There are plenty of misconceptions about what higher education and intercollegiate athletics are supposed to look like. The truth is, however, is that there isn???t a specific blueprint that any one of the NCAA???s 1,000+ institutions follow. In today???s Coaches??? Corner post, Baruch women???s volleyball coach Allison Gunther discusses the experience her players have as student-athletes at a commuter school in the heart of New York City.

Although I have been at Baruch College for 14 months, it only took me one month to realize that Baruch was a college like none other!

Baruch is located in the heart of New York City, in buildings 14 stories high equipped with escalators and elevators. The college is the largest public business school in the United States, and the second most diverse institution with more than 15,000 students.

I also recently discovered that most of the student population commutes on average 40 minutes to attend class four days a week because we do not have dorms.

But that???s not a knock on Baruch; it???s actually proof that Baruch???s academic reputation is so esteemed that students will tolerate the commute to get a top-notch education at an outstanding price of $2,000 per semester for an in-state resident!

I initially wondered how it was possible for an urban school, with no dorms or on-campus fields, to possibly be successful in athletics? I was in for a learning experience.

In the past two years, we have won seven conference championships and have had five teams qualify for the NCAA tournament. We have also won back-to-back Commissioner???s Cups, which are awarded to the college with the most successful athletic program in the City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC).

I believe that one of the reasons our teams are so successful is that the athletes support one another, whether it???s traveling on the fan van to a soccer game in Queens or helping out one another with homework in the student-athlete lounge. Because Baruch does not provide dorms, the athletics department and student-athlete lounge becomes their second home and their fellow student-athletes their extended family.

Although most students commute from home, we have recruited more and more student-athletes from around the country and abroad. On my volleyball team alone, I have players from Texas, Arkansas, Nevada, Albania, West Indies and Puerto Rico. And instead of dorms, athletes find apartments together in New York City.

All this success comes with the dedication of our athletics staff and coaches, consisting of seven full-time and eight part-time employees, and more importantly, the student-athletes who manage to balance their schoolwork, practices/games and commutes into their busy schedules.

Baruch College is truly a unique place.