Student Athletic Academic Services (SAAS) Assessment Report

Transcription

1 Student Athletic Academic Services (SAAS) Report Mission The University of Toledo s Student Athletic Academic Services (SAAS) is a studentcentered resource committed to providing comprehensive support services, compliant with Mid- American Conference and National Collegiate Athletic Association legislation, designed for academic enrichment, retention, and life skill development of Toledo student-athletes. The mission of the SAAS supports the mission of the Learning Collaborative and The University of Toledo by providing programs that support retention and success of a diverse student population. The office supports and facilitates student athlete s engagement and outreach initiatives. Accreditation Currently, the primary determinant of approval for Student Athletic Academic Services accreditation derives from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The NCAA s Self process, which occurs once every ten years, is required for Athletics Departments of all NCAA member institutions. One of the three components of the NCAA Self- is a review of academic integrity. Therefore, considering its close working relationship with the Athletics Department for monitoring academic progress of student-athletes, SAAS is expected to meet NCAA standards of operation in order for the Athletic Department to be granted approval. Compliance and governance are the other two components of the Self. The next Self- is scheduled to be conducted in eight years and will likely take place during the spring or summer. The National Association of Academic Advisors for Athletics (N4A) is a professional organization which has recently established certification measures for academic support units for student-athletes. Eventually this certification process may be the primary measure of accreditation for academic support departments for student-athletes. The N4A certification happens more frequently than the Self- and is specific to academic support units. However, the N4A does not have the authority to impose sanctions on academic support units if they do not meet the certification standards in the same way the NCAA does. In addition to department certifications, in January 2011 the N4A is expected to implement individual certification criteria for professionals who work in the field of academic support for studentathletes. Student Learning/Service Outcomes Learning Outcomes 1) Each sport program s scholarship student-athletes maintain an Academic Progress Rate (APR) of at least 950. This outcome will reflect a positive trend of preserving athletic eligibility, retention, and fostering the likelihood of studentathlete graduation.

2 2) University of Toledo student-athletes will collectively achieve a GSR of at least 80%. 3) All student-athletes will collectively attain a grade point average of at least 3.00 each semester. 4) To promote a complexion of socially responsible and well-rounded student athletes each academic year at least 80% of the student-athletes at the University of Toledo will participate in at least one Student Athlete Affairs (SAA) activity. Data Collection Data Institutional student records and NCAA formula for calculating APR Annually-each Summer Eligibility and retention data; NCAA Academic Progress Rate for each sport program Associate. A.D. for Compliance, Eligibility Analyst, Assistant A.D. for Academics Data NCAA GSR public release announcement Each year before the end of May Percentage of studentathletes graduating from Toledo and other institutions after transferring from the University of Toledo Associate Athletic Director for Compliance, Assistant Athletic Director for Academics Data Web Report Library/Registrar s Office At the end of each Fall and Spring semester GPA, credit hours earned, quality points SAAS staff, Eligibility Analyst

3 Data Record of studentathlete participation in SAA activities At the end of each academic year Number of athletes participating in at least one SAA activity compared with the total number of athletes Assistant Athletic Director for Academics, Director of Student Athlete Affairs, Senior Women s Administrator Faculty/Staff/Student Involvement Personnel involved with the assessment process include the Associate Athletic Director for Compliance, the Senior Women s Administrator, Assistant Athletic Director for Academics, the Eligibility Analysts in the Registrar s office, and the SASS staff. Students do not have any input on the assessment process beyond an evaluation of their academic performance. Findings-- Learning Outcome #1-- Each sport program s scholarship student-athletes maintain an Academic Progress Rate (APR) of at least 950. Sport Academic Progress Rate (APR) Baseball 960 Men s Basketball 875 Men s Cross Country 1000 Football 975 Men s Golf 1000 Men s Tennis 1000 Women s Basketball 1000 Women s Cross Country 990 Women s Golf 1000 Softball 1000 Women s Soccer 989 Women s Swimming and Diving 990 Women s Tennis 893 Women s Track and Field 976 Volleyball 967 Summary: Results show that 13 of the 15 (86.7%) sport programs maintained an APR or 950 or higher in The Men s Basketball team and the Women s Tennis team and were the only teams that did not achieve the minimum target APR of 950.

