Roadmap by Todd Anderson

1 - PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

For most new freshmen and transfers, the single biggest difference between high school or community college and a university is the idea of personal accountability. Universities are built on a model of intellectual discovery, creativity, collaboration, research and exchange of ideas. University faculty and staff assume that students are prepared to be treated as adults. So it becomes your responsibility to understand how to succeed in each class.

with using the syllabus to understand the way that the class operates. Personal responsibility rests on the idea that your grade is earned by you. The professor will guide your learning, provoke your thinking, develop your intellectual abilities, answer your questions, and ask some others. But your success in the class depends completely on your own performance. You get the credit and, if you do not perform, you take the blame.

Professors create class documents called syllabi that explain the attendance policies of the class, identify the requirements and assignment completion and examination dates, and provide multiple forms of communication including e-mail, office phone, office location, and relevant social media addresses. Personal responsibility starts

ROAD MAP - A SUCCESS MANUAL FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES

One textbook example of personal responsibility is learning to exhibit professionalism. Student professionalism refers to the practice of being in class on time, not walking out early, participating in class discussion, and refraining from using a cell phone during class for non-class functions. And be sure to refer to your professor by the title “Dr.” or “Professor.” These titles took over a decade of college to achieve and should not be taken lightly by students. These are the types of standards, professionalism and respect, that are important not only to professors but to employers. Personal responsibility also means being proactive if you do not understand content material or how to prepare for examinations. It is your responsibility to ask questions, clarify assignments, understand requirements, make changes to your study habits, and communicate clearly and professionally with professors. Communication is particularly important, especially if you are going to be away from class while traveling for a game. Create an effective organization plan for each course so that all of your papers are easily retrievable. Personal responsibility means that all graded material is accessible and that you have a clear idea of your grade in every class at all times. Personal responsibility means making appropriate decisions in all areas of your academic, athletic, and social life. Your records– academic, legal and otherwise– follow you for the rest of your life. It is your responsibility and yours alone to make sure the record you carry with you opens doors instead of closes them.

ROAD MAP - A SUCCESS MANUAL FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES

2 - TIME MANAGEMENT Managing student time can be one of the biggest impediments to success for any student or student-athlete. Deadlines that might have been loose in high school are more likely to be firm in college. Late work is often not accepted and for that reason it is critical to manage and use your time wisely. Strength training, conditioning, film work, practice, training room and recovery sessions, meals, class, sleep, and study all take up tremendous blocks of time. Using the time between these scheduled events is critical in order to avoid falling behind. It may have been easy to catch up on material and deadlines in high school, but it’s much more difficult in college. Studies indicate most general education core classes require at least as much time (double or more in many cases) studying outside of class as time spent in class with the professor. It is virtually impossible to keep all your commitments, assignments, locations, and responsibilities in your head. And even using your phone can have mixed results. One of the most effective strategies is to have a printed calendar that lists an entire week or month on a single page with room to indicate what is to occur on each day. Adding commitments to a printed calendar is an effective way to plan ahead as opposed to suddenly realizing you need to complete a ten page paper and have one night to do your best work. Students who work ahead– because of a written time management system– almost always find time to revise work and tend to make substantially higher grades. On the contrary, students who rush work rarely excel and often receive poor scores. Students who use printed calendars carry them in their backpacks wherever they go and constantly update them with new meetings, schedule changes, and deadlines. Some even use different color pens to mark different types of scheduled events (red for athletics; blue for academics; black for social events). Printed calendar users make it a practice to look at the scheduled events for each week each morning and each night, constantly updating, regularly revising, and planning ways to accomplish each activity. Simply put, the act of opening and writing in your calendar improves your awareness and memory of your schedule and deadlines. High achieving student-athletes balance their time between school and study, social outreach, personal in-reach, and athletic performance. In short, work and play and rest are all critical to success. Time management experts agree that successful people usually keep their appointments and commitments compiled in a user friendly manner and use to-do lists to make sure priority items are completed first. Student stress comes from falling behind, skipping class, creating a need to accomplish multiple tasks in a short amount of time instead of a manageable amount of tasks over extended time, inadequate sleep, failing to properly use peak personal energy times, and excessive procrastination. Each one of these student stress factors is directly related to poor management of time. Wasted time creates stress. “How did it get so late so soon,” Dr. Seuss famously asked. The answer is because somebody didn’t manage their time.

ROAD MAP - A SUCCESS MANUAL FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES

3 - SETTING GOALS According to Forbes Magazine, setting and achieving four basic goals – improving time management, reading more effectively, being more fit, and eating better– can transform your life. Harvard Business Review adds that highly specific goals are more attainable, and that goals that focus on what to do, as opposed to what not to do, are more beneficial. Goals are a way to shape priorities; priorities shape the management of time; and time management determines productivity. While it’s possible to be successful without goals, it appears to be a statistically rare occurrence. Map makers (cartographers) were of great value because they provided the knowledge of how to get somewhere a person had never before been. Guides performed the same task for those venturing to the American West as pioneers. And today, we use GPS technology to provide turn-by-turn navigation. The value of cartographers, guides, and GPS inventors (122 million GPS units were sold in 2010) is that the information they provide is critical to a successful outcome of a journey. Goals are a navigation beacon for success. Successful student-athletes set performance goals for strength training and athletic skill development, set objectives for individual and team in-game performance, identify targets for academic achievement, and even create aspirations for personal development. And most importantly, these goals are written and periodically reviewed as a reminder of the ultimate destination. Accountability comes from reviewing your own goals. It is not necessary to share your goals with others unless you require additional accountability. 6

ROAD MAP - A SUCCESS MANUAL FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES

Usually, looking at yourself in the mirror and asking whether you gave it your all to reach your goals is a sufficient measuring stick. In his book I Can’t Accept not Trying: Michael Jordan on the Pursuit of Excellence the legendary North Carolinian and basketball superstar offers some insight into his own attitude about setting goals. “I approach everything step by step....I had always set short-term goals. As I look back, each one of the steps or successes led to the next one. When I got cut from the varsity team as a sophomore in high school, I learned something. I knew I never wanted to feel that bad again....So I set a goal of becoming a starter on the varsity. That’s what I focused on all summer. When I worked on my game, that’s what I thought about. When it happened, I set another goal, a reasonable, manageable goal that I could realistically achieve if I worked hard enough....I guess I approached it with the end in mind. I knew exactly where I wanted to go, and I focused on getting there. As I reached those goals, they built on one another. I gained a little confidence every time I came through.” Speak to your coaches about some reasonable athletic goals for each year and your advisors, friends, family, ministers, and mentors about personal development goals. Solid academic goals should start with these two:

1- Graduate in four years.

2- Have a GPA of 3.0 or higher.

ROAD MAP - A SUCCESS MANUAL FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES

4 - APPROACHING COLLEGE CLASSES

5 - THE IMPORTANCE OF CLASS ATTENDANCE & REGULAR PARTICIPATION

The first thing to know about the college classroom is that the person at the very front of the room, your professor, is a world-class expert who is the only person in the room absolutely sure of what it takes to succeed in that class. And, of course, your professor is a real person too and has family, friends, hobbies, favorite musicians and foods just like you. Your professor has also already been where you are, sitting in a college class hoping to do well and less than completely sure if they will. Professors want you to succeed, and to take the class seriously even if you don’t love the subject. They respect your effort and your improvement, can detect a brown-nose from a mile away, and are happy to help you if you initiate the process. They might have another class right before or after this one– just like you– but will be happy to meet you in office hours or during an appointment that you can easily schedule with an e-mail or a phone call. They understand that you care about your grade, but they want you to also care about learning and thinking and developing and improving and asking better questions and offering more insightful answers. They will be happy to write you a letter of recommendation for an award, scholarship, internship, or job, but the letter will be stronger if you were professional in class. Professors also have much better memories than you can imagine. They remember if you promised to stop coming to class late, they paid attention when you said you would do better, and if they bothered to write a long list of comments on your paper, expect you not to keep making the same mistakes. They know if you pulled out your cell phone in class, in fact, they will never forget that as long as they live. College classes are based on a student’s ability to read the assigned material, complete assignments, develop critical listening skills, take appropriate notes which reveal the significance and meaning of the presented material, review material to build mastery, and perform well on exams, papers, projects, and other measuring devices. A grade is a scoreboard of sorts; it tells one story but not the entire story of the semester. And a grade is only one outcome. You also need to learn how to learn. When do you study best? What time of day should you schedule classes? How many minutes can you study in a row before you need to take a walk or a break? If you earn an average grade in a class but by the end of the semester learn how to approach similar classes then you have accomplished something even if the “scoreboard” doesn’t look like you wanted. And if you want a better grade? Work harder and work smarter. Participate in class. Ask good questions and come to office hours for help. Form a study group and, if you need one, get a tutor. They’re free at UNC Pembroke. Here is an even simpler piece of advice to performing well in college. You have homework in every class, every day. If you deploy this attitude you will get ahead and stay ahead, you will review notes or read or work on papers or prepare for a test every day and you will undoubtedly succeed. 8

ROAD MAP - A SUCCESS MANUAL FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES

