NAU Athletic Programs Post Solid APR Report for Third Straight Year
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - The Northern Arizona University athletics program continues to demonstrate its academic success, according to the NCAA Academic Progress Report (APR) released today. All 15 sponsored sports are exceeding NCAA academic standards for the third straight year.
Seven teams had multi-year scores above 970 with 12 programs above 950. Two programs had perfect 1000 single-year APR rates in 2010-11 including women’s cross country and women’s tennis.
“The APR numbers have been consistently good for the department,” said Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Lisa Campos. “It is a great gauge on the job done by our coaches and staff starting with the recruitment process all the way through graduation.”
The APR is a real-time measure of eligibility, retention and graduation of student-athletes competing on every Division I sports team, which has been shown to predict graduation success. Overall, NAU produced 66 student-athlete graduates over the last two semesters during the 2011-12 school year.
The multi-year APR score is based on a four-year rolling average registering overall athlete eligibility and retention during the 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years. This year marks the eighth year of APR data.
The NAU football program, which won the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Athletics Directors Association APR award last season, ranked second in the Big Sky at 949 behind only Sacramento State. Head Coach Andre Luciano’s soccer program had the highest multi-year rate in the league at 985 among the soccer programs, while the women’s tennis (992) and women’s basketball (981) teams were both second in the conference. The men’s indoor and outdoor track and field teams both were third among their peers in the league.
The women’s tennis program has the highest multi-year APR score at 992, while the women’s soccer teams had a multi-year rate of 985. The women’s basketball program recorded a 981 with volleyball at 979 and women’s swimming and diving team at 976.
Under the revised penalty structure, the Division I Board of Directors has set a cut score of 900 (out of 1,000) as a threshold for teams to meet or face possible sanctions. That cut score will increase to 930 in a few years. An APR of 930 projects a 50 percent Graduation Success Rate (GSR).
Points are awarded on a semester basis for retention and academic eligibility with four points available for each student-athlete each year.
APR Data, Postseason Ineligibility and Penalty Information:
http://web1.ncaa.org/maps/am1tbw1c3kaprRelease.jsp
Head Coaches APR Portfolio:
http://web1.ncaa.org/coachAprSearch/exec/searchSelectAction?tabNav=ok&p=t1tpw4s0m