Keeping track of the student in student-athlete

After the Stanford women’s basketball team won its regional final against Kansas State in Manhattan on March 20 last season, it had planned to fly back to Stanford before going to the Final Four in Lexington, Ky.

However, the team’s charter plane didn’t arrive. Instead, the team spent another night in Kansas before flying directly to Lexington, where players had to take their finals in the hotel.

Shannon Reader (Gonzaga Athletics)

That change required Shannon Reader, the team’s academic adviser, to spring into action, administering finals over a span of four days. Part of this effort involved coordinating practices and other activities with the coaches because each exam needed a block of three hours.

Mindful that something like this might happen, the players had already notified their professors about this possibility two weeks beforehand.

Spread sheets help with process

When it became a reality, Shannon created a spread sheet for the players and their professors. Thanks to emailing and scanning, everything got where it was supposed to go.

To top it off, this was Shannon’s first official week with the team. “We became really close really quickly,” she said during a recent interview on campus.

According to the Stanford Athletic Academic Resource Center (AARC), a team’s academic adviser “provides academic advising, programming and support for students as they shape their Stanford education.”

When a player arrives as a freshman, Shannon explains various courses and encourages exploration of potential interests and majors. Stanford’s quarter system helps this process.

Shannon keeps players engaged in class

As insisted by the coaches, all freshmen must spend time in a study hall at the AARC.

Shannon also makes sure the players are engaged in the classroom.

If a player is having problems with a particular class, the professor or her dorm’s resident adviser contacts Shannon. Shannon in turn contacts the player’s academic coach and head coach Tara VanDerveer.

Academic coaches encourage the players and offer strategies for improving study techniques and managing time, according to the vice provost for teaching and learning.

Advisers track players’ academic progress. At the end of each quarter, Shannon must certify that a player has maintained at least a 2.0 grade point average to remain eligible.

Besides working with women’s basketball, Shannon works with seven other teams for a total of 175 students. The other sports are men’s and women’s crew, field hockey, men’s and women’s golf, and men’s and women’s gymnastics.

Gonzaga grad played against Stanford

Originally from the Portland area, Shannon is a 2012 graduate of Gonzaga University, where she played basketball. As a 6’ 2” senior, she was named to the West Coast Conference all-academic women’s basketball team with a 3.26 GPA in public relations and served as president of the student-athlete advisory committee.

Shannon (31) and her teammates wave to their fans after losing to Stanford 83-60 in the Spokane regional on March 28, 2011. (Colin Mulvany, The Spokesman Review)

During her four years at Gonzaga, her team lost five times to Stanford. “Part of that’s on Lindy,” she said, referring to assistant coach Lindy La Rocque, who played at Stanford during those years.

After receiving her degree in public relations at Gonzaga, Shannon stayed on as a graduate intern for men’s and women’s basketball. She was promoted to academic coordinator in June 2014, working with women’s basketball and baseball. She started working at Stanford in October 2016.

As she learned the ropes, she shadowed Lauren Reid, who was serving as SWBB’s adviser, and sat in on every meeting that Lauren had with the players. Lauren is still with Stanford as an adviser to other teams.

The team’s frequent travel schedule requires the players to do much of their studying online while waiting in airports or flying. “They keep up with it,” Shannon said.

She added that the faculty is supportive of this process.

Undoubtedly making her job easier, it also helps that “we have extremely bright students,” Shannon said.