The NCAA and the Division I Committee on Academics recently presented EKU Athletics with the NCAA Public Recognition Award. The honor is bestowed on teams with an NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate (APR) in the top 10 percent of all squads in their respective sports for the 2014-15 academic year.
The multi-year APR report is based on data submitted by every NCAA Division I institution for the 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 academic years. Six of EKU's varsity sport programs met or exceeded the national average in the multi-year APR – baseball, women’s basketball, women’s golf, women’s soccer, women's track & field and volleyball.
The women’s golf and volleyball teams tallied perfect 1,000 multi-year APR scores.
Meanwhile, the multi-year APR scores for women’s golf (tied), women’s soccer and volleyball (tied) were the highest among all Division I institutions in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Four of EKU's sports had multi-year APR scores that ranked among the top three in the OVC.
Seven programs – football, men’s golf, men’s tennis, women’s cross country, women's golf, women’s soccer and volleyball – received perfect scores of 1,000 on the APR for the 2014-15 academic year.
“I am pleased with this latest Academic Progress Rate report,” Director of Athletics Stephen Lochmueller said. “I am especially proud of our women’s golf and volleyball student-athletes that have perfect multi-year APR scores. Academic achievement for our student-athletes is a high priority of mine and this report from the NCAA shows we are on solid footing.”
The Academic Progress Rate is a real-time measure of eligibility and retention of student-athletes competing on every Division I sports team. The goal of the NCAA's academic performance program is improvement, not punishment. Not only does the program ensure accountability for student-athletes, teams and institutions, but it also provides fairness by considering individual circumstances per team and school.
Last week, the NCAA announced that Eastern Kentucky University's women’s golf and volleyball teams were two of 26 programs from across the Ohio Valley Conference to receive a coveted NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate (APR) Public Recognition Award.
This specific award is given each year to teams that posted multiyear APRs in the top-10 percent of all squads in each sport. The APR provides a real-time look at a team's academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete on scholarship. The APR accounts for eligibility, retention and graduation and provides a measure of each team's academic performance.