In some ways class is like practice: not always as much fun as you would like, but it turns out to be pretty handy when it’s time for the game. Class is where you learn the fundamentals. Class is where you get exposed if you are not ready and where you can get better. Class is where you learn new skills and see things you thought you already knew from a different perspective. There is no substitute for being in class every day. One recent study, “Class Attendance in College: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Relationship of Class Attendance with Grades and Student Characteristics,” determined that class attendance was the single best indicator of student success. Equally important according to a report in the Chronicle of Higher Education is “active engagement,” loosely defined as participation and classroom effort. In short, showing up and being willing to engage works, and it certainly proves more successful in comparison to irregularly attending and being indifferent. Research and informal conversations reveal that professors, whether they keep attendance records or not, know exactly who is there each day. Some assign a percentage of the final grade to attendance and participation and in that case a student who doesn’t attend is just throwing points out the window and virtually declaring “I intend to get a 100 on every exam and I don’t need points for attendance.” That plan seems ambitious, at best. And plenty of professors don’t include attendance points for basic grade tabulation, but they use attendance records for deciding grades that are on a borderline. Poorly attending students who don’t participate and don’t elevate the rest of the class in any way are unlikely to receive borderline grade consideration. It is also true that students recognize the value of attending class. According to a report published in The Observer, the Journal of the American Psychological Society, and based on a survey of 200 students at George Mason University, only 8% of students thought getting notes from a friend was an effective replacement for missing class. There is no substitute for being in class and being part of the teaching and learning experience. The most obvious reason to go to class is it will make everything else easier to learn. Not attending is not much different than saying either “I’m smarter than the professor” or “I am so smart that I can teach myself.” Here is the most simple compilation of reasons to go to class: you paid for it so get the value out of it; it will help your grade if you go; learning something today helps you learn something tomorrow; classrooms are full of smart professors and students and you can benefit from being in that environment; college requires effort and the most basic form of effort is showing up; everything meaningful in life requires work so you might as well learn how to work sooner rather than later; things that don’t interest you now might interest you later; UNC Pembroke expects you to graduate; your career options are dependent on being ready for a job market full of people who went to class, made good grades, and developed good relationships with professors. ROAD MAP - A SUCCESS MANUAL FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES

6 - READING SKILLS

The most basic intellectual aptitude for college success is the ability to read and comprehend. Strong readers study more efficiently and in some cases learn to read significantly faster through extended practice. Speed is a nice attribute to have for a reader, but it pales in comparison to understanding and applying what you have read. No matter how much time it takes to read a chapter, it is critical to comprehend the assigned section. Highly effective readers can skim (find the most important parts) and scan (locate a very specific piece of information that is needed) in places, while employing close reading (pay particularly close attention, reading every single word with great focus) on other sections. And the good news is that developing readers can improve with practice. A 2014 study of the reading habits of 1,265 college students published in Reading Psychology, an academic journal, noted that nearly eight hours of weekly academic reading was the norm. When non-academic reading (online, for example) is added, the average student reads for two or more hours per day during an average week. Reading is background material before heading to lecture. Reading is critical for discussion, research projects, note review, and test preparation. Reading is finding and assessing other sources in order to grasp key concepts more clearly. There is no way around it: to succeed in college you need to become a good reader.

Be careful with highlighting, as some readers highlight so much the textbook starts to look like a coloring book instead of a college read. Other strategies include jotting down handwritten notes on critical ideas (and keeping your notes with the book) or making an electronic file. Some textbooks put key terms in bold face to make sure that you pay close attention to those words and phrases. Special boxes that are set aside on the page are an indication that the author and publisher want you to notice them. It’s a good bet that the material in such boxes is important. Read in a location where you can concentrate: look at your phone only when you take a break, don’t read with the television on, and according to studies from numerous research universities, classical music can help you organize your mind and put yourself in better position to consume reading material. Other forms of music are likely detriments to comprehension. Here is the key point: read a little at a time; don’t press ahead on new chapter material until you understand what you are reading now; and make a record of key ideas for quick review.

Textbook reading should begin with the introduction to a new chapter and one effective strategy is to then read the conclusion of the chapter before tackling the main sections. At that point, close up the book and see if you can summarize what you expect the body of the material to be about. If you can’t identify the key themes, reread the introduction and conclusion until you can. When you have comprehended the key ideas from the introduction and conclusion, then start in on the body of the chapter, pausing after each subheading to make sure you can identify a couple of key points.

ROAD MAP - A SUCCESS MANUAL FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES

7 - TAKING NOTES Attendance and participation is a no-brainer and reading is critical to class preparation and review, but taking quality class notes is the best bet for being ready for college exams. Class notes are important for every subject from Algebra to Zoology. Professors painstakingly create multi-media lecture and discussion presentations because they want students to understand specific course material and want it learned in carefully crafted ways. Most classes are not accidents. They are intentionally built to accomplish something specific each day. Lectures may not always be scintillating– by the way that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t develop your critical listening skills– but they are, more often than not, the nuts and bolts sort of material most likely to be on exams. Professors can be dynamic or soft-spoken. Some will take issue positions designed to provoke into seeing material from a different perspective. And like you, they have good days and bad. Professors are under no obligation to use instructional technology but most will. They will put some material on a presentation slide and then spend a good bit of time elaborating on those terms, ideas, concepts, or problems. Here is where note-taking mistake number one occurs: too many students simply copy down the words or numbers from the slide WITHOUT making any effort to capture what the words mean, or why they’re significant. The net result is a set of notes that read like a list of undefined, unidentified terms with absolutely no context whatsoever. The exam will not go well. Note-taking mistake number two is not much better. The student, in this case, becomes a professional stenographer literally writing or typing every single word the prof speaks. You have, by the end of the semester, a textbook worth of notes but no idea whatsoever what is important and what is not. Skilled professors often repeat key concepts or otherwise underscore their importance by changing the volume or inflection of their voice. Good notes are predicated on recording what is important. And in college, as opposed to high school, that is your job as a student. Critical listening skills must be developed so that you master the ability to figure out what you need to figure out. It’s that simple. A final problem, note-taking mistake number three, occurs when you have taken a perfectly fine set of notes through careful listening, class engagement, and razor-sharp focus only to toss them aside until the night before the exam. Marathon runners don’t begin their preparation the night before the 26.2 mile race. They prepare a little each day and plan to peak on race day. It is not much different with taking notes and preparing for exams. Students that review their notes regularly learn material. Students that cram their notes the night before the exam are trying to memorize. One of these strategies is successful every time. The other works basically never. Note taking is an indispensable part of every college course. If it seems overwhelming at first, rest assured that you will get better at it. And the faster you master the challenge of creating a useful set of class notes, the better.

ROAD MAP - A SUCCESS MANUAL FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES

8 - TALKING TO A PROFESSOR The starting point for talking to professors is remembering that they operate under a different set of rules than the teachers you had in high school. Start with the basics: do yourself no harm. Professors prefer to be called “Dr.” or “professor” unless they ask you to call them something different. Don’t call them “Mrs.” or “Mr.” or “Miss.” They earned a title so remember to use it. And they expect you not to lose the syllabus– try not to come across as an amateur– and don’t ask questions that are clearly answered in the syllabus. Don’t ask them your grades– they don’t have them memorized and since you should have them written down they probably didn’t bring their grade book to class. Their time is valuable: they write books, present research at conferences, serve on committees, develop and teach a large number of different classes, and, of course, have a regular life outside of class just like you. They are, however, happy to help particularly if you initiate the help by raising your hand to ask a question or visit them during office hours. If you do go visit them, get to the point by asking them direct and specific questions about course content, difficult concepts, how to best prepare, or if your understanding of a specific idea from class is on point. They will gladly review concepts and probably take as much time as you need, particularly if they think you are genuine. These sessions will soon lead to professors taking an interest in your academic career. That is an important development as they can write you letters of recommendation, nominate you for awards and scholarships, include you on research opportunities, and remember you when an employer calls to see if any bright students are ready for either an internship or a career opportunity. Obviously, failure to do good work or an indifferent attitude about learning and student success will put you pretty low on the list for those kind of possibilities. Professors who take the time to write extensive comments on your exams or papers are particularly valuable. They are trying to write you a road map for success. If you don’t understand the comments then come to office hours to ask what they mean. If you do understand the suggestions, then by all means take them to heart and improve your performance by not making the same mistakes again. The problem is not that somebody took the time, effort, and energy to offer you some academic coaching. The problem will be when a professor stops giving you the extra feedback: it may well mean that they have given up on you. One final piece of advice: whatever promises you make, keep them. If you set an appointment, be there on time. (And bring your notes, syllabus, and books in case you need them in the meeting!) If you promise to start participating more regularly in class then do it. Students who promise to do something and then don’t, have little or no credibility. And losing your credibility is hard to recover. If the occasional professor doesn’t seem thrilled with your questions, don’t lose heart. The overwhelming number of professors want you to succeed; they just expect you to be an adult about it.

