TicketsCINCINNATI – The global pandemic has brought about an abundance of change. Homes have become classrooms and offices. Spending time with others is done at a 'social distance' or online in a 'virtual' setting. And everyone is clamoring for sports to return.
In other words, and to quote the Fresh Prince of Bel Air: "...life got flipped, turned upside down!"
Throughout the uncertainty, many people have worked to keep a semblance of normalcy, tailoring their duties to meet the new needs of today, including the new approach to learning as all classes went online.
For students to remain successful in the classroom, University of Cincinnati Student-Athlete Support Services (SASS) changed their approach to match. What resulted was another semester of success as UC student-athletes combined for a department-record 3.396 grade-point average, the Bearcats' 24th grading period in a row of a 3.0 or better. Additionally, a record 68 Bearcats posted perfect 4.0 semester GPAs.
"All of this (switching to online learning) happened in an incredibly fast timeframe and in a period where there were very little answers, thus our focus was on 'March 23 to April 30'," Dr. Joe Luckey, Senior Associate AD for SASS, said. "That was the one constant in all their worlds. They needed to finish the semester in the best manner possible. Our SASS staff also had to adjust and work from home and do our best to communicate via phone, email, weekly staff meetings, etc. The greatest piece was the singular focus for 39 days to continue to support our student-athletes at the highest level and they certainly delivered."
// "MARCH 23-APRIL 30"
To help position their Bearcats for success in the new normal, Dr. Luckey and his staff got the ball rolling March 12 in their weekly staff meeting.
"The No. 1 topic was the potential impact of the virus and what that could mean when our students returned from Spring Break March 23," Dr. Luckey recalled. "In the next 24 hours, we found out dorms would be closing, and we suggested to staff to take what they needed in case campus would be closed for an extended period. It is now May 22, and, like numerous others, we have not been back in the office since."
One week after their staff meeting (March 19), more information was obtained, and clarity provided by campus: UC, like everyone else, would be closed for an extended period of time.
"We created a plan to adjust and focused on our 'March 23 to April 30' support structure," Dr. Luckey said. "The support structure involved keeping as much of our academic structure in place as we could while finding the right technology to deliver those services."
// HAVING THE CORRECT TOOLS
Throughout a normal semester, numerous tools are readily accessible for students to utilize on their academic journeys at UC. Despite the transition to virtual learning, SASS worked to make sure those tools could still be used in a new setting. Dr. Luckey outlined many of those tools, which included:
• Continuing SASS's partnership with tutoring on campus with tutoring moved to the Go Board app through Learning Commons
• Weekly in-person meetings between SASS staffers and student-athletes moved to phone calls, Facetime or Teams/Zoom meetings
• One-on-one sessions continued with SASS's two learning specialists, Jen Sturm and Michelle Woods
• Communication between SASS and team coaches continued on a weekly basis with reports focusing on academic progress for all student-athletes with coaches bringing up that information in their team calls as well
"The coaches were incredible in their support of student-athletes and their desires to keep them engaged and really look out for their welfare," Dr. Luckey said. "As a staff, which also includes great work from Keri Thoman, Rannen Roberson, Meghan Viens, Brett Sershion, Nicole Sandmann, Jenny Scherer and Bridget VanLandeghem, we continued to meet weekly to discuss the experiences of our student-athletes and make needed adjustments in the support we provided."
// FROM THE HOME OFFICE
While many of the students across campus might not have been ready for this change in learning, SASS was prepared.
"Our SASS staff was prepared for this transition as we do not use paper for any monitoring or tracking of students," Dr. Luckey stated. "Led by Jen Sturm and Michelle Woods, our students who receive the most academic support use electronic game plans that are shared by SASS staff and counselors and the student in One Drive.
"Also, most of our student-athletes have taken online courses previously or were enrolled to start the semester in at least one online course, thus the foundation of taking an online course was already established," Dr. Luckey continued. "The greatest transition was then twofold: having to manage all online courses and the autonomy of the week as well as the transition to online courses particularly in the disciplines of engineering and science courses."
// MOVING ON
While this semester could be chalked up as 'just another semester' in many students' books, it certainly wasn't for many, especially in world of athletics.
"We all wanted to make sure our student-athletes were transitioning personally," Dr. Luckey said. "Some of our international students remained here for fear of getting back for fall competition, some had to get a computer or books as they left campus not knowing we would be shut down the entire semester, several were on teams who had their season cut short abruptly, and some were seniors who will never compete again as a Bearcat or missed out of enjoying their last days on campus before graduation. Regardless, they needed to finish the semester in the best manner possible and did. I am so proud of the resiliency and tenacity our Bearcats showed during this semester."
// WHAT'S NEXT
While planning for a possible return to in-person learning is underway, it remains unclear what the Fall semester will look like for the Bearcats and all students around the world. UC's student-athletes showed their ability to overcome the adversities online learning created and broke several records along the way. With their highest departmental GPA, including six teams tallying program-record GPAs, the Bearcats showed that even in the classroom, they will always Fight to the Finish.
