Student Athletes

Tips for Advising

The student population that the Lindahl Academic Center works with is a cohort of 725+ student-athletes that participate in 25 intercollegiate sports offered at the University of Minnesota. The mission of the Lindahl Academic Center is to serve in a student-athlete focused environment dedicated to guiding students to graduation, building positive relationships, and enhancing their overall experience.

Student-athletes have unique time demands required for their participation in intercollegiate athletics and must adhere to strict academic guidelines set in place by the University, Big Ten Conference, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

What to Keep in Mind When Advising Student-Athletes

• Student-athletes will commonly have large blocks of time that are reserved for practice and will need to schedule classes around that time. The majority of practices fall in the afternoon, however, there may be practice in the morning as well. Certain sports will have multiple practice blocks, so as advisors it is important to know what times to schedule around.
   
• Student-athletes are required to meet multiple academic thresholds throughout their academic career. Progress toward degree and credit requirements are semester and yearly based benchmarks that students must achieve to maintain their eligibility to participate in intercollegiate athletics. Questions regarding these rules and guidelines must be referred to the Lindahl Academic Center advisor for the student’s sport.
   
• Due to travel related to intercollegiate athletic competition, advisors look to schedule courses and course times that create the minimum number of conflicts and missed class days.
   
• Student-athletes will take either OUE 1087 in the summer prior to their freshman year or OUE 1086 in the fall of their freshman year. These are equivalent classes and it is an approved replacement course for CLA 1001 in the fall.
   
• Student-athletes are required to meet with their assigned college advisor prior to registration each semester. Successful completion of this meeting alerts the Lindahl Academic Center advisor to remove their student-athlete hold and be able to register. A note in APLUS is the required confirmation needed concerning the completion of this meeting.