In her role as faculty chair of the Athletic Council, Professor Kathleen Smith gets to meet most student-athletes. One thing stands out in her discussions with them.

"I'm struck in the exit interviews by the pride that most of our student-athletes take in meeting the expectations of both athletics and academics, and achieving both at a high standard," Smith said. "This takes tremendous willpower on part of the student. The most important factor in classroom success is extraordinary discipline and desire on part of the student."

Balancing the needs of Division I athletics with the demands of a Duke undergraduate education has never been easy, and Smith said it's not getting easier.

"This is largely because of the increasing time demands of the sport," she said. "For many of our sports, there is no off-season, even when there is no official competition. Because of the demands of TV scheduling, I think our basketball scheduling and travel is almost out of hand. Many of our Olympic sports travel more and practice more, which places increased pressure on our students."

Balancing these demands requires several skills, most importantly time management, Smith said. These are skills that many teen-agers don't come to college with, but Duke athletic and academic officials closely monitor their development to ensure satisfactory progress toward the degree.

Chris Kennedy, associate director of athletics, said a range of assistance is available to every student-athlete, from tutoring to advising to assistance with time management. Working with Dean Robert Thompson, the athletic department has devised a program to identify struggling students early in their careers and see what assistance can help them adjust to college.

The key aspect of the effort is its individualized approach, which provides the appropriate resources that each student-athlete needs, Kennedy said.

"The range of backgrounds of the some 600 student-athletes is enormous," he said. "You're not going to use the same plan for each of them. We sit down with them and see what their needs are."

Students say they come to Duke because of the opportunity to mix athletics with the education at a major research university. Below, two graduating seniors talk about how they balanced those expectations.