ROAD MAP - A SUCCESS MANUAL FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES

9 - PREPARING FOR EXAMS College exams are strikingly different than previous exams you have taken. They are not standardized; they are unlikely to be proceeded by receiving a specific study guide; they usually require you to think and prepare significant responses, maybe even thorough essays; they can come rarely enough to be worth a significant percentage of your grade when you take them; and they almost never come with extra credit or an opportunity to retake them. Sometimes the final exams can be comprehensive, essentially covering four months of material. Your grade might well include a component for attendance and participation, group projects, papers, homework assignments, or semi-regular quizzes, but quite often the biggest chunk of your grade comes from your performance on exams. That being said, test anxiety can be prevented with thorough preparation, office hour visits, working independently, with a tutor, and in study groups, and mastery of the elements of your grade that don’t induce anxiety. UNC Pembroke can help you with tutors and most professors can help you with specific tips for minimizing test anxiety. Remember, you have made it all the way to college, you can do this! Your professor will likely give some advance warning about the format of the exam, number of questions, style of questions, and amount of material to be covered. Pay close attention and of course much of this is on the syllabus as well. Most professors keep the same format for all the exams you will take so once you figure out the process you will have a preparation plan for the rest of the semester for each class. Retyping or rewriting class notes helps some students feel ready. Working in a study group and quizzing each other is a good technique for auditory learners. Visual learners can review PowerPoint slides and even make and review flash cards. It is important to find a quiet place for independent study– usually away from your dorm room, apartment, the television, and your social media accounts. Studies indicate instrumental music playing low in the background can be useful for organizing your thoughts. The single most important facet of testing to remember is that college exams are more difficult, intellectually more rigorous, and cover more complex material than high school tests. Therefore, you should not assume your high school test strategies will work– particularly if your usual philosophy was to cram the night before. Since a college test could cover a book or more plus some additional texts and a month or more of notes, there is simply no way to assemble this material in your head with a night of mega-studying. Many high school exams required memorization; most college exams require learning and understanding, reflecting and evaluating, and careful using of evidence and examples. This can only be accomplished with regular review of notes and staying current with reading. The goal is to peak on exam day, but that is not possible without previous preparation and regular studying and review. High school strategies work well in high school. College is a new game and the sooner you learn the new rules, the better you will perform on exams.

10 - WRITING A COLLEGE PAPER Term papers and essays are a staple of college life. Think of them as mini presentations, not unlike the type that many careers require on a regular basis: lesson plans, advertising campaigns, new product launches, patient charts, or legal briefs. Writing assignments usually come with a clear set of instructions concerning length, citation practices, sources, and due date. The most obvious ways to mess up a writing assignment are to not do the research, make a mess of the paper with grammar, spelling, and slang writing issues, forget to proofread, complete the assignment you prefer to write as opposed to the one you have been assigned, and turn it in late. And while all of those strategies are useful if the goal is to get a bad grade, nothing could threaten your academic future as much as plagiarism. In no uncertain terms, plagiarism is stealing someone else’s ideas (bad enough) and claiming them as your own (even worse). Plagiarism can be copying and pasting from a web site, having someone else write your paper, “borrowing” ideas from a book without crediting the original author, and, in general, failing to give intellectual credit where it is due. In fact, plagiarism is easy to avoid: simply cite the source you used with a footnote or a proper attribution in the text, put material in quotes when taken from a source, or otherwise find an acceptable way to give credit to the source. Plagiarism is a direct violation of the Honor Code and the philosophy of academic honesty and it can easily get you kicked out of school. And it is so easy to avoid. If you don’t know how to cite a source ask your professor. Source citation is a simple and easy skill to learn. And there is never a compelling reason to copy and paste. And no, changing a word or two in a sentence is not enough. Successful writers start early, make sure they understand the nature of the assignment, research thoroughly, write a little at a time over many days, edit, make rough drafts, enlist the help of the professor, visit the Writing Center in the D.F. Lowry Building, proofread, edit or revise some more, read aloud to hear what it really sounds like, edit yet again, and in general avoid the last second, mad scramble to finish. Good writers read carefully the feedback they receive on their work, and learn to polish their final drafts. Essays are composed a paragraph at a time. Paragraphs have topic sentences and offer examples, quotes, details, and specific pieces of evidence in order to prove their clear and well-supported points. Slang, repetition, vague generalizations, misspelling, careless grammar, text speak, and awkward sentences are noticeably absent from good writing. Papers are opportunities to demonstrate thinking aptitude, macro organizational strategy, the ability to work independently, complex content mastery, thoughtfulness, and time and deadline management. Virtually every employer in every field will demand these skills in one form or another. Learn to write successfully and translate your ideas into oral, written, and digital formats. This will benefit you immeasurably in your ability to become a logical thinker with an eye for creativity. And if you don’t believe any of that, I’m sorry. You are still going to be assigned papers and plenty of them. Stop fighting them and learn how to do them.

ROAD MAP - A SUCCESS MANUAL FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES

11 - EXAM WEEK

For those who have never experienced it before, final exam week can be a challenging adjustment. Five or more exams spread over less than a week is difficult for even the most organized and prepared student. And inevitably the exams clump up over two or three days and come on the heels of finishing a number of end-of-the-semester projects and papers. Don’t overlook the intensity of the week. It’s no joke. Exam week should be about maintaining the good work that you have done all semester. Student that fall behind in their classes and need to ace most or all of their finals in order to pull up disappointing grades rarely do so. It is virtually impossible to learn a mass of information in a short time under pressure. US News and World Report identifies a number of successful strategies for exam week including cancelling all other commitments, using all the test time allotted since even the smallest correction can lead to a critical point or two, and completing the work neatly, clearly, and with important supporting evidence so your work is easy to grade. Other studies suggest that eating healthy high- carbohydrate super foods (oatmeal, for example), getting adequate rest, exercising enough to clear your head, and studying in focused bursts followed by brief intervals of short distractions are far more beneficial practices than the all-night cram. Cramming can make for some interesting stories, but rarely makes for good scores. During finals, time management and planning are more important than ever. Students who score the highest on final exams begin reviewing a little bit at a time a couple of weeks before exams begin. This usually proves effective at reintroducing content material and can be done at a relaxed pace. The goal of the advanced preparation is to compile a list of specific actions that need to be completed in order to be prepared for the exam. Are you missing a day of notes? Is there a particular set of concepts or problems that you struggle navigating? The advance prep should help you compile a clear and specific action list of study items. Some people increase the time they spend in study groups as finals near. Others retreat into relative isolation and knock off each item on their action list one at a time. You will need to determine your own most effective learning and preparation techniques. No two learners are exactly the same, other than the need to prepare thoroughly and methodically. Obviously as exams get closer, your individual preparation increases in scope and intensity. One specific technique to be deployed involves a little advance game planning for the exam. By this point in the semester, you should have faced a couple of exams from each professor. Generally, professors don’t change the types of exam questions they ask for the final nor do they change the style of questions. So, if you have been paying attention you should be able to predict with some success– especially if you review the syllabus to be clear on what material is to be covered on the final– what are some likely questions to be asked on the final. These educated guesses about what questions to expect can help your preparation, but remember to be ready for anything. Finally, if you have established credibility with your professor with attendance, participation, effort, and office visits, go see the prof one last time before finals and ask for some specific tips in preparing for the final.

ROAD MAP - A SUCCESS MANUAL FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES

12 - ACADEMIC HONESTY

13 - DEGREE PROGRESS

At UNCP, the first commitment students make upon starting classes is to abide by the terms and principles of the Academic Honor Code (which can be found in the catalog, student handbook, and online). Students and faculty agree to uphold basic and accepted standards of academic honesty, which in turn supports the value and authenticity of student performance. Ultimately, integrity of performance creates a college degree which has intellectual value and is accepted by employers and other universities as a legitimate reflection of a thorough, fair, and demanding college experience. Academic Honesty consists of maintaining strict fairness and ethical conduct in five key areas: cheating, plagiarism, fabrication and falsification, abuse of academic materials, and complicity on the academic dishonesty of others. Cheating abuses often center on using unauthorized materials while completing an exam. Plagiarism (also covered in the section on writing a college paper) includes presenting, intentionally or unintentionally, other people’s ideas, thoughts, or work as your own. It is intellectual stealing. Fabrication and falsification offenses include several types of actions such as changing answers on a returned exam and claiming you failed to receive proper credit. Those who intentionally hide, steal, destroy or otherwise damage library materials or university computing equipment can be sanctioned for abuse of academic materials. And finally, “allowing academic dishonesty,” the catalog clearly states, “is just as dishonest as committing a dishonest act oneself.” Allowing someone to use your answers or otherwise helping someone else to cheat– complicity– is no different in the eyes of the university than cheating yourself. In all of the cases outlined in this paragraph, professors can respond to these actions with warnings, assignment grade reductions including failure, and course grade reductions including class failure. Second offenses are covered by the Campus Judicial Board and penalties could include suspension from the university for a semester or dismissal. Students can appeal Judicial Board decisions to the Campus Appeals Board. The value of the UNCP degree is at risk each time a student cheats in any way. In no uncertain terms, those who cheat as a method of getting through a class or to a degree, will eventually be exposed– not always for cheating, but often for simply not knowing some basic skills or information that their transcripts say they should know. This could result in employee termination when a new hire is proven to be ill-prepared for the job. But it clearly makes it substantially less likely that a future UNCP graduate will be offered a position in that company, school, or agency. And this makes cheating a significant problem as it damages the reputation and value of the degrees we offer, potentially making it difficult for hard-working students to get a foot in the door. Academic dishonesty is not a victimless crime. We all stand on the shoulders of the graduates who came before us. If they have done their work the right way, it makes us more likely to get that interview, job, raise, or promotion. If they have not, we may never know why an interview or job offer didn’t come.

