Fresno State Athletics
Bulldogs Working to Improve APR Scores
3/2/2006 12:00:00 AM | General
March 2, 2006
FRESNO, Calif. - While the majority of Fresno State athletics department teams showed improvement in the recently released NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR), Fresno State's overall scores need to continue to climb to meet national standards.
The majority of the programs are in solid shape, performing near the national average for public institutions. However, five of Fresno State's 17 sports did not meet the baseline score of 925 (baseball, men's basketball, men's tennis, wrestling and softball). Each program has started a plan to move the score in an upward direction.
The latest data shows Fresno State's football APR score for 2004-05, which already ranked first in the WAC, had an aggregate score of 950, up from the 939 first-year score that was reported in February 2005. The previous score was for the 2003-04 academic year and showed Fresno State ranked fourth-best among schools in the western United States. Of schools in the Pac-10, Western Athletic and Mountain West conferences, only Stanford, Air Force and Utah had a higher APR score for the 2003-04 year.
The Bulldog football team scored higher than the national average of 929, significantly higher than the average for public institutions (920) and on pace with private institutions (955).
. "The Bulldog football team under Pat Hill continues to perform at a high level, exceeding the national average, while ranking among the nation's highest in APR score," said Betsy Mosher, Senior Associate Athletics Director for Compliance and Program Integrity
Several of other sports also showed improved APR scores, including baseball up to an 864, women's basketball from 932 to 937 and softball from 865 to 905. The women's golf team scored a perfect 1000 in its first APR report and the men's golf team was significantly higher than the national average.
The Bulldog basketball team showed vast improvement from its initial score of 611, improving 114 points to 725. The Bulldogs are still below the NCAA standard of 925 in men's basketball but were not subject to penalties this year. First-year head coach Steve Cleveland and the Bulldogs will need some time in order to overcome the initial poor score.
The reports include aggregate APR data for comparative purposes, including by-sport APR averages for all of Division I and for each subdivision. Teams that don't reach an APR score of 925 may be subject to a penalty. An APR of 925 should reflect at least a 50 percent graduation rate.
While the Bulldog baseball team improved its score, it still suffered a scholarship penalty reduction of 10% for 2006-07, which equates to a loss of 1.17 scholarships.
According to Mosher, the sport of baseball, due to its nature, is prone to receiving penalties [poor scores] because of the number of players leaving early for the Major League baseball draft. The baseball coaching staff has a plan in place to help ensure if players leave early, they do so in good academic standing by completing their academic work in their final semester. On whole, in the sport of baseball, the national average for public institutions lies below the 925 score, so more work needs to be done not only at Fresno State but across the nation to address this concern.
"We have a solid plan and procedures in place that will help us improve. It will take some time for those sports below the 925 score to reach that mark since it is an aggregate score, but based on the improvements we've already seen, we are on the right track," said Mosher. "I'm confident that the baseball coaches do a very good job with their team. They have a good academic program in place, and the coaches are very involved with the student-athletes to create accountability. They have had success in recent years in terms the number of Academic All-WAC players and have produced a solid grade point average. The student-athletes should be commended for that. Unfortunately, the loss of some players for a variety of reasons over the last couple of years, and the manner in which those players left Fresno State, has hurt the program. We will address that in the future."
Additionally, Mosher said Fresno State student-athletes will be better educated about the value of their education and the impact they have on the APR scores, stressing accountability toward the institution and their team regardless of their professional plans.
"Our goal is not to focus our programs on the minimum score of 925," said Mosher. "The goal is to exceed the national average APR score for fellow public institutions and rank in the upper 50 percent nationally for each sport. By doing so, we will see improvements in our graduation rates as well. In changing our culture, whether it be a change in our compliance culture or our academic culture, we need to strive for excellence and not to just reach the minimum standards."
More information about the APR is available on the NCAA website: www.ncaa.org.
