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: Kamille Jones, Head Coach, Women’s Volleyball

Men's Basketball

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

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: Open
  • Coach: Scott Myers, Head Coach, Women’s Soccer

Women's Basketball

Baseball

Men's + 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

Faculty Partner Program

Contact Information

Marcel Yoder, PhD, Faculty Athletics Representative
Professor, Exercise Science Program
Phone: (217) 206-7228
Office: Student Life Building, 16C
Email Marcel Yoder

Athletics Homepage

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