Goodman completes academic services staff
6/21/2013 12:00:00 AM | General
June 21, 2013
Lindsey Goodman, a former All-WAC track and field athlete at Idaho and most recently an academic support services intern for the UCLA football program, has been hired as an athletics academic advisor at Montana. Goodman will also be the department's NCAA Life Skills program coordinator.
Goodman, who will be the academic advisor for the Griz football program, joins Jen Zellmer-Cuaresma and Grace Harris, a former Griz soccer player, in Montana's academic services department.
Zellmer-Cuaresma is the academic advisor for the UM soccer, women's basketball, golf and tennis teams and will add softball when the coach of that program is hired later this summer. Harris covers the volleyball, cross country, men's basketball and track and field teams.
Goodman, a native of Boise, was a multiple-time All-WAC performer for the Vandal track and field team. She was three times first- or second-team All-WAC in the indoor pentathlon and two times All-WAC in the outdoor heptathlon, all while excelling academically.
"I understand student-athletes because I was one myself," Goodman said. "I know how tired they can get and how stressful the day-to-day activities can be, and I know how important it is to learn how to manage your time.
"It's important to relate to the student-athletes who you work with on a personal basis and let them know that you've been in their shoes and know how difficult it can be. Hopefully they see me as someone who's found success through her own college career."
Goodman was a regular on the Dean's List and Academic All-WAC teams at Idaho, and graduated in May 2010 with a degree in sport science, with a minor in psychology. She added a master's degree in athletic administration, achieved with a 4.0 GPA, from Idaho State in December 2011.
She began her career in the area of academic support while still an undergraduate, tutoring football and men's basketball players her final four semesters at Idaho. As part of her graduate program at ISU, Goodman spent the 2011-12 school year as an intern at Boise State in the academic advising field.
That led to her internship this past year at UCLA, where one of her primary duties was providing academic guidance to the freshmen on the Bruin football team.
"Having been a student-athlete, then working at two other universities and getting my graduate degree from another, I think I can bring a lot to this department, because I've been able to see how other departments operate and what they do that works and what they've tried that hasn't worked," she said.
"It's been stressful moving from place to place, but I've enjoyed my experiences along the way. It's allowed me to discover that I like the Northwest and a smaller town with clearer air and working in a community where the university is at the center of things. And here the university is the hub."
In her new position, Goodman will be responsible for the academic progress of Montana's nearly 100 football players. The Grizzlies had a team-record 2.92 GPA last fall and in the spring had 42 of 94 players post a GPA of 3.0 or better.
"I've primarily worked with the football programs at Idaho, Boise State and UCLA to this point in my career. Although it's a high-profile sport, I'm comfortable with football and comfortable with that population. I'm honored to work with the football program here," Goodman said.
"I've always loved education and had a passion for learning. This line of work allows me to hopefully instill that passion in other student-athletes."
As the department's Life Skills coordinator, Goodman will work with all of Montana's new student-athletes on making the transition to college life, covering areas from note-taking to study habits to time management.
The Life Skills program takes student-athletes through the end of their collegiate careers as well, concluding with resume-writing and other tasks necessary to make the transition to the work world.