The Interstate Highway system was authorized in 1956 and designed to construct roads that could accommodate high speed travel to move people and products as rapidly as possible. The exits off these I highways (I-95, I-40, I-20 for example) are marked at specific mile numbers. The reason the exits are numbered is to give drivers and passengers a specific metric for understanding how close they are to their destination. Likewise, the Peach Belt Conference keeps a constant record of the standings of the sports it sponsors. The conference standings let you know how far you need to come in order to get where you want to be. For students, the way to see how near or far you are to reaching your goal is to check your progress toward your degree. Brave Web is one program that can let you know how many courses are left to complete for your general education requirements, major course of study, electives, and any minor course of study you might pursue. In addition, you can and should have a written checklist of your gen ed and major progress; these are usually easy to find on the website of the department of your major. Your advisor can also find these checklists for you. At the end of every semester, update your checklist. This will help you make good registration decisions for the next semester. You are responsible for your own progress. For most degree programs at UNCP, a student needs to successfully complete 120 hours. In order to graduate in four years– a worthy goal for every student on campus– you need to bank 30 hours per year or approximately 15 hours (about 5 classes since the standard class counts for 3 hours) per semester. If you come up short in one semester or another or want to get ahead, Summer classes are an option, but this schedule features more general education classes and usually only a limited number of advanced, upper-division courses are available. Minimum NCAA eligibility progress also needs to be considered: student-athletes need to be full-time students each semester (minimum 12 hours) and successfully complete 24 hours each year– soon to be 27. Student-athletes who redshirt for injury or sport developmental reasons can extend their eligibility to five years while participating in four years of competition. This can provide an excellent opportunity to graduate with a minor or double-major, or in some circumstances, to be well on your way to completing a semester or more of graduate school before exhausting your eligibility. Remember, in most cases after the academic year when your athletic eligibility is completed, athletic grant-in-aid dollars are no longer available. So it makes sense to make as much academic progress as possible while your athletic skills are assisting you financially with your education. Why work so hard to graduate? In a study completed by Georgetown University, college graduates reportedly earn 84% more over a lifetime than high school graduates with no college degree. This translates to (on average) a million or more dollars. Those with advanced degrees earn even more in comparison to Americans with only high school diplomas. Management positions are much more likely to be held by college graduates and by 2018, nearly 2 out of every 3 American jobs will be reserved only for college grads. Get the degree. It’s that simple.

ROAD MAP - A SUCCESS MANUAL FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES

14 - BUILDING CAMPUS RELATIONSHIPS

15 - REGISTRATION FOR CLASSES

Congratulations! By attending UNCP you are going to college in one of the most diverse universities in the southeastern United States. Why does this matter? It matters because the rest of the world looks like UNCP and you will be more ready to thrive in the next phase of your life because you have lived, worked, studied, and played here. UNCP students are a true sampling of the real world: racial, gender, religious, socioeconomic, and ethnic diversity abounds on this campus. You may have active or reserve duty members of the military in one or more of your classes and some of the students on campus could be old enough to be your grandparents. You may room in a dorm next to an international exchange student who speaks a half dozen languages. Some of your teammates have lived around the world. More women than men attend UNCP and while most students are residents of North Carolina, Braves come from all over the country. Your roommate might be from a big city like Charlotte or Raleigh or from a little town known more for family farms than skyscrapers. Some of our students are the first member of their family to attend college. Others have family members that graduated from UNCP or colleges from across the state and nation. In short, this student body is unlike most any other you could come across. Take advantage of it! It will seem easy to study with, eat with, and hang with the members of your squad. And this makes perfect sense since you are practicing, riding buses, and playing along side each other almost every day. But that might not be the best way to maximize your experience at UNCP. Form study groups with student-athletes from other sports and most definitely include students who are not athletes at all. The real world is full of people who played ball and people who didn’t. Your first boss may have no working knowledge of the level of commitment it takes to be an NCAA student-athlete. And you likely need to learn to appreciate the perspective of somebody who works full or part-time to get through college, is only taking a few classes because they are a single parent, or is transitioning to a new career by returning to school. Be inclusive of others on campus. And when you do, you might just find out that they end up coming to watch your games and cheer you on. And it is equally important to get involved on campus. Join the professional organization associated with your major. Consider student government, Greek Life, or any of the roughly 100 registered student organizations on campus. Don’t see an organization you are interested in joining? Start the one you wish we had. Present some original research through PURC. Attend an academic or professional conference. Get invited to join the honor society of your major. You may not be able to play intramurals, but you could go cheer for your friends who play. Attend a concert on campus; go hear a guest speaker talk about molecular biology, biomedical engineering, entrepreneurship, or the civil rights movement; see the band or chorus perform; go to opening night for a student drama performance at GPAC—it’s a blast. Campus involvement creates a richer, more rewarding, well-rounded college experience and builds a network of friends and associates that is indispensable for finding a good job and increasing your reach. Learning takes place in and out of the classroom.

ROAD MAP - A SUCCESS MANUAL FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES

As a full-time student, you will have access to a lot of advising support. The Advising Center will coordinate your first semester registration through New Student Orientation where you will meet lots of other new Braves. The Advising Center can get you plugged in to a major or help you work through the decision about what to study if you, like many, aren’t sure. There’s even a Virtual Advisor to answer your questions after hours. The Career Center is another good place to go early in your first year. They can help you pre-plan your career by assessing your strengths, weaknesses, and interests as well as help you make progress toward becoming a market ready candidate by the time you get close to graduation. Remember, you don’t have to have all the answers on your first day. Many students change majors after they have grown more passionate about a subject matter over the course of the first year or so. You will also have access to advice from coaches and athletic department personnel who can help make sure that you are making satisfactory academic progress and staying on track toward graduation. Some classes and internships are more successful when undertaken during non-competition semesters (Fall for baseball; Spring for volleyball for example). Once you declare a major, you will be assigned an advisor in that department. Be sure to pick up a checklist of all classes and requirements. Most departments have them linked on their official websites. Update the checklist each semester with the classes you complete, making a note of your official grades for each course. Keep the catalog you were issued as an incoming freshman as those are the standards by which you will be held for graduation. General education checklists can be found on the UNCP web site, in your catalog, or you can ask for a printed copy from the Advising Center or your department advisor. Your advisor can help you with balancing a schedule between requirements and electives, provide you a pin number for registration, give you some tips on academic preparation, talk about the possibility of adding a minor field of study, and generally help you navigate through the system. Schedule a meeting or two with your advisor each semester, ask good questions, keep your catalog, checklists and advisor contact points in a folder, and store your advisor’s phone and email information in your phone. In most majors, banking the right 30 hours a year should get you to graduation in four years. Your advisor can also help you understand grade forgiveness policies, extra-curricular activities, transfer credit if you are taking a Summer class back home, and most other facets of transitioning from freshman all the way to senior. Be sure to spend some time learning to navigate Brave Web, the digital repository of many of your current and past UNCP academic records. Brave Web lists courses and sections for each semester to help you plan your registration and allows you to see an unofficial online transcript and perform a Degree Audit to see what you have left to take before filing the all-important Intent to Graduate Form, one of the most fulfilling pieces of data entry you will accomplish as a Brave. So there are lots of checks and balances and support systems in place to help you prepare to register for classes. In the end, it is your responsibility to understand the process, ask good questions, make good registration decisions, and get to the finish line.

ROAD MAP - A SUCCESS MANUAL FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES

16 - PERSONAL SAFETY: JENNA DAVISSON Personal safety and risk reduction is a loaded subject, so let’s break it down a step at a time. So your question is “why do I need to learn about this?” And, you are thinking, “it won’t happen to me.” The truth is that sexual assault is an issue for all college students to be informed about, male and female. Knowledge is power and the first step to prevention. Did you know a student is most likely to become a victim of sexual assault or violent crime in the first six weeks of their first year in college? Freshmen are the most inexperienced, distracted, and unfamiliar students on campus, increasing the potential risks. Being aware that crimes do occur and that they could happen to you is not about being paranoid or scared; it’s about recognizing potentially dangerous situations and taking the necessary steps to reduce your exposure. Your intuition, the feeling that you get when something doesn’t feel right, should never be ignored. Know those red flags and trust your instincts! Always use the “buddy system” with a reliable person and help your friends make good decisions. If there is someone in an uncomfortable situation, use the 3 D’s: distract, delegate or directly intervene to help. Alcohol is the number one reported date rape drug; it impairs your judgment so, if you are drinking, limit how much you drink so you can stay in control. You don’t have to drink. If necessary, carry around an empty cup. Never accept open drinks from strangers or leave your drink unattended; if your drink tastes unusual, throw it away. 90 percent of campus rapes include alcohol use by the victim or the assailant. Remember that any type of rape is rape and that NO means NO. Always. Keep your cell phone handy and charged, and program important numbers such as the police and the number for your residence hall. Lock your vehicle, walk in areas that are well traveled and lit, and be alert to your surroundings. If you think you are being followed, drive to the police department; do not go home. Don’t leave your dorm room or apartment unlocked, don’t give out personal information, and if someone leaves you threatening or creepy messages, keep them for proof of the incident. Avoid using location services on your social media accounts. If someone you know comes to you about an assault, the first step is to listen. Support the victim, don’t blame in any way, and go to a qualified individual (police, your coach, professor or administrator) for help. The UNCP Counseling and Psychological Services department has a SMART (Sexual Misconduct Advocacy and Resource Team) program that can help. R.A.D. (Rape Aggression and Defense) classes are also offered on campus for realistic self-defense tactics and techniques.

