Academic Planning

Student-Athlete Services has academic counselors who provide guidance with all aspects of educational planning. Counselors assist students with designing their quarterly schedules, setting goals for academic majors, planning for graduation, and discovering career interests. In conjunction with coaches, counselors monitor academic progress and make referrals for tutorial assistance when students need additional support for academic success. Students are encouraged by their counselors and personnel in other support service units. Departmental counselors in various academic units are a valuable resource providing information about major requirements, admission requirements, and graduation application procedures.

Student-Athlete Academic Services recognizes that career development issues are often closely related to academic performance. Therefore, SAAS counselors emphasize the importance of internships in helping students develop career paths and to form networks which can lead to career opportunities. Additionally, SAAS counselors coordinate their efforts with staff from the Center for Career Services and the Student Counseling Center to provide students with specialized career counseling and placement assistance.

Tutorial and Specialized Support

Student-Athlete-Academic Services provides tutorial support for student-athletes who need additional support outside of the classroom. Student-athletes who need tutoring will also receive suggestions about how to best use the time spent with the tutor. SAAS tutors provide individual tutoring for a wide variety of subject areas, as will as leading study groups and review sessions. Tutors are typically graduate students or undergraduates who have demonstrated excellent academic skills. SAAS also operates a drop-in math/science center to assist students in these disciplines.

Within the context of tutoring subject matter, SAAS tutors also teach skills such as time management, lecture note processing, active reading, test preparation, and test-taking that enable student-athletes to succeed academically. As they assist student-athlete, SAAS tutors emphasize the student-athlete's role and responsibility for his or her own learning.

Staff from SAAS also consult with personnel from various campus units to assist in providing specialized assistance to student with learning disabilities.

Personal Counseling

Like other students, student-athletes have a variety of personal, social, and academic concerns. Adjusting to college life, living away from home, developing new relationships, and planning for life after college are among the concerns student-athletes commonly have. The SAAS staff is available to discuss these and other concerns in an informal and supportive setting. At times, however, concerns arise which require more specialized assistance. If, after consulting with a student-athlete, a staff member determines this to be the case, the student-athlete may be referred to the Student Counseling Center. The Center provides individual, couples, and group counseling for personal, career, and academic concerns. Students' discussions with counselors are confidential and no record of counseling appears on the transcript or academic record, and no report is given to an instructor or coach without the student's written consent. Only in extremely rare circumstances can case records be released without the student's written consent. Student Counseling Center staff can explain these circumstances. There is a small fee charged for some SCC services, while others are free or greatly reduced.

Admissions Assistance

Once a student-athlete has made a commitment to the University of Washington, SAAS staff members help monitor the completion of his or her high school curriculum to ensure completion of the coursework and testing necessary to meet NCAA and University criteria for athletic participation. The SAAS staff works similarly with student-athletes transferring from other colleges. SAAS serves as a liaison with the Admissions Office and communicates with student-athletes about their admission status.

Financial Aid

Student-Athlete Academic Services offers assistance with matters involving financial aid, including degree completion grants for student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility for institutional financial aid. The SAAS staff is available to answer questions about financial aid packages and applying for institutional aid and private scholarships.

Computing Center

In support of its mission of academic assistance to student-athletes, SAAS maintains a computing center which houses several state-of-the-art IBM-compatible computers. Each has current word processing, spreadsheet, database, and presentation software, as well as communications software that permits access to the campus computing system and the World Wide Web.