NCAA Division I Academic Performance Program: Data Policy and Cycle-Two Data Reviews

NCAA Academic Performance Program Overview National and Conference Level Data Trends. NCAA Academic Progress Rate Policy Updates. APP Data Reviews. Academic Portal. Questions.

academic data trends Updates on Graduation Success Rate and NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate National and Conference Trends.

Student-Athlete Group African-American Males African-American Females 1995 GSR 2009 GSR Overall 74% 86% White 81% 91% African-American 56% White Males 76% 87% African-American Males 51% 69% White Females 89% 94% African-American Females 71% 84% GSR IMPROVEMENTS Comparison of GSR of first single-year class (1995) to most recent single-year class (2009).

Total new grads from 1995 – 2009: 19,496

APR IMPROVEMENTS Comparison of APR first single-year class (2004) to most recent single-year class (2015). Sport 2004 APR 2015 APR Baseball 933 970 Football 931 959 Men’s basketball 929 964 Women's basketball 978

Delayed-Graduation Points In the past 12 years, more than 14,000 student-athletes have returned to college and completed their degree. More than 7,500 student-athletes in high-profile sports have earned delayed-graduation points. 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 Baseball 113 99 94 Football 378 329 316 Men's basketball 104 87 85 Women’s basketball 36 44 37

Public Recognition 1,071 teams publicly recognized for high achievement -- 649 women’s teams and 422 men’s or mixed squads. Scores required to be in the top 10 ranged from 983 to a perfect 1,000. Earning a perfect APR score were 944 teams. 290 schools placed at least one team on the top APR list.

Adjustments 1,564 adjustment requests submitted for 2015-16 data for student-athletes who lost APR points.

APP Penalty and Loss of Access to Postseason Waivers To date, no team has met the extraordinary mitigation threshold. For 2016-17, no longer have Level-Three penalties and in-person hearings. NCAA staff makes initial decisions and appeals heard by the NCAA Division I Committee on Academics Subcommittee on Penalties and Appeals.

APP DATA POLICY Transfer adjustment. Retroactive financial aid. Medical absence waivers.

History of Transfer Adjustment Prior to 2008, no automatic adjustment for transfers. Membership had concerns regarding ability to control retention. Division I Committee on Academic Performance examined data on predictive values of eligibility and retention and found both statistically relevant. Approved "2.600“ transfer adjustment. Recommended continued evaluation of criteria.

Old Transfer Adjustment Criteria The student-athlete must earn the eligibility point during the student-athlete's last term of enrollment prior to transfer. The student-athlete must immediately transfer to another institution. The student-athlete must present a 2.600 cumulative grade-point average, or higher, at the time of departure. The student-athlete must attend the previous institution for a minimum of one academic year. The student-athlete must transfer to a four-year institution.

Key component of criteria. Criteria No. 1: Student-athlete must earn eligibility point during last term of enrollment prior to transfer. Outcome Maintain current requirement that student-athlete earn eligibility point in last full-time term of enrollment. Discussion Key component of criteria.

Criteria No. 2: Student-athlete must immediately transfer to another institution. Discussion Student-athletes who transfer immediately to next institution, graduate at significantly higher rates than those who delay enrollment. Outcome Retain current requirement that a student-athlete must immediately transfer to next institution.

Criteria No. 3: Student-athlete must present a 2 Criteria No. 3: Student-athlete must present a 2.600 cumulative GPA, or higher, at time of departure. Discussion A 2.600 cumulative GPA at time of transfer remains a valid predictor of graduation within five years. Addition of credits earned and/or progress-toward- degree analysis does not improve predictive value. Outcome Maintain current 2.600 cumulative GPA threshold for four-year transfers.

Criteria No. 4: Student-athlete must attend the previous institution for a minimum of one academic year. Discussion Time in residence at previous institution does not significantly impact likelihood of graduation within five years. Outcome Remove current requirement that student-athlete must attend the previous institution for a minimum of one academic year.