17 - REST AND SLEEP Research by Brown University indicates that nearly 3 in 4 college students report occasional or regular problems with sleep. Inadequate sleep is a scientifically documented cause of diminished focus and concentration, reduced academic and athletic performance, a gateway to illness, exhaustion, and a host of many other potential problems. The average adult needs around eight hours of sleep per night while getting on average closer to seven. Brains, research suggests, are still developing until the age of 25 and insufficient sleep may slow complete development. College students and especially student-athletes have among the highest needs for sleep, yet, according to the University of Michigan, they are routinely among the nearly 70 million Americans who are sleep deficient. Research from Harvard University draws a clear connection between sleep reduction and memory loss. One consequence of insufficient sleep is daytime sleepiness. A study in Nature and Science of Sleep concludes that over half of all college students exhibit signs of daytime sleepiness, sometimes described as a prolonged lack of alertness. Internal body clocks (circadian systems) are disrupted by puberty and may continue to evolve during the college years, sometimes leading to sleep disorders that can require medical intervention. Some students use alcohol as an intended sleep aid, though much of the science suggests it may actually prevent sufficient, deep, restful sleep. The study also documents a connection between sleep deprivation and low GPA, particularly among first-year college students. Athletes require more sleep per day because of the tremendous physical demands associated with muscle use and the physical stress of performance, and conditioning. “Athletes in training should sleep about an hour extra,” according to Jim Thornton, president of the National Athletic Trainers' Association in commentary published on webmd.com. “You can go to sleep earlier, or take an afternoon nap.” In short, the correlation between peak athletic performance during training and competition and adequate sleep has been regularly documented in medical and scientific studies for decades. Rest, recovery, and sleep are critical for both explosion and endurance athletes. There is no substitute. So how can you get the eight or nine hours necessary for academic and athletic success? Reduce or eliminate caffeine intake after twelve noon. Try not to eat a full meal after seven pm. Eat a well balanced mixture of lean proteins, fruits, and vegetables and if you must eat sweets, try not to eat them before bed. Gradually lower the light in your room as you get closer to sleep time and reduce “screen time”– phone, game system, television, tablet, and computer. Don’t binge sleep on weekend mornings. Use your bed for sleeping but not for watching television or studying. As best you can, make your sleep environment dark and cool and invest in comfortable bedding and pillows. Try to go to sleep at about the same time as many nights as possible and try to wake up at about the same time when you can. Your body can adjust to changes and the ebb and flow of college life, but it prefers a predictable routine.

Contact Campus Police (910-521-6235) to report any suspicious activity, request assistance in an emergency or for preventive measures, including a campus escort after late studying or an evening class. There are 41 emergency blue light phones around campus for your use. Bystanders speak up, refuse to be silent, fight the battle without any form of violence, but with the truth as a weapon and with no shame no matter who is with you or against you. Be a witness, survivor, supporter, friend, and example that makes our community safer. 22

ROAD MAP - A SUCCESS MANUAL FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES

18 - NUTRITION: JOEY HANNANT • EAT MORE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES: Diets rich in fruits and vegetables provide essential vitamins, minerals and fiber that help your body utilize energy for your sport. Most fruits and vegetables are naturally low in fat and calories and can drastically lower your risk of catching a cold or flu this winter. Eat a colorful variety of fruits and vegetables every day. GOAL: Eat 1-2 servings with each meal = 3-6 servings for a whole day • EAT LEAN PROTEIN AT EACH MEAL: Substitute the word “protein” for “muscle.” Whether you worked out today, yesterday, or three months ago, your body is continually breaking down and building up protein. Protein provides structure and function within each of the trillions of cells in your body. It is extremely important you supply your body with enough protein. GOAL: Women eat 20-30 grams and men eat 40-60 grams with each meal. Examples of 30 grams of protein: 3oz baked fish, 6oz baked or grilled chicken, 5 whole eggs, 3-5oz of cheese, 5oz pork chop, 3oz steak. • EAT BREAKFAST EVERYDAY: When you sleep your body is in a fasted state, which means it is not receiving the vital nutrients it needs to recover and prepare for the next day’s activities. For this reason, it is extremely important for you to eat within 30 minutes of waking to give your body fuel for the day. GOAL: (30 in 30) 30grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking up. • 10% RULE: It is okay to splurge once in a while. Food provides your body with the essential nutrients it needs to survive but it should also be fun. If you can get to 90% compliance you will reach your goals. (3 meals/day X 7 days/ week = 21 meals. 90% of 21 meals = 19 solid, nutritious meals.) GOAL: Plan to have a cheat meal 2 times per week. HYDRATE: Dehydration is the most common cause of fatigue and sub-par performance in athletes. Roughly 60-70% of your body is made up of water and even a 1-2% drop in water weight negatively affects performance. Scientists estimate water intake ranges at 1-2 gallons of water per day depending on fitness level, activity and climate. GOAL: Women 12 cups & Men 16 cups of fluid per day. (.75 to 1 gallon) • CONSUME QUALITY CARBS: The most efficient energy source for the human body is carbohydrates and the only fuel source your brain can use to operate is glucose. Optimal athletic performance requires plenty of carbs stored in your muscles for fuel. Sources of this fuel include fruits, vegetables, oatmeal, beans, whole grains, nuts and seeds. GOAL: Eat 1-2 servings with each meal = 3-6 servings for a whole day

19 - ATHLETIC TRAINING BASICS: MICHAEL BLACKBURN 1) It is the student-athlete’s responsibility to make sure that ALL required medical paperwork is complete and turned in before beginning any intercollegiate activities. If you are a walk-on this includes a physical exam as well. 2) Communicate any injuries and illness to your respective athletic trainer within 24 hours. Recovery begins with the training staff’s knowledge that you are injured or sick. Until that information is provided, we cannot get you back to full speed. Your athletic trainer will determine your practice or game status following an injury or illness. 3) Please adhere to all rules and regulations posted in the athletic training facilities. 4) Respect ALL athletic trainers and athletic training students: treat them as your coaches. You have a team of experts guiding your skill and sport performance, strength and conditioning development, and medical treatment, recovery, and rehabilitation. This is your team. Value them.

Medical Coverage: 1) Our athletic trainers will coordinate your medical coverage: See them before going to the Health Center or Urgent Care, if possible, to ensure that you have the appropriate paperwork. 2) The athletic trainers have the final authority with regards to return-to-play following injury/ illness. Return-to-learn protocols may be part of your rehabilitation and recovery as well. Follow the medical guidelines of the training staff. 3) We have assembled a world-class team of medical professionals for evaluation and treatment of athletic injuries and illnesses including the student health center, counseling center, orthopedics, and other specialists. Trust the team. This is what they do.

Insurance: 1) You are required to inform your respective athletic trainer if there is a change in your insurance coverage – As a student-athlete, you MUST have insurance at all times. 2) To cover athletic-related injuries, UNC Pembroke has accident insurance which includes a $5,000 deductible. This means your primary insurance will cover the first $5,000. 3) You are responsible for bringing any bills associated with athletic-related injuries/illnesses to Michael Blackburn, Asst AD/Sports Medicine, for review and submission to insurance.

4) You are financially responsible for any medical services NOT authorized by our athletic training staff.

