty member: Pattie Piotrowski, Dean, Library
Coach: Olivia Lett, Head Coach, Women’s Basketball

Baseball

Faculty: Nicole Meismer, MA, Math Coordinator, Learning Hub
Coach: Chris Rodriguez, Head Coach, Baseball

Men's + Women's Tennis

Faculty: David Bertaina, PhD, Professor, History
Coach: Ross Graham, Head Coach, Men’s and Women’s Tennis

Men's + Women's Track & Cross-country

Faculty member: Open
Coach: Emmons King, Interim Head Coach, Men’s and Women’s Track & Cross Country

Goals

For Faculty:

Provide faculty an opportunity for personal mentoring with student-athletes;
Develop an understanding of the demands placed on student-athletes to balance academics, athletics, and other activities;
Demonstrate to students and coaches that faculty are interested in student-athletes’ academic and personal well-being;
Develop an understanding on the demands placed on coaches

For Student-Athletes:

Have an opportunity to share with a faculty member what life as a student-athlete is like;
Have student-athletes’ hard work and sacrifice acknowledged by someone outside athletics;
Provide students with an opportunity to interact with faculty outside the classroom;
Learn about faculty member’s academic interest

For Coaches:

Demonstrate coach’s philosophy of Life in the Balance and focus on coaches’ interest in student-athletes’ lives outside of athletics (e.g., in the classroom);
Develop an understanding of the barriers that athletic participation can pose for students’ academic success;
Demonstrate to faculty the demands required of coaches;
Interact with a greater number of faculty on campus

For All:

Enhance communication and increase common understanding of our different approaches, yet shared focus on the students’ success;Increase student-athlete retention and graduation rates

Program Description