February 15, 2018

IAC Meeting

Attendance:  Bellard, Chu, Dupre, Mayer, Mulvaney, Thill, Zaloom

Special Guests:  Scott Shankles, Sebastian Santibanez, Michelle Kuester, Monica Strohschein

February 15, 2018

Meeting called to order at 2:20pm

Dr. Chu introduced Scott Shankles, Men’s Tennis Head Coach

Mr. Shankles – Has been at LU for 8 years.  When he first got to LU, team was not very successful.

He has graduated all players that have played all 4 years at LU.

Mr. Shankles introduced Sebastian Santibanez.  He has been at LU for 2.5 years.  He has been a member of the team that won the last 2 conference championships.  When he arrived, he did not know anyone.  He loves the school and has made many friends.  He is a business major and GPA is 3.7.  Academics and tennis are important.  If everyone on the team is working hard in the classroom and on the court, it makes for a strong team.

Dr. Chu asked if Mr. Santibanez had any problems and if he does, whom he goes to?

Mr. Santibanez says he will go to Tori Cummings (academic advisor), Moses Dupre (compliance) or his coach.

Mr. Shankles said they have easy access to Tori and compliance with Moses, since their offices are in McDonald Gym, where the tennis offices are.  If the student-athletes needs a tutor, they are always available.  He likes his student-athletes to utilize the resources that are available.

Mr. Shankles recruits kids that are great athletes and great students.  Graduation is important.  They are an All-Academic Team and has a team GPA goal of 3.2.

Dr. Chu asked Mr. Shankles what they university can do for the tennis program. 

Mr. Shankles discussed facilities and the court setup.  Three officials are now required for conference matches, but with only 5 courts in our stadium area, the groups must be split up.  The facility is nice, but does need updates.

Dr. Mulvaney asked about fundraising.  Mr. Bellard said with fundraising, everyone must be in the loop.  Coaches can’t just go out and ask for money, they must work with athletics administration and university administration with the process.  Dr. Mulvaney added that everyone needs to know the priorities in fundraising.  Mr. Shankles added that coaches would like to know the percentages of what they would need to fundraise and what the school would contribute.  Mr. Bellard said that some donors will just give and others want something in return. 

Mr. Shankles has a concern about traveling long distances, since he is driving.  His solution to this concern is that if a trip is over 4 or 5 hours, they would like to be able to get a small charter bus or a driver.

Michelle Kuester was introduced as our head volleyball coach.  She was hired as the interim head coach in November.  The biggest issue she has found with the team is a lack of discipline.  They are doing more community service and an emphasis has been placed on academics.

Ms. Kuester discussed study hall and said that previously there were no consequences, but now there is and at this point, nobody has missed their hours.

Ms. Kuester introduced student-athlete Monica Strohschein.  Ms. Strohschein is an advertising communication major.  She said with the hiring of Ms. Kuester, there has been a switch and it has also been very helpful.  She likes the change, but there is definitely more discipline.  She said lately she has been struggling mentally. 

Ms. Strohschein said the team is very close and the core members are focused on succeeding.  The team dresses the same at practice and for workouts.  The mentality of the team has changed and become more positive.  The team has worked very hard and are happy with Michelle as the head coach. 

Ms. Strohschein has enjoyed her time at LU and thinks everything is beautiful.  She loves the dorms.  She is very happy with the University.  The facilities are very nice too.

Ms. Kuester said the team has been open to change and accepting of the change.  She would like to see improvements made to the volleyball home locker room.  The setup of the locker room is not the best.  Ms. Strohschein agrees that the locker room is important for the team atmosphere and can help with recruiting.

Ms. Kuester says it is important for there to be a balance between athletics, academics and the student experience.

Meeting adjourned at 3:10