As metrics such as the Graduation Success Rate and the Academic Progress Rate become integral parts of the NCAA lexicon, the academic success of student-athletes is weighing more heavily on the minds of many involved in intercollegiate athletics, especially those most invested in academics — the faculty athletics representatives and the student-athletes themselves.

To facilitate a tighter connection between the two groups, the Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and the Faculty Athletics Representatives Association are creating a more collaborative relationship than in the past.

Kerry Kenny, chair of the Division I SAAC, called the relationship a “natural partnership” that should have taken place a long time ago.

“Outside of the coaches, who do we as student-athletes deal with every day? It’s the professors on campus,” Kenny said. “With the emphasis the NCAA is placing on academic standards, the student-athletes and the faculty athletics reps should have a positive working relationship.”

The partnership will include attendance at each others’ national meetings, begun last summer when Alan Hauser, president of FARA and the FAR at Appalachian State, and Roger Caves, president-elect of FARA and FAR at San Diego State, attended the SAAC’s meetings in Indianapolis.

Hauser said both he and Caves came away impressed with the intelligence, commitment, eloquence and work ethic of the student-athletes chosen to represent their peers. Meanwhile, Kenny said the faculty members provided the student-athletes with feedback and perspective on each issue they discussed.

Several student-athletes will also attend the annual FARA meeting next month in San Diego, themed “Enhancing the Student-Athlete Experience.” SAAC members will serve on legislative panels and make presentations about issues of interest to the faculty members, including student-athlete time demands and the balance between athletics and academics for a Division I student-athlete.

Hauser said the student-athletes’ attendance is invaluable to FARA, which hopes to “expand the horizons” of faculty representatives to include new ways to interact with student-athletes.

The new partnership will also involve written communication between the two groups. To that end, Hauser and Caves penned a letter to be included in the monthly Division I SAAC newsletter, and Kenny and SAAC Vice Chair Matt Baysinger will do the same for the FARA Voice, that organization’s membership communication missive.

Kenny said he would also like to share information about the partnership with delegates at the NCAA Convention in January, in part to show how the SAAC can partner with other groups within the NCAA structure.

While Hauser and Kenny are both energized by the possibilities that working together on a national level affords, they also both hope that their leadership nationally will have a “trickle-down” effect to the campus level, with more student-athletes looking to faculty athletics representatives for help and advice, and more FARs talking with student-athletes about the realities of their lives.

“For a student-athlete to be able to go to their faculty athletics rep not only to address any concerns that they are having on an academic level, but also to relate to that person because the FAR is invested in their athletics endeavors is something we’re very excited about,” Kenny said.

Both groups hope the connection forges better interaction between the two groups, nationally and locally. Hauser noted that FARs interact with presidents, athletics directors and other administrators regularly, but the student-athlete contact is a vital part of the work of an FAR.

“If we don’t interact with the student-athletes,” he said, “We’re kind of missing the boat.”

Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Chair Kerry Kenny says faculty members play a natural role in shaping student-athlete academic success. Stephen Nowland/NCAA Photos