General 1/13/2021 10:45:00 AM By Joe Kraus, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

Dietrich Leads "Village" Of Academic Support For Daemen Student-Athletes

General 1/13/2021 10:45:00 AM By Joe Kraus, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

Dietrich Leads "Village" Of Academic Support For Daemen Student-Athletes

AMHERST, N.Y. - Hit the weights and hit the books.

That's the message the Daemen College Division of Athletics has stressed each year to build the most well-rounded student-athletes as possible. And with the amount of success the Wildcats have had in game action, the accolades are coming now on the academic side.

In December, Daemen was one of 42 NCAA Division II members schools to receive the Presidents' Award for Academic Excellence, a prestigious honor that recognizes institutions with an Academic Success Rate (ASR) of 90% or higher among student-athletes who graduated within six years of initial collegiate enrollment. The first time Daemen has received the award since gaining full NCAA membership in 2015, the Wildcats joined St. Thomas Aquinas as the only East Coast Conference members awarded.

As Hailey Dietrich, the Student-Athlete Success and Community Engagement Coordinator, explained, the Presidents' Award is a good start for what's ahead in the semesters to come.

"The best way to put it is, it takes a village," said Dietrich, who credited her colleagues in the Student Success Center and Higher Education Opportunity Program, as well several graduate assistants, for their assistance. "If they're willing to put in the work, we have the resources here at Daemen, and if anything, we probably have better resources than a lot of places I've seen. They're very fortunate."

"We are overjoyed to receive this recognition from the NCAA," said Traci Murphy, director of athletics in December. "It's evident that academic success is a priority here, and this is an award that our entire campus can share in. Our coaches recruit talented student-athletes who embrace the opportunities they're given, both in competitive athletics and in the classroom. To assist them, we have incredible support services in place which clearly make a difference. While our teams have experienced competitive successes, the ultimate championship game for us will always be graduation day, and receiving this award makes that stance just a little bit sweeter."

A member of Daemen's Division of Athletics since 2018, Dietrich's approach towards the student-athletes on campus is seeing the entire picture – personally, academically, and lastly, athletically. Dietrich said serving as the "touch-point" person on campus has led the students in the right direction, whether they're struggling with mental health, want to get involved on campus or considering not playing anymore.

"And I'm someone who, I feel, can speak to all of those things because I've experienced all of those things," said Dietrich, who played basketball while attending William Smith College. "Or, at the end of the day, if I can't speak to it, hearing them out and maybe finding someone else to meet their experience, connecting that network for them so they can meet someone else who can give them great advice."

Each semester, Dietrich tracks student-athletes' credits and their progress towards their degrees. Additionally, for yearly awards, she submits the students' GPAs to the NCAA and the paperwork to the East Coast Conference. For each sport Daemen College offers, outside groups also request these results for their awards and scholarships. More important than the awards, Dietrich said, is the journey the student-athletes go on while at Daemen and discovering new aspects of themselves, including switching their major.

"A big part of my role is just figuring out (with the student), 'What do you love and let's run with it,' and encouraging them to utilize our career services office on campus too, to go to an internship or connect with this person to see what opportunities they have," she said. "Helping them find the solutions to the problems that they have. What is going to make you the most successful version of yourself is my main focus."

When the COVID-19 pandemic began last March, Dietrich searched for as many webinars as possible to see how other colleges and universities were adjusting their academic templates, including how their student-athlete study hall hours were managed. In the collaborative effort with other departments, as well as faculty, Dietrich came up with a game-plan to make this as less stressful as possible for everyone involved.

"For a lot of students, it's really hard to have the confidence to walk into a professor's office and have a conversation with them, so I can only imagine how more intimidating it is to email them and set up a video call or call them on the phone because a lot of folks in this generation, they really struggle with the confidence to pick up the phone and call someone," said Dietrich, who worked with students at the University at Buffalo and Canisius College before arriving at Daemen. "I always try to give them lived experiences from myself and say, 'I know this can be really intimidating and I was really nervous when I was in your spot too, but it's totally okay.' I always try to instill confidence in them."

With her easy-going and conversational personality, it's no question why she's established such a good rapport with the Daemen student-athletes the past two-and-a-half years, who aren't afraid to say hello or stop by her office for a quick conversation on their way to practice. Those aren't playing a sport on campus are sometimes sent to her by their student-athlete mentors in Daemen's Aacademic Mentorship Program if they're looking for guidance.

Dietrich credits her time spent in her mom's hair salon, First Impressions, in the Central New York city of Norwich, as where she developed her interpersonal skills as a teenager. Having those conversations at the salon helped build up her own confidence in talking to people she's still in contact with today and how to carry herself professionally.

"My mom was really big on how you dress and how you show up to work, that's how people see you," said Dietrich. "She's always said, 'You only have one shot to make a first impression.' That's always been a big thing for me, making sure that I have myself put together and I'm ready to go so that when I meet a student or anyone, no matter who you are, just cracking a joke to make them feel comfortable."

The coaches at Daemen have established a good relationship with Dietrich and her office as recruits and their parents have set appointments to talk about adjusting to college academics. Once again, her interpersonal skills are beneficial.

"I feel like I have a really good grasp of the information that both potential student-athletes and their parents are looking for," she said. "That's what I think helps make those meetings so successful and by the end of the meeting, the parents are like, 'This is so awesome that you're offering this!' And I think back to my recruiting visits and think what would I have wanted to hear? What were the pieces that were missing when I was being recruited?"

While Dietrich notes receiving the award is a great accomplishment, seeing the significant growth in Daemen's student-athletes over their four years on campus is what she enjoys most about her job.

"It's appreciating those small milestones along the way that lead up to bigger things," Dietrich said. "If I have a student struggling with a class in a semester, I right away go and check the grades when they're posted. The minute they're up and they exceed their expectations and mine, I'm firing out an email as fast as I can like, 'I'm so proud of you, you worked so hard!' I think that's so important and I try to CC their coaches on it to let them know that this person busted their butt this semester and that this is a huge victory for them.

We need to celebrate those mini victories. I think that that's so, so important."

Daemen College features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.

Support Daemen College's return to intercollegiate athletic competitions by making a contribution to the Game On Campaign and the Daemen Wildcats Gotta Play Fund. This comprehensive fundraising campaign was established to help offset the loss of valuable external revenue streams that directly support Daemen's 17 varsity programs. To learn more, visit daemenwildcats.com/gameon.

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