Shanda Hayden discusses the UTSA Student-Athlete Academic Services unit

JULY 16, 2024 — This summer, UTSA Athletics will be profiling its numerous areas to provide an inside look into how each unit serves Roadrunners’ student-athletes.

In this edition, we sit down with Shanda Hayden, Senior Associate Athletics Director for Student-Athlete Academic Services, to discuss the Student-Athlete Academic Services unit.

Q: How does your department service UTSA student-athletes?

SH: Our main purpose is to guide students to graduation, while also maintaining academic eligibility. We provide a very holistic, inclusive, wrap-around academic support system with multiple layers. We don’t do a one-size-fits-all. We put together an academic support package for student-athletes. We keep them connected to campus. So much of what we do is helping them plan for life beyond college. We are in charge of all academic support to help them graduate. We coordinate tutors, we coordinate academic mentors and we have student-success coaches. We work with students who have learning exceptionalities and that is something that can transfer over to their sport, so we sometimes are helping coaches with tips on how to do instruction in meetings. Individuals learn differently. We may be the office that people aren’t thinking about but without this support, some of our athletes would not be able to compete and succeed academically.

“We may be the office that people aren’t thinking about but without this support, some of our athletes would not be able to compete and succeed academically.”

UTSA's Spring 2024 student-athlete graduates were all supported by the university's Student-Athlete Academic Services unit.

Q: How many members are on your team and what roles do they serve?

SH: We’ve had the opportunity to grow our staff and we currently have seven full-time staff members and two graduate assistants. With my position overseeing the department as Senior Associate AD, we have two Assistant Athletics Directors. We have an Assistant AD for Football and an Assistant AD for Olympic Sports. We have three academic coordinators who are assigned multiple sports and then a new position added last year is our Coordinator of Learning Services and Learning Specialist for Football.

Q: What makes UTSA a leader in your area?

SH: Every institution has academic support in some capacity but what makes us different is the people and how we provide the support. To me, we are truly embodying what it means to have a holistic approach. I often say we are more like life coaches because we do establish relationships with our student-athletes which, of course, helps create buy-in to what we want to help them do academically. It’s really and truly a partnership.

Q: What is the most rewarding aspect of your role?

SH: It is to impact the development of a student and be able to see the impact you are having. When working on a main campus, you may see a student a few times a semester. For us to have the opportunity from recruitment all the way through graduation — that is culmination of why we do what we do, and why we come to work every day. Seeing that impact, helping students graduate, helping them find their passion and what they want to do academically and professionally.

Q: UTSA as an institution, including its athletics department, has a high proportion of first-generation college students. Are there any support services in place specifically to help them?

SH: I was a first-generation student myself. UTSA is special in that we are a first-generation-serving institution along with being a Hispanic-Serving Institution. We have an Office of First Generation. We have an office dedicated to providing this support and not a lot of universities can say they do that. This institution provides a lot of support from day one. I didn’t have that when I was an undergraduate. To me, that is also what is rewarding; I am one of many examples that you can achieve.

Q: What advice do you have for students or student-athletes who may be interested in going into your profession?

SH: First, really research what it means to be in Student-Athlete Academic Services. It is not an area that anyone gets into for the money, power or glory. You have to have those other reasons driving you, that is what I typically say when I talk to people who want to do this. Meeting with their campus advisors, because everyone has a campus advisor, that’s a great start if they aren’t a student-athlete. Just see what different people do, how they help them, and then ask questions to get a better idea.

Q: What type of educational background is required for your role?

SH: There is no specific major or degree. You definitely have to have an undergraduate degree. Typically, in athletics academics, a master’s degree is required. It can be in any field. Related fields we would prefer would be higher education — my master’s was in higher education administration — communications, psychology. What we tell our students is that it’s really the skillset that you’re bringing, the critical thinking and the skills you are learning in the classroom, not necessarily the specific content.

— Sean Cartell