Introduction to the NCAA Division I Academic Performance Program

1. Introduction to the NCAA Division I Academic Performance Program 2011 NCAA Regional Rules Seminar

2. Overview • Academic reform background. • NCAA Division I Academic Performance Program (APP). • APP Data Collection Program. • APP penalties. • NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate (APR) Improvement Plan. • APP waivers. • Resources.

3. Academic Reform Background

4. Academic Reform Cycle • Academic Performance Census (APC) data • Initial-eligibility data • Informs policy decisions • "Seamless" model for eligibility • Initial eligibility • Progress-toward-degree Research Standards Rates of Measure Implementation • Penalties • Public recognition • Graduation • Success Rate (GSR) • APR

5. Academic Reform as a "Package" • Student-athlete accountability through increased academic-eligibility standards. • Enhanced academic rates of measure, real-time rate and better graduation rate. • Team performance accountability through contemporaneous and historical penalties. • Institutional academic accountability through historical penalties.

6. Academic Reform as a "Package" • Focus on campus efforts to improve academic performance, retention and graduation for all teams.  • Recognition of academically high-achieving teams. • *ALL components critical to overall academic improvement.

7. APP Purpose • Ensure the Division I membership is dedicated to providing student-athletes: • Exemplary educational and intercollegiate athletics experiences; • Environments that recognize and support academic mission of member institutions; and • Enhanced ability to earn a four-year degree. NCAA Division I Bylaw 23.01.1

8. NCAA Division I Committee on Academic Performance Duties: • Administrative body for APP. • Oversee APP Data Collection Process. • Identify APP-penalty benchmarks. • Provide interpretations of APP legislation and policies.

9. Committee on Academic Performance Duties (continued): • Communicate annual APP rates (APR and GSR). • Identify teams demonstrating academic excellence under the APP. • Serve as the appellate body for APP policies and penalties. Bylaw 23.1.2

10. APP Data Collection

11. APP Data Collection • GSR. • APR. • APC.

12. GSR Why the GSR? • More accurate than Federal Graduation Rate. • Includes transfers into an institution. • Includes midyear enrollees. • Removes student-athletes who withdraw and would have been academically eligible to compete the next term had they returned. • Calculated for every sport.

13. GSR • Data is submitted electronically (attend APP Data Collection session for more details). • Data is used in analysis for APP penalty waivers. • Failure to submit will result in an institution being declared ineligible for postseason competition, including NCAA championships and bowl games.

14. GSR • Due not later than June 1. • Required of Division I member institutions for ALL sponsored sports. • Divisions II and III member institutions that sponsor a Division I sport (multidivisional classification) must complete data for Division I sport(s). • This year collecting 2004-05 freshman cohort data. • Place to enter GSR and Federal Graduation Rate information. • https://web1.ncaa.org/GSR/exec/login

15. APR Why APR? • Real-time rate. • Includes all student-athletes on a team in a given year (as opposed to entering class). • Includes student-athletes receiving athletically related financial aid; or • For nonscholarship programs/teams, a subset of recruited student-athletes.

16. APR • Points awarded for eligibility/graduation and retention. • Term-by-term measurement. • Totaled over most recent four years. • Used in analysis for APP penalties and public recognition of top academically performing teams.

17. APR • Two available points each academic term. • Eligibility "E" point = student-athlete meets academic eligibility standards for the next academic term. • Retention "R" point = student-athlete is enrolled full time as of the fifth week of classes or the census date (whichever is earlier) of the next term. Number of points earned Number of points possible X 1000 = APR • Four-year rolling rate.

18. APR • Due date for APR data is six weeks after the institution's first day of classes of the fall term. • Failure to submit will result in an institution being declared ineligible for postseason competition, including NCAA championships and bowl games. • Data is submitted electronically for any team: • With Division I championships or National Collegiate Championships; • Considered to be Division I; and • Classified as varsity at a Division I institution.

19. APC Why APC? • Academic data for NCAA research purposes. • Includes credit hours, GPA and data for two-year college transfers and Head Coaches' APR Portfolio.  • Information is completed and submitted online using the APP Data Collection Program. • Failure to submit will result in an institution being declared ineligible for postseason competition, including NCAA championships and bowl games.

20. APP Process Timeline Data Submission Phase (due six weeks after first day of classes). Verification Phase (NCAA staff). Correction/Adjustment Phase (14 calendar days). Penalty reports available in APP system after corrections. Penalty Waiver Phase (14 calendar days to submit). Final Submit (email sent to chancellor/president).