ROAD MAP - A SUCCESS MANUAL FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES

20 - ALCOHOL, SUBSTANCE ABUSE, AND JUDGEMENT ISSUES: DICK CHRISTY “The problem with trouble is that it usually starts out as fun.” – anonymous “Participation in athletics is a privilege, not a right.” – multiple sources The cross section of these two quotes can be seen on many Thursday, Friday, Saturday….heck maybe even Monday nights across college campuses around the country. A student-athlete goes to a social function, engages in an activity that many students at the party may also be partaking in (alcohol and/ or illegal substances), things ultimately go wrong and the student-athlete is held accountable to a more severe degree than others. I’ve heard that scenario hundreds of times over the years and subsequently had to visit with the athletes who felt they were being unfairly singled out. The situation brings to mind another very important quote for your future. “To whom much is given, much is expected.” Illegal substance use is not just dangerous for you but it can and does affect your team. As a student-athlete, you are subject to random testing, which includes recreational drugs like marijuana. Any traces found to be in your system will cost you at least a portion of your season and, in some cases, your opportunity to participate at all. You are people of great God-given talent, and have been blessed to be counted among the .001% of high school seniors who become NCAA student-athletes. At every party or event you attend, you will be recognized and labeled as a student-athlete. And as such, you have the proverbial target on your back. Whether you behave well or poorly, the general public will not just attribute that behavior to you and your upbringing, they will attribute it to your coach, your team, and our program. That’s part of the burden and privilege of being a student-athlete. With such scrutiny on what you do and how you act, it is critically important that you always think for yourself. I promise you that you will be able to live with any consequences of events much easier if you are the one in charge of the decisions you make. Simply put, don’t be a follower, and don’t succumb to peer pressure. I’m hoping you are strong enough to not just look out for yourself but also for others. Who’s your designated driver? Are you leaving with the same number of friends you arrived with? If not, where are they? One way to prepare for withstanding peer pressure is to determine your values before heading to the party. What will you do? What won’t you do? These decisions have consequences. It is much easier to answer these questions for yourself before your classmates and peers begin to pressure you. As a former student-athlete myself, my college years were an outstanding time both athletically and socially. But the reality is that I have enjoyed my adult life far more because I took the college social scene in moderation, and I made sure that decisions then wouldn’t impact my quality of life now. I’m confident you all can make the same decisions and represent #BraveNation now and in the future in a first-class way.

ROAD MAP - A SUCCESS MANUAL FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES

21 - PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUGS Studies vary but the percent of high school athletes who have tried performance enhancing drugs may be as high as five percent. The NCAA’s own research places the number of college athletes across Divisions I, II, and III at a lower rate but that may be optimistic. The most common reasons offered for starting a steroid, human growth hormone (HGH), or other illegal drug regimen are increased sport performance and quicker recovery time from injury or strength training stress. Few respondents in any study suggest that steroids aren’t easy enough to acquire. Lots of people know a guy at the gym who might have offered to help them make big gains quickly. The nickname– performance enhancing drugs– is not exactly accurate. Anabolic steroids have been shown to increase muscle mass development under certain conditions and in certain athletes. But the gains have little or no clear connection to specific sport or skill development and the side effects and risk factors of these supplements are truly frightening. Human growth hormone has never been shown in any scientific research study to improve sport performance and, in fact, the science seems to suggest HGH does more to improve muscle definition than muscle strength– making you feel or appear stronger but not actually making you any stronger at all. Unfortunately, some athletes that begin a steroid cycle do so believing urban legends and expecting dramatic and unrealistic results. This, coupled with limited knowledge of the actual medical science, leads to dramatic overuse or stacking, no regulation, and trusting the high school drop-out at the gym instead of medical doctors, chemists, and researchers. First of all, steroids are illegal and those caught in random NCAA or UNCP mandated drug testing face severe consequences. But from the perspective of the near and long term, medical research has documented a range of significant damage to the liver, reproductive system, heart, cardiovascular, dermatologic, and psychological well being, particularly for people in the age demographic most commonly associated with college student-athletes. Swelling, fluid retention, testicular shrinkage, sexual impotence, dehydration, hypertension, uncontrollable facial and body acne, baldness, nervous disorders, and rage fits are fairly common symptoms. The hormonal reaction causes unintended breast development and an increasingly high-pitched voice in some men. Some women witness a deepening of their voice, unusual changes to menstruation cycles and even clitoral hypertrophy. Not too glamourous, to say the least. Simply put, steroid use will shorten your life, the only question is by how much. In effect, steroids and HGH are replacement therapies, designed to be prescribed as medical treatments for patients whose bodies are incapable of creating basic substances (testosterone, some hormones, proteins, and amino acids) on their own. Steroids are prescribed for patients– including the elderly– who are dealing with the effects of wasting diseases and related conditions. Healthy student-athletes have strong bodies and already produce the appropriate amount of these substances. Adding to your body’s already effective physical chemistry creates a set of problems where they didn’t exist. It’s illegal and it’s stupid. Don’t.

ROAD MAP - A SUCCESS MANUAL FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES

22 - PERSONAL FINANCE Managing money is a critical element of college life. Most students have to manage a tangled web of grants, loans, scholarships, parental contributions, earnings from part-time or summer jobs, and the occasional birthday check from Uncle Joe and Aunt Betty just to get through each school year. According to US News and World Report, 70% of 2013 college graduates left school with some amount of student loans. Learning to manage your own money is important now and only gets more important with each passing year. Don’t depend on others to understand your financial aid. It’s on you as an adult. Savings Accounts are perfect places to safely set aside some funds for future use, to save for a large one-time expense, or for emergency purposes. Checking accounts are more useful for managing expenses that require monthly expenditures like car payments, electric bills, and cell phone charges. These bills can be paid electronically for ease of use and most banks and credit unions offer these services. Debit cards allow you to swipe purchases quickly– usually from a checking account– but make sure you keep careful records of your transactions so that you don’t spend more than your deposited balance. Overdraft or “bouncing a check” can minimize your ability to shop at some stores and could crush your credit rating. You will also be charged a fee for the inconvenience of covering your mistake. Keep detailed, neat, and accurate records unless you like to waste money. Credit cards are another method of payment, but they’re a risky practice. Paying a bill with a credit card is a promise to pay the credit card company, since they are actually the ones that are sending the immediate funds to the store for your purchase. Other than annual fees, credit card expenses are usually the same as the actual purchase unless you don’t pay the full amount when the credit card company sends you a statement. If you don’t pay in full, the credit card company begins charging interest, making your final purchase quite a bit more expensive. High credit card balances can grow very rapidly with compounded of interest and continued use. The most critical element of personal finance is a budget. A budget is a written or electronic document which assesses the way you should use your money. One sound strategy is to divide your funds into three categories: 1) money for bills, 2) money to save, and 3) money to spend on new items, entertainment, or fun. For a month or two, write each expenditure in a personal money management diary so you learn your typical spending habits. Then reassess your budget. If you have major expenses coming– car repair, new computer, wardrobe improvements for a summer job– increase the amount you are saving. Every dollar you save today is one more you will have available to spend later. Every dollar you spend today is one less you have available to spend tomorrow. So make short and long term decisions that you can live with.

Write your budget. Keeping this stuff in your head never works for long. Only you can be in charge of your money. Know what you make and what your bills are. Protect your cards, account numbers, and passwords. Pay on time. Avoid late fees. Stop using your credit card. Say “no” to items that are “wants” but not really “needs.” Save some money with every paycheck.

ROAD MAP - A SUCCESS MANUAL FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES

24 - SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY: TODD ANDERSON

23 - BASICS OF PUBLIC COMMUNICATION Over the course of your time at UNCP, you will be asked to interact with media, make class presentations, accept awards, meet members of the community through service learning or community engagement opportunities, and prepare to interview for internships and employment opportunities. Unless you never intend to interact with a professor (not possible as a college student) a supervisor (not possible if you intend to eat and have a place to sleep after college) or a neighbor (making you a hermit), learn the basics of public communication. According to Inc.com, positive first impressions are usually made with an authentic smile, firm handshake, looking someone in the eye, having respectful conversation, using appropriate titles, turning off your cell phone or at the very least not looking at it, and remembering basic manners. There is no need to say something deep or funny, just relax and be yourself. Topics of conversation like the weather (Is it supposed to rain today?), someone’s day (How is your day going so far today?), their current status (How long have you been working here?), or a shared experience (Did you like the movie?) are an easy way to get a small talk flow started. Don’t feel the need to get overly detailed or personal, though a short, light, and relevant story can put people at ease. Avoid lapsing into gossip or being overly critical. And if the conversation lags, don’t get antsy, a little silence is not a bad thing. People like to be called by their name so use it when you can. Avoid slang and anything resembling profanity. This is equally true also in written conversation like email. Don’t use text-speak or script, or at the very least until someone becomes so familiar that is seems reasonable to utilize shorthand If you are speaking in public, it’s perfectly fine to have written comments prepared and there is nothing wrong with reading most or all of them. Remember to look up and make eye contact with the audience, keeping a finger on your text so that you don’t lose your place. And slow down. Take your time so people have time to hear and appreciate your remarks. This becomes easier and easier over time. If you are accepting an award, it is appropriate to thank others who are important to your success: coaches, teammates, family, and friends. Pause before responding to questions in order to gather your thoughts. Perfection is not required. When speaking in a public setting, remember that perfection is unrealistic. Psychology Today magazine reminds its readers that almost everybody gets nervous when speaking in public. Just do your best, make eye contact, deliver the words slowly and clearly, and don’t get upset if you mispronounce something or lose your place. Visual aids or presentation slides can keep you on track. Tell a short, funny, and clean joke to set your audience at ease. Don’t be afraid to poke fun at yourself. Everybody is good at something and if being a spellbinding public speaker is not on your list then it’s ok. Try to prevent the nervousness (usually healthy, and by the way you can tell the audience that you are nervous) from becoming anxiety (not helpful and unnecessary since your job is make this presentation, not a perfect one). Remember that please and thank you are always appropriate words for any occasion.

