With help from ODU's academic services team, 62% of athletes had at least a 3.0 grade point average during the fall semester, while 143 athletes were on the dean's list.
Amy Lynch works with basketball player Jason Wade during last year's NCAA tournament. “他们都在经历同样的事情，”她说. “他们的日子和他们在校园里的日子大不相同. 这对他们来说是一个艰难的调整."
作者:Harry Minium
Before the COVID-19 pandemic forced bet8体育娱乐入口 to shut its campus, 自习室是女子篮球队每周一次的活动.
球员们会聚在一起做作业, 在拉伯克·史密斯三世的监督下学习或写论文, ODU学生运动员发展和领导力项目主任.
不管球员的学术地位如何, 前教练尼基·麦克雷-彭森认为自习室是强制性的.
It still is even though players have gone home and are taking classes online.
帝王蝶每周日晚上通过Zoom聚集在一起, a cloud-based video conferencing platform that allows all players to see each other and study as a team.
That's one of the many ways that ODU's academic services team has provided the University's nearly 500 athletes with as much of a sense of normalcy as you could expect when all but essential businesses are closed.
学术服务团队, headed by Associate Athletic Director for Student-Athlete 服务s Ron Moses, 负责监控, 辅导和指导运动员.
摩西的团队取得了巨大的成果. 总共有62%的ODU运动员至少得到了3分.0 grade point average during the fall semester, while 143 athletes were on the dean's list. 运动员的总平均绩点为3分.秋天01分，30分满分4分.0的绩点.
ODU's academic team also provides a friendly ear for athletes' problems or frustrations. That's been especially important during the "new normal" caused by the coronavirus.
"They don't know what the future holds and they are scared of the unknown,摩根·萨姆纳说, who worked with the Kentucky football team in 2019 and advises ODU's football defensive players. 莎拉·沃克是进攻队员的顾问.
“我的足球队员想知道他们今年秋天是否会参加比赛. The students always come to us for answers, but the fact is, no one really knows. We're trying convince them not to stress out and to finish out this semester strong."
Moses said that once it was clear athletes weren't coming back to campus anytime soon, 他的团队联系了所有500名运动员.
"Our first directive before talking to them about schoolwork was to find out how they're doing,摩西说. "The football team was ready to come back for spring practice and had that snatched away from them. 这对他们所有人来说都很艰难."
即便如此, athletes appear to have adjusted more easily to online classes than many of their academic advisors expected.
Most classes are conducted via Zoom and nearly all of athletes appear to have quickly picked up the basics of how to take classes online. Many had already been taking online courses in part because it means they miss less class time during the season.
“运动员们的出色表现给我留下了深刻印象, 但也许我不应该感到惊讶,艾琳·考辛斯说, 学生运动员教育支持专家, 谁向ODU的教育无障碍办公室汇报工作.
“他们真的是在互联网上长大的. They have adapted well and adjusted quickly, and they've been open about asking questions."
游泳运动员凯蒂·埃利特是马里兰州罗克维尔的一名大三学生.她是班上的摇滚明星——她得了3分.9 GPA while pursuing a degree in sports and fitness management with a minor in marketing.
Ellett said her transition to online has been seamless and that she loves Zoom. “我喜欢你能共享屏幕，”她说. “当你在上课的时候, 你可以看到教授们在做什么, 除了听讲座."
Kristin Eden, director of Student-Athlete Academic 服务s, supervises day-to-day operations. 上课前, she had sessions with every team member that included a power-point presentation about how Zoom works.
从那时起, she and others have been reaching out to students by phone or Zoom daily, 一天打一百个电话.
在冠状病毒之前, academic team members could multitask in their offices by talking to several students at a time. 现在，大多数情况下，他们与运动员进行一对一的交谈.
“当他们在你面前的时候, 你可以分诊,艾米·林奇说。, 谁和男子篮球运动员一起工作. “但是只有一个电话. 他们都在经历同样的事情. 他们的一天和他们在校园时不一样了. 这对他们来说是一个艰难的调整."
“我们的球员都快疯了，”萨姆纳补充道. "They're not practicing, so they call me now more than I saw them in person. 我很高兴收到他们的来信，并尽我所能帮助他们. 我想念他们成功的样子."
Ellett works with Eden and Cousins and said both helped smooth the transition to online classes and have helped her deal with being away from campus, 她的教练和队友.
“我在周末的奇怪时间给克里斯汀打电话，”埃利特说. “我意识到她家里有孩子，而且她很乐意接受我的电话. 他们千方百计帮助我们的方式令人印象深刻."
Teams such as golf, tennis and soccer have a lot of international students. When a class is held at ODU, it may be the middle of the night or very early in the morning for them.
林奇说她每天都起得很早, 那时是欧洲的午后, 与她的国际球员交谈. 周二是她一周中最重要的一天，早上8点开始工作.m. 直到晚上10点才结束.m.
The coronavirus has also forced the academic team to work from home at times under stressful conditions. Eden is married to Rick French, associate athletic director for operations. 他们家里有两个孩子.
乔治，3岁，曾经在格兰比高中的日托所和费思上学. French and Eden have staked out different parts of the house in which to work and are alternating taking care of George.
While she's getting used to working at home, Eden's not yet accustomed to not seeing her athletes.
“这对我来说是最难的部分，”伊登说. "I don't get to see them pop into my office and listen to the tell me good stories and just hang out. 我怀念和他们的互动."
林奇说，离开队友和校园是他的第一选择. 这是她的运动员谈论的话题.
"They understand how extremely serious this is and what they're doing is necessary," Lynch said. “但思念自己深爱的东西是人之常情."
“我们正在尽力提供尽可能多的帮助，”沃克补充说. "If you're doing this for a living, you do it because you love helping students.
“我们就是为他们而来的. 我们在这里是为了帮助他们尽可能地成功."