4 Learning Outcome #2-- University of Toledo student-athletes will collectively achieve a Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of at least 80% Graduation Success Rate 78% Summary: The results of data collection in show that the University of Toledo student athletes achieved a GSR slightly (2%) below the target. Learning Outcome #3-- All student-athletes will collectively attain a grade point average of at least 3.00 each semester. Department G.P.A # of studentathletes > 3.0 total # of studentathletes Percentage of student-athletes who achieved learning outcome Fall 2009 = % Spring 2010 = % Summary: Results indicate the student-athletes collectively attained a GPA of at least 3.0 in both Fall 2009 and Spring Learning Outcome #4--To promote a complexion of socially responsible and well-rounded student athletes each academic year at least 80% of the student-athletes at the University of Toledo will participate in at least one Student Athlete Affairs (SAA) activity. This learning outcome is new to the assessment process. Assessing the effectiveness of Student Athlete Affairs activities was determined to be a valuable procedure by the Assistant Athletic Director for Academics and the Director of Student Athlete Affairs. However, there are no results to provide for this report as the Director of Student Athlete Affairs is working to solidify assessment measurements for this learning outcome. Changes As a student service, the SAAS department plans to make a few changes based on the findings from the Report. First, data showed the APR for Men s Basketball and Women s Tennis was lower than stated learning outcomes minimums. The Women s tennis program has recently had acceptable overall, 4 year total APR numbers. However, during the year experienced a one year decline. One minor change for this program would be a closer academic monitoring of freshmen student-athletes on this roster. For the Men s Basketball program an Academic Recovery Plan will likely be implemented. The Academic Recovery Plan will be a specified list of actions, submitted to the NCAA, the SAAS staff along with other Athletic Department staff will implement to return the Men s Basketball APR to an acceptable figure. The Academic Recovery Plan is comprehensive in its scope of

5 suggested areas to improve APR, some of which are beyond the scope of SAAS operations, such as reduced practice time. While the Academic Recovery Plan for the Men s Basketball program has not been devised yet, its content may include support from the SAAS department services. Increased study table time, use of mentors, and regular communication with men s basketball student-athletes could be focal points for the SAAS department in the Academic Recovery Plan. Second, the Graduation Success Rate fell just shy of SAAS s stated outcome and deserves attention. While the GSR data is not a direct reflection on SAAS department effectiveness, the department plans to increase communication with student-athletes about major options at the University of Toledo. This communication may involve enlightening student athletes to campus resources which are designed to assist students in choosing a major and careers after graduation. With the help of influential coaches, the SAAS staff may strongly encourage student-athletes to take advantage of resources prior to choosing a major. For those students on the cusp of graduation, the SAAS staff can exert greater effort in assuring all requirements are met prior to graduation. The SAAS department does not have any involvement with curriculum and teaching and learning. Therefore, assessment measures on those categories are not applicable to SAAS functions. Dissemination findings are disseminated to appropriate individuals including, SAAS staff athletic department administrators, and coaching staffs. Prospective student-athletes and those with public interest can access GSR and APR measures of assessment through the NCAA website. Department grade point averages for student-athletes across all sport teams are released to the public through the Media Relations department at the end of each semester once grades are collected. Recommendations for Planning Relative to our assessment findings for this academic year there will likely only be one change. Due to unsatisfactory figures for the Men s Basketball program, the SAAS staff will be implementing an APR recovery plan to help return the program to meet NCAA minimum APR standards. Also, as previously stated, the Student Athlete Affairs division of Student Athletic Academic Services will continue with a process to establish a systematic manner of assessing effectiveness. This will be achieved by maintaining accurate records of community activities Toledo studentathletes participate in throughout the academic year. In addition, the SAAS staff will attempt to establish policies for each sport program to participate in a specified number of community appearances. SAAS will also plan to record if requests for student-athletes appearance in the community originated from external requests, or an initiative internal to each sport program.