Approval of Previous Minutes —

Minutes from 9/5/2025 sent to committee ahead of time. Josh Arpin motions to approve. Megan Greene seconds. Minutes approved without objection. 

New Business —

Jana calls for committee updates: These were also e-mailed to the group ahead of time with the agenda and previous minutes. 

Committee Updates: (Megan, Josh and Austin)

AEC classes for international athletes: Megan

• Anna and Megan had a preliminary meeting with Ryan, Stephanie, and Kara Wiebe to better understand the scope and nature of the problem. Together, we drafted a message to Pam Pearson (AEC Director) and Roberta Pokphanh (AVP in charge of the AEC) to serve as a starting point for a conversation.
• Pam, Roberta, and Sandra Issa (AEC scheduler) met with Ryan, Kara, and Megan to discuss.
• Everyone from both groups now has a much clearer understanding of the issues. It's very clear that the AEC values the student athletes and wants to do whatever they can to accommodate their needs while still providing them with the English language instruction they need to succeed at KU. The AEC would also like to ensure that they can offer classes at all levels so as to provide the coaches with a recruiting edge (since relatively few US institutions have an AEC). So, everyone is on the same page in terms of the desire to facilitate recruitment of and properly serve international student athletes. However, the AEC, as a self-funded unit, has to work within its budgetary (and thus scheduling) constraints, and now Ryan and Kara have a clearer sense of those constraints. 

Several topics came up, including:

1. Kara and Sandra already have a very positive working relationship and Sandra does her best to accommodate Athletics. However, there are some structural changes that can be made to facilitate the relationship (and service to international student athletes in need of language assistance).
2. The AEC will work on rescheduling their diagnostic tests so that accurate placement can happen before the first day of class.
3. The AEC is going to be reworking its curriculum/course scheduling practices this spring and will stay in touch with Kara, as a stakeholder, as they do this. Up until now, the AEC has not followed the standard KU schedule, but they are going to start doing that next year, which will help with some scheduling issues Kara faces.
4. The AEC now has the full list of sports practice schedules and although there is no time that works perfectly for all sports, there are some available times when most students would be able to be in class.
5. There's a certain amount of unpredictability about when international athletes will arrive on campus, which poses challenges for both the AEC and Kara/Athletics in terms of scheduling. This just requires more flexibility on everyone's part.
6. One of the challenges for the AEC is that Athletics has been recruiting larger numbers of students from countries, such as Kenya, where English is just one of the official languages.

• The KU policy about who has to provide a TOEFL score recognizes the diversity of kinds of "world English.” Some exemptions are possible from some English-speaking countries. However, that means no one at KU knows the language learning needs that such students may have (if, for example, a Kenyan student is fluent in Kiswahili but not in English) before they arrive. The AEC and KUIA will work on developing strategies for addressing this issue in a timelier way.
• We also discussed possibly advocacy both by the AEC/KUIA and by Athletics for KU to commit some basic funding to the AEC to ensure that it can continue to offer level 1 and level 2 classes (which currently have low enrollment and/or aren't always offered). 

The main outcome is the overt recognition that the collaboration between AEC and Athletics is important and significant to both entities, and a commitment by the AEC and Athletics to continue working together to come up with both short term (on a student-by-student basis) and long term (some structural changes to how the AEC schedules and tests) solutions. Since Pam is new to her job and is currently looking at ways to improve how the AEC operates, the timing of this meeting was very good.

Additional comments: 

AEC is doing all they can. Availability and financial constraints can be significant challenges. May need to look at Athletics for possible financial help. Online courses provide additional challenges for AEC students as well.

• Most students that come to KU have a fair amount of English but don’t have quite enough.
• If students check the “no” box and take the TOEFL, the score often isn’t high enough and are required to take AEC courses – but some departments can’t afford AEC courses. 

Next steps: trying to give “data points” : 

• What does Athletics forecast for international students (which can be difficult to predict)?
• How many student athletes enrolled in AEC? 

Funding and Availability are two greatest challenges – ideally in a language class, don’t want to be only student also. 

DPR to Stellic: 

• Shu talks about the shift away from DPR to Stellic.
• There have been some personnel changes. Shu has been working with Athletics on this. What documents should be used by Stellic? Things are still in the work and tweaking stage, but the DPRS will be going away in next two years. 

