The Faculty Athletic Representative s (FAR s) Annual Presentation to the Academic Senate on the State of Georgia Tech s Intercollegiate Athletics Program April 18, 2006 Dr. Daniel P. Schrage Georgia Tech FAR and Professor, School of A.E.
Presentation Outline FAR s Roles and Responsibilities Contributions to the Education Mission Understanding the recent NCAA Academic Reform Statistical Information on the Academic Performance of Georgia Tech Scholar-Athletes Compliance with all Institutional, Conference and NCAA Regulations Recent changes in Certifying Athletic Eligibility FAR Initiative to Tighten the Bond between Academics and Athletics Summary and Conclusions
FAR s Role and Responsibilities ACC and NCAA Represent the institution as the FAR with the ACC and NCAA Serve on various ACC and NCAA committees Assist with interpretation of and voting on new legislation
FAR s Role and Responsibilities Georgia Tech Serve as the liaison between the Georgia Tech Athletic Association and Georgia Institute of Technology with regard to maintaining the proper balance between academics and athletics participation. Meet periodically with the President and the Athletic Director for advisement Serve as Vice-President on the Georgia Tech Athletic Association Athletic Board Meet annually with the Faculty Senate on academic/athletic matters Serve as a member of the committee to determine proper governance procedures Serve as a member of the Academic Integrity committee Serve as a member of the Executive Admissions committee
FAR s Role and Responsibilities Georgia Tech Athletic Association- Administration Assist with the determination, reporting, and investigation of NCAA rules violations Attend administrative staff meetings Serve as a member of the NCAA Eligibility Certification Team Attend certification meetings with the Registrar, Director of Compliance, Associate AD for Academic Services and other designated personnel within and outside of the Athletic Association Chair the committee to hear requests for transfer waivers Serve as a member of the committee to hear requests for financial aid waivers Chair the Student-Athlete Grievance committee
FAR s Role and Responsibilities Georgia Tech Athletic Association- Compliance Assist with the preparation of NCAA and ACC waivers Assist with the new coach/staff orientation Administer the NCAA Coaches Certification test as necessary Serve as a liaison with the Georgia Tech Student-Athlete Advisory Board Meet periodically with personnel from the Academics and/or Compliance office to review academic eligibility
Athletics Contributions to the Education Mission (If done correctly) Contributes to students morale, recreation, and university selection Can enhance student recruitment, e.g. National Football Championship and Final Four Basketball Tournament in 1990-1991 resulted in substantial increase in applications the following year due to the publicity associated with it Brings other increased recognition and additional resources to Georgia Tech, especially through the ACC Georgia Tech Athletic Association (GTAA) is not directly under Georgia Tech, but is an independent organization, and therefore does not receive direct funding from the Institute or the State, resulting in substantial financial challenges
Financial Challenges for GTAA Georgia Tech (GTAA) had a operating profit of $1.5M (vice $23.9M for Georgia) for the 2005 Fiscal Year (AJC, April 16, 2006) Financial Challenges: Out-of-state tuition Increases substantially affect budget, as many of Georgia Tech scholar-athletes are from out of state Smaller capacity of Football Stadium and smaller number of season ticket holders reduce revenues Key financial revenues for GTAA are from the Alexander-Tharpe Fund and the ACC allocation
Advantages of being in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Boasts more top-40 academically ranked schools in the nation other than the Ivy League (the ACC has six compared to the Ivy s eight) ACC distributes ~ $8-10M per year to each of its member universities ACC sponsors 36 post-graduate scholarships (3 per member) annually ACC has initiated the Atlantic Coast Conference Inter-Institutional Academic Collaborative (ACC- IAC)
Atlantic Coast Conference Inter-Institutional Academic Collaborative (ACC-IAC) (www.acciac.org) An ACC academic consortium which actually began about a decade ago, but with the addition of new members Boston College, the University of Miami, and Virginia Tech, the League Presidents envision unlimited possibilities ACC Commissioner John Swofford states, This was something our presidents were very committed to and definitely a factor in expansion, not only from the original nine presidents, but also the presidents of the schools joining the conference. To date, IAC, which is funded by the allocation of income from the Dr. Pepper ACC Football Championship Game, is comprised of four major programs: A PhD student exchange program An undergraduate research conference (April 24-25, 2006 @ Clemson) Best practice-sharing among the chief technology officers Whole array of collaborations in international education with approximately 200 foreign locations where students can go
