University News
Western Illinois Proactive Response to NCAA Academic Progress Rate Score for Men's Basketball Team
May 6, 2008
MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois University administrators have already taken action in anticipation of the NCAA's Academic Progress Rates (APR), which were announced today for all sports teams at Division I colleges and universities.
Despite most recently producing its best academic semester on record, the Western Illinois men's basketball team received a score of 874. The Division I Board of Directors set cut scores of 925 and 900 (out of 1,000) as a threshold for teams to meet or face possible immediate and historical sanctions. As an institution, Western Illinois received a score of 947.
The APR, now in its fourth year, measures the eligibility, retention and graduation of Division I student-athletes, and serves as a predictor of graduation success. The most recent scores are based on a multi-year rate that averages scores from the 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06, and 2006-07 academic years.
"What we are facing now in men's basketball are the historical sanctions," said Western Illinois Director of Athletics Dr. Tim Van Alstine. "We saw four-plus years without a successful retention rate or graduation rate, so we had already begun taking the necessary steps to reverse that trend. We have seen some of the fruits of our labor in the past semester, but that is only a start to what we want to accomplish."
Earlier this Spring the NCAA approved an APR improvement plan submitted by the University. Significant components of the plan include hiring an additional full-time athletics academic advisor, creating additional space for academic services, and increasing emphasis on roster retention and transfer student-athlete success.
"We have taken the challenges of improving our APR score very seriously, and we have seen improvement," said Van Alstine, of scores that have improved each of the past four years. "We have implemented strategies and programs to help facilitate this change, placing special emphasis on both eligibility and retention. We have closely examined our recruiting efforts and our coaching philosophies."
"Academics is the number one reason these young men are here," said head coach Jim Molinari. "We are a very attractive institution both academically and athletically, and we are committed to helping our student-athletes succeed in both areas."
"As a University that values academic excellence at its core, we are fully committed to the principles in the APR academic behavioral shift," said Van Alstine. "We are close to turning the corner, but it is not something that can be changed overnight. We will continue to review and improve our plan on an ongoing basis."
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Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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