With 18 varsity teams and many recreational, intramural and club sports that participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III, the Eastern College Athletic Conference and the Colonial States Athletic Conference, Cabrini is a highly athletic university. More than 300 students compete in sports and many come to Cabrini specifically for that reason. But unless they maintain a certain grade point average, students are at risk of losing this opportunity to play.
The required grade point average to compete in sports is 2.0 for athletes with at least 57 credits. This is set by the university and is the same grade point average mandatory for graduation.
Previously, a student with under 29 accumulated credits needed a 1.75 grade point average to be eligible, a student with 30 to 75 credits needed a 1.90 grade point average and a student with over 75 credits needed a 2.0 grade point average.
This semester, the requirements have been modified so athletes are expected to reach higher grade point averages sooner in their college career. The minimum grade point average is 1.75 for students until they have over 27 credits, 1.90 for students with 27 to 56.9 credits, and 2.0 for students with more than 57 credits.
Kate Pearson, head coach for women’s basketball, knows the requirement is lower, but encourages her athletes to succeed academically and reach a higher GPA.
“We tell our kids that we want them to have a 3.0,” Pearson said. “But they’re not necessarily ineligible below that.”
When a student’s grades falls below the required grade point average set by their accumulated credits, the student is put on academic probation. At the end of the semester, if there is not improvement, the student is dismissed.
Students on academic probation are put in contact with Laura Patton, coordinator of Academic Services.
Patton said, “Student athletes are required to see me once they drop below a 2.4 GPA, so I meet with them on a weekly, biweekly or monthly basis, depending on their needs.”
For athletes struggling to keep their grades up and balance class work with sports, there are a variety are resource centers on campus: the Center for Student Success, Math Resource Center and Writing Center. They can also meet with their professors or get a peer tutor.
At the beginning of the semester, less than 20 percent of athletes were on academic probation.
“At the start of this semester, I had about 60 of over 300 student athletes that were put on our radar,” Patton said. “But as the semester goes on and some are added, some drop, it kind of varies.”
