COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Tech’s softball and
women’s golf teams are among those who received Public
Recognition Awards Thursday from the National Collegiate Athletic
Association (NCAA) for top academic performance.
The awards are given to teams scoring in the Top 10 percent
nationally in the Multi-Year Academic Progress Rate (APR), which is
part of the NCAA’s academic reform program.
“We take a great deal of pride in the academic success of
all our teams, and especially this latest news of the Public
Recognition Awards for softball and women’s golf,” said
Mark Wilson, TTU Director of Athletics.
“It verifies, once again, that we are successfully
fulfilling our mission toward our student-athletes, and it speaks
to the diligence of our student-athletes,” he said.
“Our students are coming in better prepared when they enter
Tennessee Tech, and they are staying on track to earn their
degrees.”
The APR provides a real-time look at a team's academic success
each semester or quarter by tracking the academic progress of each
student-athlete. The APR includes eligibility, retention and
graduation in the calculation and provides a clear picture of the
academic culture in each sport.
The APR awards two points each term to 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, multiplied by 1,000. It
includes four years (this year's numbers included the school years
of 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10 and 2010-11). High-performing teams
receiving public recognition awards posted APR scores ranging from
978 to a perfect 1,000.
This year 954 teams (560 women's teams, 394 men's or mixed teams) were publically recognized for high academic achievement. In all, 263 institutions (out of 347 Division I schools) placed at least one team on the list. Last year 909 teams were recognized.
Multi-year APR scores for all Division I sports teams, including the teams receiving public recognition awards, will be announced next Thursday, June 20. That announcement will also include immediate and historical penalties for low-performing teams.
“These kinds of APR numbers continue to point out that our student-athletes and our staff continue to take seriously our goal of stressing the importance of academic success,” Wilson said. “Our coaches, our academic support system and personnel, and our student-athletes are doing a good job.”
A total of 18 awards went to Ohio Valley Conference teams, the
second-most number of awards the league has earned in the
seven-year history of the award.
In addition to the two Golden Eagle squads, OVC teams honored
include six from SIUE (men’s cross country, women’s
soccer, softball, women’s tennis, men’s indoor track
and field and men’s outdoor track and field), three each from
Eastern Illinois (men’s golf, women’s golf and
women’s tennis) and Murray State (men’s golf,
women’s golf and men’s tennis) and one apiece from
Eastern Kentucky (men’s tennis), Jacksonville State
(women’s tennis), Morehead State (women’s volleyball)
and Southeast Missouri State (men’s cross country).