Commissioner's Honor Roll | Dean's List By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
As much as they celebrate every single victory on the field, court and track, including football's Russell Athletic Bowl win over 10th-ranked North Carolina, Bart Byrd and the rest of Baylor's student-athlete services team measure success in other ways.
That success reached an all-time high during the fall semester just completed, when Baylor's student-athletes posted a school-record overall GPA of 3.28, a record 349 individuals earned Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll status and 15 of the 17 sports achieved a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
Baylor's Associate Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Services, Byrd called it a team effort between his staff, the coaches, student-athletes and faculty, "who want to see our kids excel in the classroom."
"Our kids are doing well, the coaches want to do well, and they've bought into the mission of what we've done here with academic services," Byrd said. "(Director of Athletics Ian McCaw and Baylor President Ken Starr) continue to give us support. When we need something, they're like, `Yes, go do it.'''
Seven teams posted their highest-ever fall semester GPAs, including three that recorded their best GPA in any semester - women's basketball (3.06), men's golf (3.64) and women's golf (3.81). Acrobatics & Tumbling (3.17), football (2.64), equestrian (3.41) and men's tennis (3.57) were the other four that had their highest fall semester GPA.
"Women's golf had a 3.81 this fall. How do you ever beat that?" Byrd said. "You're going to have to have like a perfect 4.0. Four of their eight players had a perfect 4.0."
Equestrian led the way with 60 of the 349 Big 12 Honor Roll selections and 21 of the 105 named to the Baylor's Dean List, while women's track had 50 Big 12 honorees, 20 on the Dean's List and 11 of the 53 that recorded perfect 4.0 GPAs.
"We are very proud of the record-setting academic performance of our student-athletes this fall," McCaw said. "This group of student-athletes is a part of the most and successful era in Baylor Athletics history, both academically and athletically. Moreover, we are grateful for the strong commitment to academic excellence from our coaches and student-athlete support staff, along with the tremendous support we receiver from Baylor's leadership and our outstanding faculty."
Byrd said it's been a growth process that started back in 2006, when he returned to Baylor after being the study hall director in a previous five-year stint (1997-2002). The full-time staff has more than doubled from six to 13, including four Learning Specialists and Assistant Athletic Director Tierra Barber, who heads up the CHAMPS Life Skills program.
The Learning Specialists work specifically with at-risk students and ones with learning disabilities, giving them the "confidence of having somebody working with them one-on-one to teach them the skills necessary to survive at this level," Byrd said.
That's part of the reason why Baylor's student-athletes have posted an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher for 15 consecutive semesters, dating back to the fall of 2008.
"Our great students are still going to be great, but we've brought our bottom end up," he said. "We have five people that are working with our lower-end students to help raise them up. What it's done is give those student-athletes that are struggling, whether it's a learning disability or at-risk students or whatever, the confidence of having somebody working with them one-on-one to teach them the skills necessary to survive at this level."
That's been another significant change, going from the traditional group study hall to more one-on-one tutoring designed to help them in specific areas of need. The athletic department also uses 120 student tutors.
Dr. Marilyn Middlebrook, one of Byrd's mentors as the Associate AD for Academic Affairs at Oklahoma State, called the traditional study halls a "waste of time."
"She said that kids come up here that can't read or write or struggle with something," Byrd said. "They sit in a room, and we expect them to be great, and they can't do it. . . . We've gone to a directive-based study hall instead of just the old form of throwing everybody in a room and let them sit in there and study for eight hours a week."
When the Simpson Athletics and Academic Center was built in 2008, it incorporated an academic area that includes 22 tutor rooms, a computer lab and offices for each of the student-athlete services team.
Before that, the student-athlete academic services had bounced around from Neil Morris Hall, to the baseman at Penland Hall and first floor of the Sid Richardson Science Building. Now, it's become a one-stop shop, with the academic area and weight room inside the Simpson Building and the new Beauchamp Athletic Nutrition Center next to it.
"Our kids just love this facility," Byrd said. "It's not always a library. Sometimes it's quiet, sometimes there a little bit of noise. But most of them are used to playing in front of large crowds, so the noise doesn't really bother them. And if you need to, you can shut the door and have quiet-space work done, plus we have the XTO Study Lounge. Finals week, it was crazy. Every room was completely maxed out at all times. We could have had 20 more tutor rooms, and they all would have been full."
Whether it's a walk-on football player that might not ever see the field or a highly recruited basketball player that could be "one-and-done," Byrd said they "treat every kid exactly the same, but we treat them all differently."
Huh?
"They're all the same to us," Byrd said. "But every one of them has to have a different plan for them, because everybody learns differently. And not only do they learn differently, they have different majors and goals in life, what they want to be. Some kids come in here and say they want to be a doctor or lawyer. Some kids come in here and say I want to play for two years and go to the league. So, you have to have a plan for both."
