grant mccasland

ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE
The Arkansas State University men’s basketball program’s
commitment to academics is a significant one.
All of the necessary tools and resources for A-State student-athletes
to achieve academic success is provided. This
includes academic tutoring and mentoring, learning skills
assessments and strategies, course management assistance,
degree program advisement and career development.
The Arkansas State University Athletics Department announced
the fourth largest single donation in its history, a
$400,000 gift from Charles Luter that was used to enhance
the athletics’ academic facility, at a press conference held
at the newly named Charles Luter Family Academic Success
Center in September of 2008.
The Academic Success Center serves as a foundation for
structure, discipline and organization for the education of
all A-State student-athletes. The facility, coupled with innovative
programs and equipment, currently houses the academic
support staff, tutors, computer labs, a resource room,
study areas, tutorial rooms, small group study centers, a
large conference room, the compliance office and spring
sports coaching offices.
Among the most recent and noticeable modifications
to the Charles Luter Family Academic Success Center is a
new foyer housed in a brick and rock exterior that, along
with new landscaping, gives the entrance to the building a
modern look and creates a stronger image. The actual foyer
has a large Red Wolves logo embedded in a terrazzo flooring
that greets visitors as they enter the building. A receptionist
office now also connects to the lobby area, which holds allnew
furniture and a plaque recognizing Charles and his wife
Kay.
A restructuring of the academic resource center, now
known as Dawson’s Den, has occurred, including a wallwrap
celebrating academic success that is clearly visible for
student-athletes working in the computer lab. Additionally,
tutorial rooms and computer-work stations have been upgraded
in this area, which also displays pictures of the most
recent A-State graduates. The names of the latest members
of the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll are also showcased in
Dawson’s Den. The area is named after Scott and Kay Dawson,
longtime supporters of Red Wolves’ athletics.
Red Wolf Leadership Academy
It is well-known that collegiate athletics departments
across the country place a common emphasis on graduation,
but Arkansas State has taken it a step further by already
fulfilling a bold promise of 100 percent job placement for all
its graduating student-athletes.
A-State has met its job-placement goal through its newly-developed
Red Wolves Leadership Academy, which continues
to strengthen with a new study abroad component
added to foster global awareness which is often cited by
employers as a positive attribute they seek.
In the summer of 2015, Arkansas State student-athletes
took part in the first study abroad program offered by any
university and their athletics department in the nation. The
program goes hand-in-hand with the Red Wolves Leadership
Academy, designed with the sole purpose to obtain 100 percent
job placement for ALL student-athletes upon graduation.
The Red Wolves took a ground-breaking step by sending
the group of student-athletes to London on a faculty-led
academic program. For A-State Director of Athletics Terry
Mohajir, this is just one of the many ways it all comes back
to providing the Red Wolves with the most comprehensive
experiences possible to be successful in life.
According to a recent CNN article (2014), titled “Studying
abroad could give you an edge in the job market,” only
one percent of U.S. college students manage to study
abroad. The author can now count these and future Red
Wolves among that one percent.
Research conducted by UC Merced backs up what Mohajir
and the A-State Athletics Department believes — adding
the study abroad component to the Red Wolves Leadership
Academy puts its student-athletes among the most
desirable employees in the nation coming out of college and
helps create global citizens.
The UC Merced research also showed that 97 percent of
study abroad students found employment within 12 months
of graduation, while only 49 percent of college graduates
found employment in the same period. Additionally, statistics
revealed study abroad students had a 25 percent higher
starting salary than those college graduates who did not
study abroad.
Graduate school also falls under the all-encompassing
umbrella provided by the Red Wolves Leadership Academy
and is included in its goal of 100 percent job placement since
it has a significant impact on future employment. According
to IES Abroad research (“Recent Graduates Survey: The
Impact of Studying Abroad on Recent College Graduates’
Careers”, 2012), 90 percent of alumni who were accepted
into one of their top two choices for graduate or professional
school studied abroad.
Like Mohajir, Director of the Office of Study Abroad at
A-State, and Dr. Osa Amienyi, Chair of the Department of
Media at Arkansas State University, were part of the study
abroad vision and instrumental in bringing it to fruition.
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