Criteria No. 5: Student-athlete must transfer to a four-year institution. Discussion Two-year transfers are significantly less likely to earn four-year degrees within five years of enrollment than four-year transfers. Some two-year transfers with relatively high GPAs graduate at similar rates as four-year transfers with 2.600 GPAs. Outcome Adjust current criteria to allow 4-2 transfers with > 3.300 cumulative GPA at time of transfer to qualify for adjustment, if all other criteria are met. Review outcomes in three to five years.

Summary of Update to Criteria Maintain Amend Earn eligibility point in last term prior to transfer. If transferring to a four-year institution, must earn at least 2.600 cumulative GPA. Must immediately transfer to next institution. Remove requirement that student-athlete must attend previous institution for a minimum of one academic year. Adjust criteria to allow 4-2 transfers with at least a 3.300 cumulative GPA to qualify for the adjustment, if they meet all other criteria. Review criteria in three to five years.

Effective Date Immediate effective date with the submission of the 2015-16 APR cohort and beyond, retroactive to the multiyear cohort (i.e., 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16). Fall 2016 data submission: For student-athletes who meet new criteria but not old, an institution should submit an adjustment request for staff review. In future years, the NCAA Division I Academic Portal will be updated to allow for submission of “automatic adjustment.”

Student-Athletes Who Do Not Meet Criteria Institutions may submit adjustments requests for staff review if a transfer student-athlete does not meet the established criteria. Guidance from Division I Committee on Academics: Requests for student-athletes who are more than .100 points short of the GPA requirement (i.e., 2.600 or 3.200) should be denied. Requests for student-athletes with more than a year gap in enrollment should be denied. Requests for student-athletes with more than one deficiency (e.g., gap in enrollment and GPA) should be denied.

Adjustment Directive Updates 4-4 Transfers Deny request if GPA <2.500. Student-athlete must present other positive academic indicators.* 4-2 Transfers Deny request if GPA <3.200. Enrollment Gap Deny request if GPA < 2.600. Deny request if gap is more than one year. Student-athlete must present mitigation for gap. *Other positive academic indicators include: transferable credit to next institution, ratio of terms with GPA > 2.600, ratio of terms with GPA < 2.500, academic trending.

Proposal No. 2016-130 Autonomy Proposal -- Financial Aid -- Terms and Conditions -- Retroactive Financial Aid Autonomy Proposal 2016-130 Institutional financial aid may be awarded to an enrolled student-athlete after the first day of classes in any term. Aid may be made retroactive to the beginning of that academic year. APR Cohort Student-athlete is in the APR cohort for any term in which the student-athlete receives retroactive athletics aid (and is enrolled full time).  For example, student-athlete is in the fall APR cohort if student-athlete was not provided athletics aid until the spring term of a given year but the athletics aid was made retroactive to the beginning of the year.

Medical-absence waivers Processing APP policy does not require an approved waiver to adjust lost points. Conference has authority to determine policy for medical- absence waivers. Best Practice Work with conference office. Recommend submitting medical-absence waivers for continuing student-athletes. Recommend submitting adjustments for departing student-athletes.

Medical-absence waivers If medical-absence waiver is approved AND student-athlete meets all progress-toward-degree requirements with approved waiver, then student-athlete earns eligibility point. If waiver is approved and student-athlete does not meet all progress-toward-degree requirements (e.g., GPA), then student- athlete receives “medical-absence waiver” for eligibility status. Medical-absence waivers typically do not apply to the retention point.

FAQ – Medical-absence waiver Football student-athlete withdraws halfway through fall term due to an incapacitating illness. Conference approves a medical-absence waiver for fall and spring terms. With prorated hours from waiver, student-athlete would meet progress-toward-degree requirements after fall and spring terms.

FAQ – Medical-absence waivers Softball student-athlete withdraws halfway through fall term due to an incapacitating illness. Conference approves a medical-absence waiver for the fall term. Student-athlete is academically eligible when he/she returns in the spring. What if student-athlete did not return?

