Academics & Athletics

Scholar-athletes at McMurry University are considered as regular students and their academic class loads should reflect this. I n general, a scholarathlete should average 15-16 hours per semester in order to graduate in four years. Taking fewer hours will necessitate going to summer school or extending the graduation date. The athletic department encourages 15-16 hours per semester. Although many people feel that class loads should be reduced during a sport’s season, statistics show that scholar-athletes do as well or better during the sport season compared to the off season. Naturally, common sense must prevail so if a scholar-athlete faces a semester with three or more extremely difficult classes, fewer hours might be warranted.

The athletic and academic experience for McMurry scholar-athletes should go hand in hand. Every effort should be made to eliminate the conflict between class attendance and athletic participation. Time conflicts create stress in the scholar-athletes that could affect their classroom and athletic performance. Every scholar-athlete should be afforded the opportunity to excel in the classroom while succeeding on the athletic field. Athletes will not be penalized by the athletic staff if they have to miss practice for a class. However, they are expected to be present for every game, with an excused absence from class. At a small university where multiple sections of classes are not offered, scheduling for scholarathletes can be problematic. This can be minimized by cooperation between athletic department staff and faculty.

To minimize problems, NO classes should be missed other than excused absences for games.