Understanding the Recent NCAA Academic Reform and Its Impact Reform based largely on recommendations from Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics First convened in 1989 and issued Keeping Faith with the Student-Athlete: A New Model for Intercollegiate Athletes (1991) and two follow-up reports Reconvened in 2000 and issued A Call to Action: Reconnecting College Sports and Higher Education (2001) Reconvened in November 2003 The Knight Commission is an ongoing discussion, an ongoing dialog about the ethics and values in the context of athletics in our diverse society
NCAA ACADEMIC ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES Year of Initial Collegi ate Enrollment Prior to 8/2003 8/2003 NCAA Eligibility Requirements Entering Second Year of Collegiate Enrollment 18 credits earned during academic year 12/24 semester credits (Can use averaging method/banked hours) Six credits/term A maximum of twelve semester hours of remedial courses may be used in the first year for the 24hr/18hr requirements. 24 semester credits 18 credits earned during academic year 90% of GPA for graduation (1.8) Six credits/term A maximum of six semester hours of remedial courses may be used in the first year for 24hr/18hr requirements. Entering Third Year of Collegiate Enrollment 25% of degree requirements 18 credits earned during academic year 12/24 semester credits (Can use averaging method/banked hours) 90% (1.8) of GPA for graduation Six credits/term Declaration of degree program 40% of degree requirements 18 credits earned during academic year 95% of GPA for graduation (1.95) Six credits/term Declaration of degree program Entering Fourth Year of Collegiate Enrollment 50% of degree requirements 18 credits earned during academic year 12/24 semester credits (Can use averaging method/banked hours) 95% (1.9) of GPA for graduation Six credits/term 60% of degree requirements 18 credits earned during academic year 100% of GPA for graduation (2.0) Six credits/term Entering Fifth Year of Collegiate Enrollment 75% of degree requirements 18 credits earned during academic year 12/24 semester credits (Can use averaging method/banked hours) 95% (1.9) of GPA for graduation Six credits/term 80% of degree requirements 18 credits earned during academic year 100% of GPA for graduation Six credits/term
Georgia Tech Regulations Participation in Intercollegiate Athletics In order to be eligible for participation in intercollegiate athletics at Georgia Tech, a student must: 1) be carrying a full-time workload (12 hours) 2) not be on academic probation Changes in academic standing that affect eligibility become effective when determined by the Institute at the end of each term (normally the Tuesday following final examination week), except that a student whose academic standing changes from good to probation shall remain eligible through the day preceding the first day of instruction of the following academic term. Any student placed on academic drop/dismissal, review, suspension, or expulsion is immediately ineligible for participation. Changes in disciplinary standing that affect eligibility become effective immediately. 3) be making satisfactory progress toward a degree 4) meet any further requirements of the NCAA or other governing organization
Georgia Tech Regulations Academic Standing The assignment of academic standing is based on both the student's most recent term and overall grade point average The minimum satisfactory academic average is 1.70 for freshmen and joint-enrolled high school students; 1.80 for sophomores;1.95 for juniors; 2.00 for seniors, and special undergraduates; 2.70 for master's and special graduate students; and 3.00 for doctoral students Good academic standing: Students not on academic probation are in good academic standing
ACC Regulations Initial Eligibility A non-qualifier is not eligible at an ACC institution for competition, practice, or athletic related financial aid Transfer Eligibility A non- or partial qualifier who transfers to a conference institution from a two-year college must have (same as NCAA rules): Graduated with an AA degree Satisfactorily completed a minimum of 48 semester or 72 quarter hours with a cumulative GPA of 2.0 on transferable degree credit acceptable toward any baccalaureate degree program at the certifying institution Have attended the two-year college as a full-time student for at least three semesters or four quarters (excluding summer terms) in order to be eligible for competition, practice and athletically related financial aid
ACC Regulations Transfer Eligibility (continued) A non-qualifier who transfers to a conference institution from a four-year college outside the ACC or a partial qualifier who transfers to a conference institution from any four year college must, in addition to meeting all NCAA rules regarding such transfers, have (additional rules): satisfactorily completed 48 semester or 72 quarter hours with a cumulative GPA on 2.0 on transferable degree credit acceptable toward any baccalaureate degree program at the certifying institution have attended the four-year college as a full-time student for at least three semesters or four quarters (excluding summer terms) in order to be eligible for competition, practice and athletically related financial aid A non-qualifier who transfers to a conference institution from a two-year college, subsequent to attending any four-year college, must meet all NCAA rules regarding 4-2-4 transfers Upon written application and good cause shown, the faculty representatives, acting as a committee of the whole, shall have the authority to grant exceptions to this rule based on objective evidence that demonstrates circumstances which warrant the waiver of the normal application of this rule (e.g., the student s overall academic record, whether the student was recruited by the institutions, with the involved institution being eligible to participate in the discussion but not in the final vote. A written summary of the faculty representatives decision will be distributed to all Conference members and kept on file in the Conference office