In other words, and to quote the Fresh Prince of Bel Air: "...life got flipped, turned upside down!"
Throughout the uncertainty, many people have worked to keep a semblance of normalcy, tailoring their duties to meet the new needs of today, including the new approach to learning as all classes went online.
For students to remain successful in the classroom, University of Cincinnati Student-Athlete Support Services (SASS) changed their approach to match. What resulted was another semester of success as UC student-athletes combined for a department-record 3.396 grade-point average, the Bearcats' 24th grading period in a row of a 3.0 or better. Additionally, a record 68 Bearcats posted perfect 4.0 semester GPAs.
"All of this (switching to online learning) happened in an incredibly fast timeframe and in a period where there were very little answers, thus our focus was on 'March 23 to April 30'," Dr. Joe Luckey, Senior Associate AD for SASS, said. "That was the one constant in all their worlds. They needed to finish the semester in the best manner possible. Our SASS staff also had to adjust and work from home and do our best to communicate via phone, email, weekly staff meetings, etc. The greatest piece was the singular focus for 39 days to continue to support our student-athletes at the highest level and they certainly delivered."
// "MARCH 23-APRIL 30"
To help position their Bearcats for success in the new normal, Dr. Luckey and his staff got the ball rolling March 12 in their weekly staff meeting.
"The No. 1 topic was the potential impact of the virus and what that could mean when our students returned from Spring Break March 23," Dr. Luckey recalled. "In the next 24 hours, we found out dorms would be closing, and we suggested to staff to take what they needed in case campus would be closed for an extended period. It is now May 22, and, like numerous others, we have not been back in the office since."
One week after their staff meeting (March 19), more information was obtained, and clarity provided by campus: UC, like everyone else, would be closed for an extended period of time.
"We created a plan to adjust and focused on our 'March 23 to April 30' support structure," Dr. Luckey said. "The support structure involved keeping as much of our academic structure in place as we could while finding the right technology to deliver those services."
// HAVING THE CORRECT TOOLS
Throughout a normal semester, numerous tools are readily accessible for students to utilize on their academic journeys at UC. Despite the transition to virtual learning, SASS worked to make sure those tools could still be used in a new setting. Dr. Luckey outlined many of those tools, which included:
• Continuing SASS's partnership with tutoring on campus with tutoring moved to the Go Board app through Learning Commons
• Weekly in-person meetings between SASS staffers and student-athletes moved to phone calls, Facetime or Teams/Zoom meetings
• One-on-one sessions continued with SASS's two learning specialists, Jen Sturm and Michelle Woods
• Communication between SASS and team coaches continued on a weekly basis with reports focusing on academic progress for all student-athletes with coaches bringing up that information in their team calls as well
"The coaches were incredible in their support of student-athletes and their desires to keep them engaged and really look out for their welfare," Dr. Luckey said. "As a staff, which also includes great work from Keri Thoman, Rannen Roberson, Meghan Viens, Brett Sershion, Nicole Sandmann, Jenny Scherer and Bridget VanLandeghem, we continued to meet weekly to discuss the experiences of our student-athletes and make needed adjustments in the support we provided."
// FROM THE HOME OFFICE
While many of the students across campus might not have been ready for this change in learning, SASS was prepared.
"Our SASS staff was prepared for this transition as we do not use paper for any monitoring or tracking of students," Dr. Luckey stated. "Led by Jen Sturm and Michelle Woods, our students who receive the most academic support use electronic game plans that are shared by SASS staff and counselors and the student in One Drive.
"Also, most of our student-athletes have taken online courses previously or were enrolled to start the semester in at least one online course, thus the foundation of taking an online course was already established," Dr. Luckey continued. "The greatest transition was then twofold: having to manage all online courses and the autonomy of the week as well as the transition to online courses particularly in the disciplines of engineering and science courses."
// MOVING ON
While this semester could be chalked up as 'just another semester' in many students' books, it certainly wasn't for many, especially in world of athletics.
"We all wanted to make sure our student-athletes were transitioning personally," Dr. Luckey said. "Some of our international students remained here for fear of getting back for fall competition, some had to get a computer or books as they left campus not knowing we would be shut down the entire semester, several were on teams who had their season cut short abruptly, and some were seniors who will never compete again as a Bearcat or missed out of enjoying their last days on campus before graduation. Regardless, they needed to finish the semester in the best manner possible and did. I am so proud of the resiliency and tenacity our Bearcats showed during this semester."
// WHAT'S NEXT
While planning for a possible return to in-person learning is underway, it remains unclear what the Fall semester will look like for the Bearcats and all students around the world. UC's student-athletes showed their ability to overcome the adversities online learning created and broke several records along the way. With their highest departmental GPA, including six teams tallying program-record GPAs, the Bearcats showed that even in the classroom, they will always Fight to the Finish.