Academic Excellence

The University of Minnesota-Duluth has an excellent tradition of academically preparing its athletes. Since 1985, the Jamar Athletic Academic Support Center (JAASC) has helped all student-athletes, regardless of their grade point average and academic abilities, to progress toward a degree from freshman orientation to graduation.

Over the past 24 years, over 94 percent of those athletes who participated in a varsity sport for four years have graduated. Additionally, the combined GPA for all UMD sports teams for the 2007-08 academic year was 2.93. Student-athletes at UMD spend a vast amount of time and energy, over and above their studies, to participate in their sport. That's why the JAASC's goal is to lend academic support to every athlete.

This support comes in many forms, including:

• Maintaining contact with athletic recruits and provide them with academic information.
• Assisting freshmen and transfer students during the orientation program.
• Coordinating study groups and tutoring opportunities for student athletes.
• Operating a computer lab during hours accessible for student-athletes.
• Conducting seminars that address timely academic and non-academic issues and concerns of student-athletes.
• Serving as a liaison/advocate with University academic and service departments, as well as with the faculty and their various departments.
• Helping students clarify and set academic goals, choose a major, explore careers and pursue job placement opportunities.

While it is the student-athlete's responsibility to maintain contact with his or her academic instructors and advisors as well as with coaches, the JAASC staff helps monitor the student-athlete's academic progress every semester. It provides a yearly check-out program to help each student-athlete review plans for classes, housing, financial aid and summer school for the following school year.

The 2008-09 academic year was another noteable one for UMD student-athletes in the classroom. The following is an example of some of the Bulldogs' accomplishments:

• The Athletic Academic Support Center listed 232 student-athletes (out of a possible 449) who turned in combined Fall and Spring Semester grade point averages of 3.00 or better in 2008-09. Of that group, 104 achieved GPAs of 3.50 or above in both semesters and 22 finished at least one semester with perfect 4.00 marks (six attained 4.00 GPAs in both semesters). In all, UMD student-athletes maintained an average GPA of 2.985 during the 2008-2009 school year. During Fall Semester, the women’s basketball Bulldogs posted the best GPA of any UMD teams with a 3.476 mark and repeated that feat in the spring, compiling a collective 3.394 figure.
• Individually, sophomore soccer forward Becky Anderson (first team), her junior teammate Alex Paffrath (third team) and senior hockey defenseman/softball outfielder Myriam Trepanier (third team) all received CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V acclaim this past season. U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association NCAA II All-Academic Team honors were bestowed on sophomore Elizabeth Crane (track), senior Kristen Haak (track), sophomore Bridget Hines (cross country, sophomore Whitney Hines (cross country) and senior Maria Swanson (track), as well as the Bulldog men’s and women’s cross country and women’s track teams. On top of this, seniors Tony Doherty, Jim Johnson and Ted Schlafke were selected to the National Football Foundation National Honor Society in recognition of their outstanding accomplishments in the class room and on the playing field. Trepanier and basketball forward John Vaudreuil were the recipients of UMD's Top Senior Scholar Athlete Award.
• A total of 85 UMD student-athletes secured Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference All-Academic honors and a record 20 Bulldogs (10 men and 10 women) were named to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association All-Academic team.

University of Minnesota Duluth
CoSIDA Academic All-Americans