The Impact of Academic Reform Measurement and Penalties (lost scholarships) assessed based on Academic Progress Rate (APR) and Graduation Success Rate (GSR) starts in Fall 2006 The APR is a real-time assessment of a team s academic performance, which awards two points each term to scholarship student-athletes who meet academic-eligibility standards and who remain with the institution. A team s APR is the total points earned by the team at a given time divided by the total points possible The GSR is an alternative graduation-rate methodology the NCAA will launch this fall. The new rate, which will supplement and not replace the federal methodology, credits institutions for incoming transfers who graduate. This will not adversely affect the team rate for outgoing transfers wo leave the institution as long as they would have been academically eligible had they returned
Why is the NCAA implementing this new Academic Program? The APR is related to initial eligibility for prospective student-athletes and term-by-term progress toward earning a degree for current student-athletes The new academic measurements will hold teams accountable and lead to increased academic success and graduation for studentathletes Why was an APR cut score of 925 selected? An APR score of 925 correlates to an expected graduation rate of ~ 50%, using the federal graduation rate methodology
What is the Contemporaneous or Real-time Penalty? These are the most immediate penalties in the academic-reform structure They occur when a team s APR (after an appropriate squad-size adjustment) is under the cut score (925) and loses a student-athlete who would not have been academically eligible had he or she returned to the institution (what s knownas 0-for-2 under the APR calculations) A contemporaneous penalty means that teams cannot re-award that grant-in-aid to another player for one year
What is the Purpose of the Contemporaneous Penalty? Meant to give immediate feedback to specific teams, to inform them that some of their student-athletes are on the wrong track and need to make changes to turn things around academically It is part of a larger academic reform package designed to improve the academic success and graduation of student-athletes
Compliance with all Institutional, Conference and NCAA Regulations Last year Georgia Tech was penalized by the NCAA when it was found and reported by Georgia Tech that 18 scholar-athletes in past years were not eligible due to not making sufficient progress in their designated major The Penalty from the NCAA was identified as lack of institutional control Case is currently being appealed Substantial changes have taken place to insure this does not happen again.
Prior to Spring/Summer 2005 Registrar only staff member in Registrar s Office involved in certifying eligibility Registrar generally accepted evaluation done by academic advisors in the AA Registrar s Office not doing independent evaluation of records Registrar did not have control of the actual student-athlete records Inadequate training
Where are we today? Documentation greatly improved Better processes in place Communication greatly enhanced Necessary redundancies in place Checks and balances implemented On-going rules education and training in place Adequate staffing in Registrar s Office
FAR Initiative to Tighten Bond between Academics and Athletics Establish a Faculty Liaison Professor (FLP) Program with the following objectives: Foster a closer relationship between Georgia Tech Intercollegiate Sports Teams and the general faculty and academic community through the establishment of the Faculty Liaison Professor (FLP) Program Provide the Georgia Tech Intercollegiate Sports Teams, both coaches and players, with a direct liaison on academic questions and issues
FAR Initiative to Tighten Bond between Academics and Athletics A FLP is a volunteer position Planned Implementation of the FLP Program One FLP per Athletic Team, except for Football where there would probably be two Coach either selects FLP or the FAR seeks a match for each team without a FLP FLPs provide real time academic interaction with the athletic teams Program initiated hope to have all FLPs identified by end of Spring Semester
Summary and Conclusions The Georgia Tech s Intercollegiate athletics program is a big business (~$40M per year in revenues) and requires an experienced Athletic Director who serves as a CEO, with a competent staff to assist him New AD Dan Radakovich provides this expertise and experience The FAR s principal role is to be the liaison between academics and athletics at Georgia Tech and between Georgia Tech, the ACC, and the NCAA - with an emphasis on maintaining the proper balance between academics and athletics Georgia Tech has a rich tradition of maintaining this balance; and provides an excellent role model for other universities A close collaboration between Georgia Tech academics and athletics can maintain this tradition and improve on it