Faculty Athletic Reps serve as ambassadors for athletes
Being a student athlete requires a demanding schedule that includes classes, practices, and competitions at home and on the road, and that can sometimes seem a little overwhelming.
To help alleviate this pressure on the student athletes, the NCAA now requires each participating athletic program to have a designated Faculty Athletic Representative.
A Faculty Athletic Representative, or F.A.R, is an appointed member of the college community that acts as a liaison between the student athletes and faculty.
The representative is chosen by the school’s president to handle the task of bridging the gap between the student’s athletic life and academic life.
Georgia College’s Faculty Athletic Representative is Dr. Ken Farr, who was selected by President Dorothy Leland at the beginning of the 2010-11 academic year.
Since the Faculty Athletic Representative program is a new position at Georgia College, there is room for the program to expand which would increase the impact that the F.A.R program has on student athletes.
A way that Dr. Farr wants to expand the program is to include other faculty members that have an expressed interest in the school’s athletic programs.
“I want to tie one faculty member to each sport here at Georgia College,” Farr said.
These additional faculty members would be part of the Faculty Athletic Representative Associates.
For a faculty member that shows interest in joining the program, they would be assigned to one of the 10 athletic teams that Georgia College has. The responsibilities of these faculty associates are to meet with the athletes and coaches and to perform the same duties of the faculty athletic representative.
One of the professors that is a member of the faculty associates is political science professor Steven Elliott-Gower.
Gower is the men’s tennis coach faculty representative, a position which he took over at the beginning of last year. According to Gower, Steve Barsby, the men’s tennis coach, approached him about the position of representative associate.
One of the main reasons why Gower said he participates in the program is because he is a supporter of the team. In addition, Gower talked about possible ideas to further his role as representative associate by combining with other team representatives to put on programs for the athletes.
Georgia College Athletic Director believes having faculty associates with each of the teams will have a beneficial impact on athletic and academic programs at Georgia College.
One of the goals that Staton believes that can be achieved through this program is making the college community close knit in terms of academics and athletics.
“There’s been nothing but positive results on bringing the campus closer,” Staton said in regard to what he has heard from other schools.
Another goal of the faculty associates program is to educate both, student athletes and faculty about the difference of where each party comes from. Through the education of each party, this is designed lead to a greater understanding between the athlete and professor.
With the F.A.R program so young, there is still so much that will be figured out, which will require tweaking and adjustments by the student athletes and faculty. Farr emphasized the importance of student in student athlete.
“Students come first,” Farr said. “Student first, athlete second.”
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