THE FLATS – Georgia Tech’s JumpStart Jackets Virtual Edge Program was recognized on Tuesday by the National Association of Academic and Student-Athlete Development Professionals (N4A) with the Model Practices Award for Academics.
The N4A presents two model practices awards each year – one in the area of academics, and one in the area of student-athlete development, to universities and colleges that display best practices in their programming of student-athletes.
Georgia Tech Athletic Association's Student Services receives 2021 N4A Model Practices Award for Academics.
Introduced in summer 2015, the JumpStart Jackets program was created as a transition program for first-year student-athletes to prepare them for being a student at Georgia Tech. The multi-week program focused on programming that included key academic and learning skills, familiarization with campus partners, communication with faculty, time management and introductions on life skills via the Total Person Program. The program became a “jump start” to the student-athlete experience at Georgia Tech.
Offered to all first-year student-athletes, the collaboration between GTAA and campus partners has provided student-athletes a robust presentation and introduction to many people and resources prior to the first day of classes. Led by Georgia Tech’s Student Services staff, the program also provides opportunities for student-athletes to engage with staff from compliance, sports medicine, communications, sport psychologist and the Total Person Program staff.
Georgia Tech academics staff team photo for Model Practices AwardIn March 2020, the student services staff moved forward with the first-ever JumpStart Jackets Virtual Edge Program due to Covid-19 and the campus transition to virtual courses and virtual academic support. Georgia Tech staff worked with campus to create an entirely virtual program using the CANVAS course site as the primary platform, allowing student-athletes the opportunity to familiarize with virtual learning, while still getting a “jump start” to the college transition.
The virtual program, separated into modules, remained connected to campus partners, allowing presenters the opportunity to connect with the student-athletes via BlueJeans. The program has seen tremendous success since its inception and its complete transition to a virtual format last summer allowed Georgia Tech’s 2020-21 first-year students a reinvented program to aid in their college transition.
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Georgia Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of developing Georgia Tech’s Everyday Champions and helping the Yellow Jackets compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the Support The Swarm Fund, which helps Georgia Tech athletics offset the significant financial challenges associated with Covid-19, and the Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes. To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
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