21. Delayed-Graduation Points • Point "1/0" awarded in the term the former student-athlete graduates. • Restores lost APR "E" or "R" point from last term student-athlete was in the cohort. • Point received in the sport reported. • Permitted to request delayed-graduation points for any academic year cohort that comprise the multiyear APR cohort.

22. APR Adjustments • Discount lost APR point(s) for a term or terms from the denominator. • May request adjustment to lost "E" point, lost "R" point or both. • Requests are based on mitigation affecting individual student-athletes.

23. Adjustment Review Process Guiding principles: • Circumstances surrounding individual student-athlete. • Are circumstances beyond the control of the student-athlete and/or team/institution? Decisions/Appeals: • Initial decision by staff. • Appeals to the NCAA Division I Committee on Academic Performance Subcommittee on Data Collection and Reporting.

24. APP Data Reviews • Next APP Data Review cycle began spring 2011. • Up to 60 institutions will be selected each year. • GSR to be reviewed February to May. • APR to be reviewed May to October. • Paper review of all areas of the APP data and application of penalties. • Institutions will be required to submit supporting documentation for selected teams and/or student-athletes. • In-person campus visits will be scheduled, if necessary.

25. APP Penalties

26. APP Penalties • Two different penalty structures: • Contemporaneous penalties. • Intended to encourage improved academic performance, serve as a "warning" for poorly performing teams and help avoid the more serious historical penalties (e.g., rehabilitative in nature). • Historical penalties. • More significant punitive measure for teams that habitually underperform academically.

27. Squad-Size Adjustment • Helps ensure that any penalties given to teams with small sample sizes are as statistically valid as those for teams with large sample sizes. • Statistical adjustment for squad size available for: • Teams with fewer than 30 student-athletes in a four-year cohort; or • Teams with fewer than four years make up the multiyear APR for the team.

28. Contemporaneous Penalties • Teams with a multiyear APR below 925 subject to contemporaneous penalties if: • Any student-athlete departed the institution; and • Did not earn eligibility "0/2". • Some exceptions apply (e.g., student-athlete with no athletics eligibility remaining). • Aid awarded to an "0/2" cannot be re-awarded.

29. Contemporaneous Penalties • Team's maximum financial aid limit is reduced by the value of total countable aid awarded to the student-athlete who did not earn eligibility and was not retained the following academic year "0/2". • Penalties must be taken at the "next available opportunity." • Academic year immediately following the "0 for 2" student-athlete's departure, unless already received written acceptance of offers of aid before receiving official notification of its penalties. • Prevents "taking away" a scholarship from an incoming freshman or transfer student-athlete.

30. Contemporaneous Penalty Caps • Contemporaneous penalties are meant to be a warning. • Thus, number of contemporaneous penalties that apply to a team for any given year is capped. • Cap = approximately 10 percent of NCAA maximum team limit, rounded up for head-count sports. • Example: Men's basketball. • Thirteen maximum scholarships. • Ten percent of 13 is 1.3. • Ten percent cap is rounded up to two head-count scholarships.

31. Historical Penalties • Restrict or deny the benefits of the Association for those teams that have a demonstrated history of academic underachievement.

32. Historical Penalties • Teams with a multiyear APR below 900. • Penalties are progressive and cumulative in nature. • Institutions must demonstrate three "clean" years (without penalty) in order to avoid progression in the historical-penalty structure.

33. Historical-Penalty Structure Occasion-One Historical Penalty: Public announcement for squad.

34. Historical Penalty Structure Occasion-Two Historical Penalty: Public announcement AND financial aid and practice restrictions for squad. • Financial aid: Ten percent of the NCAA maximum allowed (from four year average aid) or by total, uncapped contemporaneous penalties, whichever is greater • If improvement standard met, reduction to five percent. • Practice restriction: Reduction of four hours per week of countable athletically related activity, which must be taken all on the same day. Replace the practice time with academic support activities. • If improvement standard met, not all hours must be taken on the same day. • Baseball-specific: Ten percent reduction to the length of season and number of contests against outside competition. • If improvement standard met, reduction to five percent.

35. Historical Penalty Structure Occasion-Three Historical Penalty: Public announcement AND financial aid and practice restrictions AND postseason competition restriction for squad. • Includes all Occasion-One and Occasion-Two penalty elements. • Postseason restriction: Penalized team is unable to participate in NCAA championship competition.

36. Historical Penalty Structure Occasion-Four Historical Penalty: Public announcement AND financial aid and practice restrictions AND postseason competition restriction for squad AND restricted membership status for institution. • Includes all penalty elements from Occasion-One, Occasion-Two and Occasion-Three. • Restricted Membership: All teams from the penalized institution are subject to postseason restriction.

