Ohio athletics remained a cut above average in the latest Graduation Success Rate report released by the NCAA last week.
Ohio's report revealed a Graduation Success Rate of 83 percent, which includes student-athletes who entered the university from 1998 to 2001. The GSR does not hold transfers against a university's graduation percentage, unlike the Federal Graduation Rate.
The national average for Division I schools is 78 percent. Last year, Ohio also scored an 83 percent.
Tricia Turley, associate athletic director in charge of compliance and student services, said cooperation with Academic Services has been important in providing the right environment for student-athletes.
We worked to provide the services and support our student-athletes' need with their busy schedule
she said. Generally speaking we've had a pretty good group of student-athletes here that are performing well academically.
Ohio's men's sports earned a 76 percent GSR, trumping the national average of 71; Ohio's women's sports were 3 percent higher than the average points at 91 percent.
However, while the men had a 5-percent increase in GSR during the past three years, the women's GSR has dropped from 93 to 91 percent during the same time frame.
There was inconsistency between certain programs within the department. Men's basketball, men's cross country, field hockey and football teams improved their GSR's by at least 10 percentage points since 2005. Volleyball also increased its success rate from 91 to 100 percent in the last three years.
Women's basketball and wrestling failed to find the same success, falling 13 percent since 2005. Along with women's lacrosse and softball, they are the only sports of Ohio's 16 varsity squads currently performing below the national average.
Turley said the administration recognizes the advantage in targeting particular programs in an attempt to improve their academic performance.
We've never had a program subject to penalties (because of academics) Turley said. At the same time
we don't want to be anywhere near the (penalty line). We make decisions if there are particular programs that we need to develop a more sport-specific plan for.
Penalties are sanctioned based on Academic Progress Rates, another calculation of the NCAA. A university that receives a rate of 925 or below, which translates to roughly a 60 percent overall GSR, could face a loss of scholarships or other consequences.
When compared to the other 12 schools in the Mid-American Conference, Ohio appears to be performing well. The men's programs ranked third in the conference, and the women placed sixth. Field hockey, men's and women's golf, men's and women's swimming and volleyball are first or tied for first among conference schools.
On the flip side, the women's basketball, softball and wrestling programs are last in the MAC.
We take a look at where we fall in terms of the other MAC schools
Turley said. What are other schools in the MAC providing in terms of resources and academic support?
Turley made a point to note that the GSR, calculated for the last four years by the NCAA itself, is a new statistic. Administrators and coaches are still in the process of figuring out how best to apply the information to their academic policies.
The grand result of the Graduation Success Rate is coaches are more cognizant of these things in their recruiting process
she said. Throughout a student-athlete's career
(academics) become a lot more of the focus.
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26283,2008-10-21 00:00:00,MAC Notebook: Backup quarterback leads Central Michigan to win,",And then there were two.
Central Michigan (5-2
4-0) and Western Michigan (6-2
4-1) entered Saturday's game in Mt. Pleasant
Mich.
as two of the three undefeated teams in Mid-American Conference play. -