Baylor led the Big 12 last year in graduation success rate and annually graduates about 100 student-athletes, another measurement of success for Byrd and the student-athlete services department.
"That just shows you what we're doing works. It's not rocket science," he said.
WACO, Texas - The 2015 fall semester proved to be as successful in the classroom as it was in competition for Baylor student-athletes. A record 349 student-athletes earned Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll status, student-athletes recorded a school-record 3.28 term grade point average (GPA) and 15 of BU's 17 teams posted a GPA of 3.0 or higher, also a school record.
In addition, 105 student-athletes from Baylor's varsity sports were named to the Dean's List while 53 student-athletes finished the semester with a perfect 4.0 GPA. Dean's List recognition is awarded to Baylor students with a 3.7 grade-point average, enrolled in at least 12 hours and who make no grade lower than a C.
The Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll is recorded and released each semester and recognizes those student-athletes who had a 3.00 or better grade-point average in the previous semester. A total of 8,404 Baylor student-athletes have been named to the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll in the league's 20-year history.
Three sports, women's basketball (3.06), men's (3.64) and women's golf (3.81), posted their highest-ever team GPA while four teams, acrobatics & tumbling, football, equestrian and men's tennis, posted their highest fall semester GPA.
"It truly is a team effort. Our student-athletes are doing well, the coaches want to do well, and they've bought into the mission of what we've done here with academic services. Ian McCaw (VP and Director of Athletics) and Judge Starr (Baylor President and Chancellor) continue to give us support. When we need something, they're like, 'Yes, go do it.' ", said Bart Byrd, Associate AD/Student-Athlete Services.
Fall Semester by the Numbers
4.0 GPA -- 53
Bailey Hollier -- Acrobatics & Tumbling
Katelyn Horstmann -- Acrobatics & Tumbling
Anna Webb - Acrobatics & Tumbling
Brayanna Bergstrom -- Equestrian
Riley Chador -- Equestrian
Conner Daniels -- Equestrian
Victoria Griffith -- Equestrian
Alex Ryan -- Equestrian
Karyn Simpson -- Equestrian
Rachel Van Allen -- Equestrian
Kelsey Wolf -- Equestrian
Spencer Drango -- Football
Marques Jones -- Football
Patrick Levels -- Football
Shawn Oakman -- Football
Jonathan Davis -- Men's Basketball
Filippo Zucchetti -- Men's Golf
Jimmy Bendeck -- Men's Tennis
Greg Bostick -- Men's Track
Paul Gaschen -- Men's Track
John Ryan Hardy -- Men's Track
Sean McCullough -- Men's Track
Larissa Campos -- Soccer
Jackie Crowther -- Soccer
Julie James -- Soccer
Ariel Leach -- Soccer
Hannah Parrish -- Soccer
Hadley Young -- Soccer
Robin Landrith -- Softball
Abby Langkamp -- Softball
Kristina Fitzpatrick -- Volleyball
Mackenzie Mayo -- Volleyball
Hope Ogden -- Volleyball
Adrien Richburg -- Volleyball
Katie Staiger -- Volleyball
Beatrice Mompremier -- Women's Basketball
Dylan Kim -- Women's Golf
Laura Lonardi -- Women's Golf
Giovana Maymon -- Women's Golf
Lauren Whyte -- Women's Golf
Kely Putri -- Women's Tennis
Blair Shankle --Women's Tennis
Anatalia Ashcroft -- Women's Track
Haleigh Blackwell -- Women's Track
Abbie Greenwell -- Women's Track
Hannah Jackson -- Women's Track
Rachel Johnson -- Women's Track
Tamara McVickar -- Women's Track
Charlotte Myers -- Women's Track
Jenna Pfeiffer -- Women's Track
Raena Rhone -- Women's Track
Leila Rhode -- Women's Track
Catherine Zabilski -- Women's Track
Baylor Dean's List -- 105
Acrobatics & Tumbling -- 9
Baseball -- 6
Equestrian -- 21
Football -- 1
Men's Golf -- 7
Men's Basketball -- 2
Men's Track -- 8
Men's Tennis -- 2
Soccer -- 10
Softball -- 4
Volleyball -- 8
Women's Basketball -- 2
Women's Golf -- 5
Women's Track -- 20
Fall 2015 Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll -- 349
Acrobatics & Tumbling -- 29
Baseball -- 32
Equestrian -- 60
Football -- 33
Men's Basketball -- 5
Men's Golf -- 15
Men's Tennis -- 9
Men's Track -- 26
Soccer -- 29
Softball -- 16
Volleyball -- 19
Women's Basketball -- 9
Women's Golf -- 8
Women's Tennis -- 9
Women's Track - 50