ROAD MAP - A SUCCESS MANUAL FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES

The simple truth is that student-athletes at UNCP are role models. You represent the University and you are expected to portray yourself, your team, and the University in a positive manner at all times. The athletic department recognizes and supports the rights of freedom of speech, expression and association, including the use of online social networks. However, each student-athlete must remember that playing and competing for UNCP is a privilege, not a right. Third parties, including the media, faculty, future employers, and NCAA officials, can easily access your profiles and view all of your personal information. This includes pictures, videos, comments, and posts. Inappropriate material found by third parties can be detrimental to you, the University, and your future employment options, including in professional sports. 10 Commandments of Social Media 1.

If used effectively, social media can be an asset to help a student-athlete’s individual brand, community, team and university.

Many think that they can delete a tweet or profile; actually, content posted on the internet can last forever. Tweets, Facebook statuses or Instagram photos can be captured in screenshots, saved, shared, and viewed by thousands of people.

If you retweet it (or share it), you own it. This applies even to people who put “RTs do not equal endorsements or support” on their Twitter profile. Freedom of speech does not equal freedom from consequences.

Understand social media privacy settings. Be aware that settings change. Stay current.

Apply the “Grandma Rule” with your tweets and posts. Would you be happy explaining that tweet or status to your grandma? This means no profanity.

Remember that social media is a great tattletale. If you told your coach or professor that you missed a team meeting or class because you were sick or your phone died and your timeline shows a tweet from your phone, you’re busted.

Never allow yourself to be photographed with a drink or red cup in your hand. Even if you were drinking water, nobody is going to believe you. If you have to be photographed, put your drink down or at least behind your back.

Shut down your tweets and posts for the night after a tough loss. Your followers will still be there when you have a clearer and less emotional perspective on the game.

Never get into a Twitter war. Nobody wins a Twitter war. Nobody.

10.

If your team has social media guidelines and you think they are preventing you from “keeping it real,” then you might want to reevaluate your definition of “keeping it real.” What Should You Post?

Thank you is always in style. Take the time to thank fans, teammates and family.

Use social media to support others with positive messages.

Share news and humor. Social media is meant to be fun. Join in conversations and share things you find interesting or entertaining.

Post anything consistent with your personal brand. How do you want to present yourself in public?

ROAD MAP - A SUCCESS MANUAL FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES

25 - THE IMPORTANCE OF A RESUME A resume is the single most important document for describing your past experiences and how they might translate into future success. As a college student, you should be in the process of crafting two separate types of resumes: one for your activities (a reference for you) and a second one for enticing employers and graduate schools to look closely at your potential. The activities resume should be an ongoing work in progress. Divide a document into four categories: academic, athletic, community, and employment. Each new activity, honor, award, or accomplishment should be listed in the category where it most closely fits: your high school graduation gets listed under the academic heading as does grade point average successes, college Dean’s List Honors, academic grants, honor societies, research paper presentations, or other special recognitions. Athletic accolades like all-conference, most improved, all defensive team, school performance records or personal best marks get added with each new on-field or on-court achievement. The community leadership portion includes volunteering: ways in which you give back to others through church, agency, educational, or other forms of service and leadership. And employment should include a listing of every part-time job, internship, or occupation you have held. An activities resume provides a comprehensive listing of your achievements so that you might more easily refer to them in the professional resume or in a cover letter. Rarely would you provide the activities resume to someone; it’s mostly for you. Keep it updated. If your activities resume is top-heavy in one category and deficient in another, you should develop a plan to be more well-rounded. The professional resume serves a separate purpose: it’s designed to get you an interview and eventually a job offer. It should include a section identifying who you are and the career direction you plan to go. At one time this was called a “professional objective.” Now a resume often includes a more inclusive summary section which discusses the value you bring to an organization. Relevant educational, occupational, and community activities should be organized and clearly identified. A professional resume should provide a specific skill section which could include communication, technological, and creative skills that translate to the working world. Be sure the document has obvious points of contact– address, phone, and email. And proofread your work thoroughly. Sloppiness gets your resume tossed. Submitted resumes should include polished cover letters which are written in response to the job you are interested in acquiring with that organization. Resume highlights should be noted, but don’t allow the cover letter to be a repetitive version of the resume. These documents should be rigorously edited and proofread. Contact the Career Center for guidance and support. Most importantly, start working and adding to these documents during your freshman year. Before you know it, you will be in your last semester, battling senioritis, and wondering why you didn’t have these documents ready to go three years earlier. It’s never too early to get ready for your future. 32

ROAD MAP - A SUCCESS MANUAL FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES

26 - IDENTIFY AND DEVELOP YOUR SKILLS One benefit of the periodic editing of your activities resume is that such actions identify your weaknesses. Self-scouting is the basis of improvement whether you’re talking about learning to hit a curve ball, spike a volleyball, or prevent a wrestling reversal. You must develop an objective method for determining your academic, leadership, and career weaknesses. Then you make a plan to fix those weaknesses, eventually turning them into strengths. These basic skills must be developed in order to succeed in college and be prepared for a career:

reading comprehension

writing proficiency

meeting deadlines

word processing software

presentation software

spread sheets

time management listening following instructions

effective note taking

verbal communication

data analysis

basic financial literacy

making priorities

decision making

multi-tasking setting goals team work cultural sensitivity planning focusing on details research Honesty problem solving patience work ethic determination being positive being loyal sharing credit potential trustworthiness self motivation customer service basic math information gathering business dress correspondence budgeting You should identify (objectively and realistically) how many of these skills you 1) have already developed 2) are developing and 3) remain deficient. Turn deficient into developing and developing into developed by making a plan. College is competitive; after graduation it gets more so. Have a set of skills that translates into the marketplace. If you aren’t becoming more skilled you will get left behind.

ROAD MAP - A SUCCESS MANUAL FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES

27 - FINDING A SUMMER JOB Summer jobs come in three flavors: ones that provide preparation, experience, and networking opportunities for your future career; positions that provide enough money and hours to get you through the Fall and Spring when academics, athletics, and college life leave no time for making a couple of extra bucks; and jobs that are convenient by location and hours– even if the money isn’t very good– and provide a chance to take a summer class or two. Ideally, you would find a summer job that fits at least two of the criteria. If your best work option really satisfies none of the three possibilities, then keep your eyes and ears open for something better. Oh, and having a job is the easiest way to get another one so don’t be too proud to get started. If your intention is to be home beginning in May, then be sure to start networking Summer work possibilities around Spring Break or so with phone calls, emails, online applications, or letters. If you wait until you get home for the Summer, it might be too late as other returning college students, or in some cases even high school students will have already lined up the jobs. Summer work is good for the bank account, but also good for the resume. Even the most unglamourous job looks better on a resume than a gaping hole. Career employers want to know that you spent some time in the trenches mowing grass or working fast food. A little humility is good for the soul as it might keep you a bit more focused on your studies when you come back in the Fall. And do the job well, whatever it is. Your past employers write the letters of recommendation that are read by your future career employers. And you won’t be able to list your past jobs on the resume unless you are willing for future employers to call and check on your work history. The easiest ways to make sure that your Summer job can end up on your resume is to be an effective employee. Work hard. When your tasks have been completed ask for more work. Show up on time and be ready to work. Learn the company procedures and follow them. Don’t ask for special privileges and if you need a day off for a trip then ask for it a week or more in advance. Don’t badmouth the company in public or in private and remember that every hour you spend working results in money being deposited in your bank account. Summer work is a simple transaction: you provide something of value as an employee; your employer provides something of monetary value back to you. US News and World Report suggests that Summer employees should simply “work harder than anybody else” and be sure to “connect with the regulars” be they customers or suppliers. This will get you noticed by your boss, secure a strong reference, possibly get you a raise, and put you in line to work at the same place– maybe with extra responsibility– next Summer. Unless your phone is a critical piece of communication technology for your boss to interact with you during the work day, don’t look at it, don’t use it, and consider leaving it in your car or in your secure work locker. Nothing aggravates an employer more than regularly seeing you wasting their money by playing on your phone instead of performing your duties. One day you will be hiring and karma will be right there on your door step. Be the type of employee you want working for you later in life, even while working for somebody else each Summer.

