Athletic director Mike Riley is looking to break some stereotypes held about athletes. And if all goes well with a pilot program, the results produced will be able to break those stereotypes.

That program, athlete study groups, requires all of the members of the basketball team and most of those on the baseball team to study three hours a week in LRC-B.

Student-athletes also have opportunities to join in study groups for certain classes.

"So far it’s been working very well for us," said Riley. "They’ve got all the resources there available to them."

The program is also available to students who aren’t involved in any sports. There are approximately 30 baseball players enrolled in the program and all 15 basketball players are in it according to program coordinator Mary Turchi.

It began this year as the brainchild of various discussions between Turchi, Riley and the athletes.

"It started out with discussions; it was an idea we had," said Turchi. "We got it from talking to the coaches. We knew we had several of the players down here in the labs. We just got to talking to them and that’s how it came about."

Turchi said the only problem with the program is the amount of space that is available to use.

"We’re limited because of how much space there is in LRC-B," said Turchi. "But we’re trying to deal with that as best as we can."

Baseball coach Bob Koopman said he hasn’t seen any problems with the program either.

"I think it’s a good program to help them study," he said. "I think some of them may not like it, but they’ll do it because they know they have to."

Turchi said the program helps athletes budget their time.

"It gives them a place to come and study and help them as far as planning their time," said Turchi. "They also have to coordinate practice schedules, game schedules. Because of the demands of their sport they get a chance to coordinate their study time too."

Riley agrees.

"It’s kind of force-feeding them at time but it’s working," he said. "By the time they come home at night after practice or a game their study time kind of falls by the wayside."

The study groups are part of a pilot program. This means that the program is on a trial basis. The future of the program is hinging on the kind of results it produces.

"We’ll see how well it works," said Riley. "We want to make sure that it’ll come through and work, but we want to see how it has been working at the semester time."

And should the results of the program be as desired, it could expand to the athletes in other sports.