Faculty Mentor Award by the NCAA Division II National Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). He will be honored as the 2014 winner on Jan. 15, 2015, at the Division II FARs reception during the NCAA Convention in Washington, D.C.
"When I became the FAR, I had a couple goals: One was to get the faculty to better understand that our student-athletes are student-athletes, that academically they do really well, and that our student-athletes are not dumb jocks," said Landers, a psychology professor who is in his 32nd year at the College, and ninth as the FAR.
"I think the proof in that is that, of 21 varsity teams, we have only seven teams that don't have at least a 3.0 GPA, but of those seven teams that don't have a 3.0 GPA, six of them have at least a 2.9. That's pretty darn good. The other thing I wanted to do was to get our student-athletes to understand that faculty care about them outside of the classroom. More students are communicating with their faculty members about playing a sport and discussing their schedule, and finding solutions to potential conflicts. We're also seeing more and more and more faculty at more and more of our athletic events."
As the College's FAR, Landers acts as a liaison between the student-athletes and the institution's faculty. He has played an integral role in a number of initiatives that have helped improve academic performance by Purple Knight student-athletes, including strengthening the Faculty Team Affiliate Program by recruiting a faculty member to join each varsity program and aid in the solution of academic hurdles.
Landers also established the Academic Mentor Program, which was founded to focus on giving additional attention to teams that were underachieving academically.
"When I first read about this award, Dave was the first person I thought of," said Southern New Hampshire FAR Doug Blais. "Dave's passion for the well-being of student-athletes is unparalleled and is exemplified in all that he does. Dave makes all the FARs in the NE-10 strive to be better, and we are extremely proud to have Dave representing us."
"We have coaches, faculty and student-athletes completely supported by the athletic administration and the academic administration, with 110-percent support from the president of the College. And it is that collaborative effort that makes for the success we've had here. That makes me look good, and it's not me: It's our athletes, coaches, faculty, athletic administration and academic administration, and knowing that I can go to the president at any time and discuss any of these issues. That's what makes this a success."
"When I became the FAR, I had a couple goals: One was to get the faculty to better understand that our student-athletes are student-athletes, that academically they do really well, and that our student-athletes are not dumb jocks."
'I Am the NE-10' Video feature oN Landers
Saint Michael's College Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR) Dave Landers was selected as the recipient of the second annual Dr. Dave Pariser