37. Historical Penalty Improvement Plus Model • Teams scoring below900are reviewed for historical penalties to determine if they: • Are making significant improvement, which is determined with a single-year APR at or above 900 in the most recent year and meeting one of five tests: • Most recent single-year APR vs. previous single-year APR. • Most recent single-year APR vs. multiyear APR for previous two years. • Most recent single-year APR vs. multiyear APR for previous three years. • Multiyear APR from years three and four vs. multiyear APR from years one and two. • Multiyear APR from years two, three and four vs. initial single-year APR. PLUS….

38. Historical Penalty Improvement Plus Model • Compare favorably based on one of the following three factors… • By-sport review: Team must be above the bottom 10 percent of team APR within that sport. • Institutional characteristics: Comparison of institutional, athletics and student-body resource levels to identify the bottom 10 percent of schools in overall financial resources. • Comparison vs. general student-body: Team's multiyear APR must project to a Federal Graduation Rate that is 10 or more percentage points higher than the general student-body rate.

39. Timing of Historical Penalty • Teams subject to a historical penalty must take the penalty in the academic year following official notification of penalties. • For example, if a team is notified of a postseason restriction in an Occasion- Three hearing in April 2011, it is ineligible for the 2011-12 postseason.

40. Committee on Academic Performance Structure Review • The Committee on Academic Performance is currently reviewing the entire APP structure, including penalty cut points, penalty filters and the structure of penalties. • More information regarding this review will be included in NCAA Division I Academic Reform: APP and NCAA Division I Academic Cabinet session.

41. APR Improvement Plans • Required for: • Teams with a multiyear APR below 925 without the use of the squad-size adjustment (on campus). • Teams with multiyear APR below 900 (must submit). • Teams requesting relief from an APP penalty (must submit). • Teams requesting NCAA Division I Academic Performance Program Supplemental Support Fund (must submit). • Feedback provided to all institutions submitting plans to the national office.

42. APR Improvement Plans • Tips: • Use your data to learn what the issues are. • Develop initiatives to address a team's specific issues. • Develop measurable goals in order to measure success. • Clearly identify steps, timelines and responsible parties. • Due dates: • Implementation: October 3, 2011. • New Plans: November 1, 2011.

43. APP Penalty Waivers

44. APP Penalty Waiver Portal • On the NCAA Web site, go to: https://web1.ncaa.org/LSDBi/exec/homepage. • Login through single-source sign-on. • Must be granted access privileges by single-source sign on administrator on campus. • Similar to access the APP Data Collection Portal. • Click the "Academic Performance Program" tab.

45. APP Penalty Waiver Directive Guiding principles: • Based on team's academic performance. • Review of historical-penalty factors. • Anomaly or pattern. • Reasonable expectation to improve to 925 within a reasonable period of time. • Development and implementation of APR Improvement Plan. • For a delay, verification that the penalty cannot be taken as prescribed.

46. APP Penalty Waiver Process • Contemporaneous Occasion-One and Occasion-Two Historical Penalty: • Initial decision by staff. • Appeals to the NCAA Division I Committee on Academic Performance Subcommittee on Appeals. • Occasion-Three and Occasion-Four Historical Penalty : • Initial review by staff; staff may approve, partially approve or conditionally approve (full or partial). • In-person hearings in April in front of Committee on Academic Performance. • Opportunity to appeal to the NCAA Division I Board of Directors Academic Performance Program Historical Penalties Appeals Subcommittee (teleconference).

47. APP Penalty Waiver Decisions • Full relief of penalty. • Partial relief of penalty (e.g., relief from scholarship penalty but not practice penalty). • Conditional relief of penalty (full or partial). • Delay in application of penalty.

48. Resources

49. Where can I get more information? NCAA staff: Andrew Cardamone, acardamone@ncaa.org • APR Improvement Plans. Jeremiah Carter, headcoachapr@ncaa.org • Head Coaches' APR Portfolio. Maria DeJulio, mdejulio@ncaa.org • GSR and Integrated Postsecondary-Education Data System; data-related issues and data correction requests. Andrew Louthain, alouthain@ncaa.org • Occasion-Three and Occasion-Four Historical Penalty waivers and APP Data Reviews.

50. Where can I get more information? NCAA staff: Binh Nguyen, bnguyen@ncaa.org • APR adjustments; APR and GSR deadline extensions; reinstatement for NCAA championships; and requests for alternative definition of cohort. Bill Regan, bregan@ncaa.org • Educational initiatives; and APP penalties and waivers. Katy Yurk, kyurk@ncaa.org • Contemporaneous and Occasion-One and Occasion-Two Historical Penalty waivers.