ROAD MAP - A SUCCESS MANUAL FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES

28 - HOW EMPLOYERS THINK Employers come to a decision to offer you a career job from a variety of interrelated positions. Almost all of them are related to organizational needs and the perceived value you could bring in filling those needs. What can you do that makes this a better organization? Your value is rooted in your ability to make an organization more efficient, more effective, and more profitable. Specifically, in the private sector your value is usually related to your ability to either make the company money or help it save money. Career employers want to make sure you are credible and trustworthy, bring little or no baggage, have demonstrated a solid work ethic through previous educational and employment experiences, and have potential for growth. Skill development, a variety of academic and extra curricular experiences, good grades, and demonstrated success in several different areas of life get employers interested. Employers assume the following as understood: you will work hard, take training seriously, represent the company honorably, and be careful with the company’s property, customers, and reputation. Quiet, comfortable confidence is one quality that employers look for, but be careful not to be cocky or arrogant. Your new boss will want you to be flexible to take on new challenges and functionally independent enough to not need constant instruction and supervision. Employers detest a lack of professionalism, negativity, and people that lack all semblance of teamwork. Employees constantly assigning blame, being critical of peers, subordinates, or supervisors, and seeming to want to be almost anywhere else will soon get their wish. Dress appropriately. Be neat. Cooperate and collaborate. Even the smallest most menial tasks should be seen through to completion. Not everything has to be done perfectly, but it does need to be done well, on time, and in the budget provided. Scrub your social media accounts of any posts or pictures that would reflect poorly on you, your decision-making ability, and your treatment of others. And be responsive to the customers, students, or clients that make your job possible. They are not inconveniences; they are the job. “We see our customers as invited guests to a party.” Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos summarizes, “It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.” Bezos and other employers want employees whose positive attitude and relentless quest for performance brings value every day and in every way imaginable. And, to be sure, those employees get promoted and paid. A recent article in Forbes Magazine points out that many employees think they are simply too good for entry level work– the work, somehow, seems beneath them and they should be allowed to have a more important position. Actually, in most organizations responsibility, salary, benefits, promotions, and acclaim are doled out on a step ladder approach. You have to climb the first step successfully before going on to the next. Sometimes, your talent and production will help you skip a step, but only if your value, work ethic, and production have earned that right. Employers appreciate your ambition and your initiative, but they value your positive attitude and production in the job you have. Do it well and other opportunities within and outside of your current organization will appear. That’s the way it works.

ROAD MAP - A SUCCESS MANUAL FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES

29 - JOB INTERVIEW TIPS

So you’ve developed your skills, created a comprehensive activities resume, written an eye-popping professional resume, had a great college experience, performed some meaningful summer work, applied for an awesome job, and got a call to come for an interview. Now what? Interviews are an expected part of the process and the first real opportunity for you to demonstrate your potential value to the organization. In some ways, an interview is a basic form of public communication: make a plan, do some homework, prepare for some obvious questions, and relax enough to think on your feet. If you engage the interview effectively, you will sell yourself to the employer while also learning enough about the company to determine whether you want to work there. Dress appropriately. Be on time and enthusiastic. Make eye contact. Turn your phone off. Show up with extra copies of your resume. Have a pen and professional binder so that you can take notes. Your preparation will be appreciated. If you are being interviewed, understand that there are other candidates as well. You will need to separate yourself from the other prospects by your ability to answer questions, the quality of the questions you ask, and the value you are able to demonstrate. The most basic question to answer in an interview– whether it is formally asked or not– is “why should I hire you?” Be ready to offer an answer that summarizes your past experiences, the current state of your skills, and your potential for future growth. In an interview you may want to tell a little bit about yourself, your experiences as a student-athlete, an example of your determination, a time when you overcame adversity, and why you are confident that you can perform the job well. You don’t have to know everything about the organization before you come to the interview but you should have done some basic homework before your meeting. It shows initiative and suggests that you want the job. Follow up afterwards with a personal letter or at least a professional email.

ROAD MAP - A SUCCESS MANUAL FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES

Ask questions about the strengths and weaknesses of the company. Ask where you would be in five and ten years if you went to work with the organization. Ask what traits employees that are highly successful have. Ask the person interviewing you why he or she has been happy working there. Ask about the salary and benefits, but that shouldn’t be the first thing you bring up. And definitely ask about the rest of the hiring process. Will there be second interviews? When will a final decision be made? What is the anticipated start date? Finally, if you want the job, be clear at the end of the interview in stating that you do. Your goals are to walk out of the interview having 1) revealed your value 2) learned what you need to know about the organization and 3) grasped how and when the rest of the hiring process will play out. Responding to interview questions can be a challenge. Pausing to gather your thoughts is perfectly acceptable. Don’t stretch the truth and don’t claim to have done something that you haven’t. Be genuine. Understand your strengths and range of talents and personalize your answers with the occasional example from your experiences as a student, athlete, or worker. When you have answered the question, ask one of your own or quit talking. Unnecessary and distracted rambling is unlikely to be a selling point. Relax, you got this!

ROAD MAP - A SUCCESS MANUAL FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES

30 - WHAT DOES YOUR GPA MEAN? Start with the most obvious part of grades and grade point averages: it’s a statistic and it matters. It’s not the only thing that matters, but if it didn’t have any significance nobody would compile the number and it wouldn’t appear on your transcript.So what do your grades say about you? They suggest something about your ability to set goals, meet deadlines, and your intellectual competitiveness. They indicate how well you might be able to manage your time and how well you are able to prepare projects and perform on exams. While in college, they certainly can open doors for awards, honors, leadership opportunities, and scholarships. After graduation, they can push your resume to the top for certain career positions and grad schools are likely to take a hard look at your transcripts and grades before determining whether to admit you. Look at it this way: do you want the surgeon operating on you to have barely passed anatomy and physiology or aced it? Grad schools, law schools, med schools, and top firms in certain sectors will demand excellent grades for admission or advanced career positions. A recent New York Times article notes that some employers start with a look at the transcript but then move to a more holistic examination of skills, experiences, and other factors. Did you work to pay your way through college, for example? “As long as it’s a good G.P.A.,” one finance and technology recruiter admitted in the story, “I’m going to look at who the person is rather than the grades.” What is a good GPA? Start with a goal of graduating with a 3.0 or more, and then raise your expectations if you can. A survey of 200 large companies identified in a Forbes Magazine study indicated that two out of every three large firms screened applicants by grades. That being said, grades should be kept in perspective. Average grades– while nothing to aspire to– can be supplemented with extra-curricular accomplishments, leadership positions, solid work experience, and community service. Fortune Magazine suggests average grades but a broad range of activities can be explained this way: “Although these activities negatively affected my GPA, I was able to build my skills in other ways and fulfill a number of other accomplishments, including…” Average grades can seem stronger if the last year or more of the transcript is substantially better than the first. This shows growth, and suggests that time management and study skills might not have been present at first but were gradually developed. Average overall grades look better if the grades in your major field of study are strong. This indicates that you are less versatile, but really effective at certain types of activities. If your grades are below average, the question to consider is why? Was it a time management issue? Was it effort? Did you have a series of family emergencies that prevented academic success from being a priority? And what is your plan to make sure the limitations of your academic record don’t continue to hamper your professional future? Smaller companies are less likely to sort applicants by grades and some large companies will overlook mediocre or worse grades with a compelling personal story or a strong internship experience. And once you get hired, your work performance and the value you bring to an organization can open countless doors. Your grades will matter some in getting started. How much is up to you.

31 - HONESTY AND CHARACTER It’s an old school approach to life but it’s never been more true than it is today. Character counts. If an elderly member of the community dropped a fifty dollar bill without realizing it and nobody else knew it, would you give it back or keep it? If you could cheat on a test to improve your grade without having to study and nobody would ever find out, would you do it? Would you lie to get a better job? Where do you draw the line between right and wrong? Do you treat others with the same dignity and respect you intend to receive? Some are born brilliant; others so athletic that they make the slightest movement with such grace and fluidity. Some are blessed to sing like angels and others to inspire with their words or make us laugh with their natural sense of humor. But character is developed by a person over time and reveals the essential nature in ways that money, fame, or success never can."Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident,” newspaperman Horace Greeley once announced, “riches take wing, and only character endures." When all is said and done, a person has only their character– their reputation– as a testament to their true self. Virtue, a cousin to character, might be loosely defined as knowing the difference between right and wrong and choosing right, even when choosing wrong might come with more immediate benefits. Choosing right when wrong might improve your standing is not easy to do, but it is the essential question of life. Will you do the right thing? One underrated element of character is tenacity: persistent dogged determination to keep So what makes up character? Respect, appreciation going in the face of mounting adversity. Tenacity– for others, self control, moral grounding, steadfast honesty, the ability to not quit– is useful in athletics, patience, loyalty, willingness not to exploit others, charity and academics, careers, and most every part of life. benevolence toward others, law-abiding, compassion, goodness, Michael Jordan missed over 9,000 shots and yet forgiveness, generosity, humility, accountability, responsibility, he kept taking them. He missed 26 potential game honor and probably dozens of other elements big and small. How winning shots and yet he was always prepared to do you treat others? How do you treat people behind their back? try again. Don’t quit. Every failure is just placing Do you keep your word? How do you treat people that can’t fight you another step closer to success. back? How do you interact with others who seemingly can do nothing to advance your interests? These are all questions to Finally, don’t rationalize your actions by ask yourself. As an adult, your reputation will continue to define saying ‘everybody else does it so why shouldn’t you long after your athletic career is over. Mistakes happen, but I.’ Be accountable for your victories and your don’t let carelessness or lapses in judgment redefine you for a defeats; if you want to take the credit, be ready and lifetime. Reputations take a lifetime to build but only a moment able to take the blame. Character is the sum total of stupidity to destroy. of all our actions, attitudes, beliefs, and practices. What do you want others to believe about you? Down deep, what do you believe about yourself?

ROAD MAP - A SUCCESS MANUAL FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES

32 - CAMPUS RESOURCES

ROAD MAP - A SUCCESS MANUAL FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES