Bisonguy
02-09-2004, 09:17 PM
Looks like the Bison student-athletes are doing their homework:
NDSU sees 15 percent rise in graduation rate for athletes
By Jeff Kolpack *
jkolpack@forumcomm.com
The Forum - 02/09/2004
The graduation rate for student-athletes at North Dakota State increased by 15 percent from two years ago, a trend administrative officials say is essential under proposed Division I legislation.
The school took some heat from the 2001 “NCAA Graduation-Rates Report” when its 1994-95 freshman class graduated at a 44-percent clip. That figure jumped to 59 percent in the 2003 report.
“We are making greater strides in having the student-athlete understand the value of the degree,” said NDSU women’s athletic director Lynn Dorn.
NDSU will need to maintain a certain graduation rate standard under a Division I “Academic Performance Program.” If a school or specific sport fails to satisfy predetermined academic standards, it risks losing scholarships, post-season competition and restrictions on recruiting.
The Division I Board of Directors is discussing the proposal.
“I think it’s very probable that it will pass,” said Dorn, a former chair of the Division II Management Council.
It calls for a committee to identify minimum academic standards. Dorn said she doubts NDSU would be in danger of compliance.
“To the best of my knowledge, we would be just fine,” she said.
Although NDSU will officially begin a Division I transition next year, administrators and coaches have already been planning for higher Division I academic standards. The Division I graduation rate rose from 60 percent in 2002 to 62 percent last year, an increase the NCAA attributes to higher eligibility standards.
In 1995, Division I increased the minimum number of high school core courses from 11 to 13.
Schools similar to NDSU in size in Division I reflect the higher rate. The University of Northern Iowa had a 64 percent rate and Western Illinois 67 percent. Montana State graduated 52 percent of its athletes, 11 percent better than all students.
NDSU: advisors important
The NCAA compiles the Graduation-Rates Report each year. Although detailed in its findings, it does have its flaws, officials say.
It tracks only athletes who receive some type of athletics aid.
The rate is based on the comparison of student-athletes who enter a school as a full-time student and the number of those who graduated within six years. Athletes who transfer or simply quit a sport count against a school’s percentage.
“It can be subjective,” said Sylvia Barnier, the senior women’s administrator and assistant athletic director at Minnesota State-Moorhead.
NDSU’s 2001 rate placed last in the North Central Conference. Two years later, the school ranks fourth in the league.
“This is more what we anticipated,” Dorn said. “It’s not so much an improvement but an anomaly of the variables from the last one.”
Since the 2001 report, Dorn said the athletic department established the Athletic Academic Advisory Council in an effort to improve communication between athletes and academic advisors.
No longer can student-athletes register for classes on-line without a signed form from an advisor, which must be turned into an administrator. Dorn said that has helped student-athletes take the appropriate classes in maintaining progress toward a degree.
NDSU sees 15 percent rise in graduation rate for athletes
By Jeff Kolpack *
jkolpack@forumcomm.com
The Forum - 02/09/2004
The graduation rate for student-athletes at North Dakota State increased by 15 percent from two years ago, a trend administrative officials say is essential under proposed Division I legislation.
The school took some heat from the 2001 “NCAA Graduation-Rates Report” when its 1994-95 freshman class graduated at a 44-percent clip. That figure jumped to 59 percent in the 2003 report.
“We are making greater strides in having the student-athlete understand the value of the degree,” said NDSU women’s athletic director Lynn Dorn.
NDSU will need to maintain a certain graduation rate standard under a Division I “Academic Performance Program.” If a school or specific sport fails to satisfy predetermined academic standards, it risks losing scholarships, post-season competition and restrictions on recruiting.
The Division I Board of Directors is discussing the proposal.
“I think it’s very probable that it will pass,” said Dorn, a former chair of the Division II Management Council.
It calls for a committee to identify minimum academic standards. Dorn said she doubts NDSU would be in danger of compliance.
“To the best of my knowledge, we would be just fine,” she said.
Although NDSU will officially begin a Division I transition next year, administrators and coaches have already been planning for higher Division I academic standards. The Division I graduation rate rose from 60 percent in 2002 to 62 percent last year, an increase the NCAA attributes to higher eligibility standards.
In 1995, Division I increased the minimum number of high school core courses from 11 to 13.
Schools similar to NDSU in size in Division I reflect the higher rate. The University of Northern Iowa had a 64 percent rate and Western Illinois 67 percent. Montana State graduated 52 percent of its athletes, 11 percent better than all students.
NDSU: advisors important
The NCAA compiles the Graduation-Rates Report each year. Although detailed in its findings, it does have its flaws, officials say.
It tracks only athletes who receive some type of athletics aid.
The rate is based on the comparison of student-athletes who enter a school as a full-time student and the number of those who graduated within six years. Athletes who transfer or simply quit a sport count against a school’s percentage.
“It can be subjective,” said Sylvia Barnier, the senior women’s administrator and assistant athletic director at Minnesota State-Moorhead.
NDSU’s 2001 rate placed last in the North Central Conference. Two years later, the school ranks fourth in the league.
“This is more what we anticipated,” Dorn said. “It’s not so much an improvement but an anomaly of the variables from the last one.”
Since the 2001 report, Dorn said the athletic department established the Athletic Academic Advisory Council in an effort to improve communication between athletes and academic advisors.
No longer can student-athletes register for classes on-line without a signed form from an advisor, which must be turned into an administrator. Dorn said that has helped student-athletes take the appropriate classes in maintaining progress toward a degree.