Matt Meredith, Slippery Rock University tennis coach and academic coordinator, supervises during a student-athlete table session study in the McKay Education Building at the university. The study tables normally meet three hours a night, five nights a week.

SLIPPERY ROCK — The acronym AAA has nothing to do with automobiles when it comes to Slippery Rock University athletics.

It's all about thriving at and not just staying in school.

“Triple-A stands for our Athletic Academic Assistance program,” SRU athletic director Paul Lueken said. “The other AAA may get you back on the road.

“Our AAA keeps our student-athletes on the road to graduation.”

The Rock's AAA program includes study tables, tutoring help and a writing center. All freshmen and first-year transfer student-athletes must attend a supervised study table session for at least four hours per week.

The study table is in the McKay Education Building from 7 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday.

“When an upperclassman maintains a grade-point average above 2.3, study table is no longer required,” said Matt Meredith, SRU tennis coach and academic coordinator. “Freshmen and other first-year transfers need to have a 3.5 after a semester to leave study table.

“We have strict rules in here. No food is allowed, only water, and we keep it quiet. Some nights, we'll have more than 100 athletes in here.”

Meredith said athletes “check in” to study table sessions by swiping their student I.D. card and making a thumbprint.

“This is a closely monitored system,” he said. “I have physical therapy grad students monitoring the room at all times. They are serious about studying and set the tone for the room.”

If an athlete fails to put in at least four hours, he is forced to spend an extra hour at a study table. A second violation results in sitting out a practice, a third results in sitting out a competition.

“We rarely have to worry about that,” Meredith said. “The athletes are good about getting here.”

SRU has roughly 450 student-athletes in 17 sports. The Rock had 179 of them earn PSAC Scholar-Athlete honors last year, sporting a GPA of 3.25 or higher. That number ranked second in the 16-team conference.

Less than 2 percent of the school's athletes were lost to academic ineligibility at any point.

“We're down around 1 percent — less than 10 (athletes) per year,” Lueken said.

Academic progress of each student-athlete is charted by the academic assistance program and the individual's coaches are notified of any negative trends.

All incoming SRU student-athletes receive an orientation making them aware of what's available to them through Athletic Academic Assistance.

“If a tutor is needed for someone in a particular area, we line one up,” Meredith said. “The writing center is here to assist the student-athlete in research papers or similar projects.

“Different models are out there, but most schools have a program like this. Do well in the classroom, perform better on the field.”

However, Grove City College does not offer an academic assistance program for its athletes. Academic entrance requirements are relatively high there.SRU's men's and women's cross country teams earned All-Academic team honors from the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association last fall. The men's basketball team has graduated 17 of its 19 seniors under third-year coach Kevin Reynolds.An 18th player will graduate this summer. The other, Denell Stephens, is playing professional basketball in Europe.“And he plans on getting his degree,” Reynolds said. “Our graduate assistants and assistant coaches do random classroom checks to make sure our guys are in there.“Our players are serious about school, the academic advisory department here is very effective and the coaches offer structure and guidelines. It's a three-pronged attack.”Shawn Lutz, assistant academic coordinator and football defensive coordinator, said the average GPA of Rock student-athletes is 2.98, higher than that of the general student population at 2.95.In the past five years, 97 percent of SRU's football players have graduated.“We have 38 of our 90 players with grade point averages above 3.0,” Lutz said. “If you're not going to class and you're doing poorly, that's your fault.“If you're genuinely trying, but struggling, the help is here and we provide it.”SRU's Triple-A program even loans out laptop computers for student-athletes to use on road trips.“The bus can be a good study place, too,” Meredith said.

Bre Tongel, front, a freshman on the softball team at Slippery Rock University, of Mt. Lebanon studies during a table session.