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“ ” THE TEAM Athletic competition may have stopped, but the action has never been more intense for Washington’s Student-Athlete Academic Services
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BY BRIAN BEAKY EDITOR • GOHUSKIES MAGAZINE
ver the past two months, thousands of Americans nationwide have found themselves taking on a new role as teacher or tutor to students conducting all of their schoolwork at home. From managing Zoom schedules, to creating calendars of assignment and project deadlines, to helping children understand lessons and complete their homework — all while trying to communicate with similarly overburdened teachers — the process has led many parents to express their exasperation on social media platforms, and created a newfound or increased appreciation among parents for the day-to-day efforts of those responsible for educating our children. Imagine, then, being responsible for coordinating the learning of not one or two students, but more than 600. Spread across nearly all 50 states and multiple international locations. And, jointly, attending more than 1,000 PAGE 20
different classes, each one with its unique method of conducting distance learning, as determined by its professor. If you can't imagine that — well, lucky you. If you can, then you're probably Kim Durand, or one of the many hard-working tutors and support staff working in the UW's Student-Athlete Academic Services department. In a normal quarter, Durand's job is a busy one. As UW's Senior Associate Athletics Director for Student Development, Durand is the chief administrator of all things related to the "student" in student-athlete. That includes everything from career and academic counseling, tutoring and registration, to long-term planning and the complex task of coordinating student-athletes' travel and practices with lectures and tests. This quarter has been anything but normal. GoHUSKIES