• Athletics uses PTD (Progress to Degree) to determine eligibility so it’s quite important. If something’s not working for Shu or Steph’s team, can run into significant challenges. 

   

Support the overall well-being of student-athletes, including nutrition, physical and mental health, and safety. - Austin

• All of these areas are paramount to the student-athlete experience, and one in which Travis (and the entire KA department) has been intentional about having these services available and with the highest standard of staff in these roles. 

• With the personnel changes KA went through in the spring, this area continued to be focused on ensuring they have the staff to support our student athletes in all facets of their health and wellness.

   

Review Student-Athlete Advisory Committee programs and recommend ways to increase student-athlete engagement in campus and community activities. 

Use insights from KAI exit interviews and university surveys. - Austin

• Ongoing process. KU Leads continues to be a great leader for our student athletes in this space - including collaboration with many different programs on campus to come and talk to our student athletes about a variety of topics.
• This will continue to be a focus for KA throughout the academic year.

Track developments in college athletics and assessing potential impacts on the University of Kansas. - Austin

Ongoing process, change is always being monitored to see what impact these may have on the KA department and student-athletes.  

Monitor transfer portal trends and assess their impact on student-athlete retention. Share solutions as needed. - Austin

• The transfer portal has certainly impacted on student-athlete retention.
• However, with the support our student-athletes receive academically, most (nearly all) of our student-athletes who elect to enter the portal and transfer out are doing so while being academically eligible.
• With the football transfer portal changing to January, KA has put plans in place now to prepare for the influx of new student-athletes at the start of the year. 

Support KU’s athletic compliance efforts by assisting KAI with necessary resources. Austin

On going process for sure, especially given the rate at which bylaws are being modified. Every year, the KA compliance staff attends the NCAA regional rules event, in addition to multiple NCAA webinars throughout the year, to ensure the KA staff is well versed on the ever-changing landscape.

Early Access to Required Trainings (EDU/Online) - Josh

We are in active conversations about the future of the mandated online training courses for students: 

• Josh e-mailed “Orientation” – Jen Wamelink mentioned they’re in active conversation about the Title IX trainings.
• Josh asked about moving the training to earlier for athletes.
• Trying to get business courses online over the summer. Finance is going online.
• If there are athletes that need the online class and it’s “full” please reach out to instructors as they can usually add the students.
• However, international athletes are required to take “in person” classes.
• Josh is doing pilot in Testing Center – athlete travel can be tricky but so far, it’s working out. 

With the expanded Big 12, when some athletes are gone, they can be gone for several days. 

• Could the committee produce a form/template to share with the professor – that is signed by the athletic representative? Then the athletes feel they are owning the process.
• For example: Student looks at the syllabus and says: here are the days I know I’ll be gone, or think I’ll be gone – this is how I’d like to make up the work.
• This also helps athletes build out their calendars. Steph has some reservations/concerns as not all faculty are ready to work with this or may not be ready to be as accommodating.
• What does the committee recommend? Susan shares the “illness” part of the policy is what’s causing headaches – Susan would like to advocate for pulling the illness part out of the policy. Student athletes can be penalized due to this.
• Sarah mentions this can be an issue with Student Access Center.
• Jack, Grace, and Josh – come up with recommendation on this? Josh thinks tackle the illness part “first”  - Josh will work with Susan.
• Getting the word out about the Testing Center is important. Even though there have been some struggles, the pilot has helped catch these things. This is helpful for finding ways to make the testing center successful.
• The other concern is that policies aren’t enforced also. The Final Exam policy is a good example. 

Student Athlete Advisory Review – Casey 

• 5th year/medical hardship qualifier: this hasn’t been filled in quite some time.
• The archives haven’t been updated.
• Casey went through exit interviews and saw some negative trends regarding some athletes who felt their educational needs weren’t being met.
• How could we gain more exposure for SAC?
• Might be cool…for student athletes to meet with other students. Student Athletes can exist in own circle. Casey couldn’t find funding info for SAC. Look at lines of funding (maybe through Student Fee) for events?
• Community Engagement? Casey would like to talk to Community Engagement representative. 

Anna: Transfer portal before spring enrollment? This would be helpful. 

Next meeting is Feb 6 : 12:00 – 1:00pm in Wagnon Conference Room – Wagnon Student Athletic Center 2nd Floor. 

Meeting Adjourned