Data Policy Discussions Committee on Academics has authority over APP policy. NCAA Division I Committee on Academics Subcommittee on Data. Graduate and postgraduate students. Current APP policy permits automatic awarding of retention point. Review of GSR policies and procedures. Action anticipated this summer.

Review of GSR Policies and Procedures Potential areas for policy changes. Transfer student-athletes whose first term at any institution is not fall are excluded at the receiving institution. Student-athletes who had been part time at the same institution are not included in GSR, but student-athletes who had been enrolled part time at a different institution are considered transfers. Student-athletes who leave eligible and return within six-year period.

APP DATA REVIEWS Overview of Cycle-Two APP Data Reviews. Process Review. Summary of Issues. Requested Documentation.

APP Data Reviews Cycle One began in 2006. Process established by the NCAA Division I Committee on Academic Performance to confirm cohort composition and the correct awarding of eligibility and retention points. All Division I institutions received review of APR or GSR or both between 2006 and 2015. NCAA Division I Committee on Academics confirmed they wanted to continue the process with Cycle Two.

APP Data Reviews (cont.) Foundational Principles. To ensure the accuracy of APP data used for identifying institutions and teams of excellence or deficiency under the APP. To ensure that Division I institutions are accurately certifying student-athletes for NCAA purposes. To ensure that all Division I institutions and any Divisions II and III institutions that sponsor a Division I sport receive some level of review each 10-year cycle. Minimize burden to membership Focus on customer service Not a punitive process -- educational

APP Data Review Selection Comparison of academic rates previously submitted; Warnings generated by the APP data collection program; Manual review of submitted data; Any data irregularities; Institutions with a team(s) with an APR(s) ranging from 910 to 950; and Random selection.

APP Data Review Selection (cont.) Other factors: Institution failed to provide documentation to substantiate the information entered into the APP data collection system in a prior review. Institution failed to comply with a required action from a previous data review. Institutions may be required for review within specified timeframe based on the significant number of issues with the institution's APR and GSR data discovered during the APP data review process.

Summary of Issues 43 percent of institutions reviewed during past four data review cycles have had some issue with certification of eligibility. Issues included: Misapplication of some portion of progress-toward-degree legislation. Certification form incorrect or incomplete. Incomplete or inaccurate policies and procedures. Of those with issues, 17 percent of institutions required a campus visit. # of Corrections

Certification Issues Year Number of Data Reviews Eligibility Issues PTD Issues Certification Form Policies & Procedures Required Campus Visit 2014 45 16 (36%) 11 (24%) 7 (16%) 10 (22%) 3 (7%) 2014-15 38 16 (42%) 8 (21%) 9 (24%) 3 (8%) 2015 23 13 (57%) 9 (39%) 5 (22%) 3 (13%) 2016 33 14 (33%) 7 (21%) 11 13 (39%) 1 (3%) TOTAL 136 59 (43%) 35 31 41 10

Possible APP Data Review Outcomes All APP data determined to be accurate. No Issues List of corrections agreed on by the NCAA staff and institution. APP data corrected. Issues Identified Recertification of risk student-athletes. Update policies and procedures. Required Actions All teams ineligible for postseason competition. Unusable Data

Requested Documentation Squad lists. Financial aid documentation (e.g., screen shots from student information system). Documentation to demonstrate student-athlete met criteria for exception. 2.6 Transfer Adjustment – Tracer form confirming full-time enrollment at four-year institution, National Student Clearinghouse report. Professional Athletics Adjustment – Roster confirming student- athlete was on roster.

Requested Documentation (cont.) Academic certification forms demonstrating a review of each element of the progress-toward-degree requirements with data (vs. a "yes/no"). Official transcripts (provided by registrar's office). Transcripts from previous institutions (for student-athletes who enrolled as transfers). Continuing eligibility policies and procedures. APP data collection and submission of policies and procedures.

Common Red Flags: Eligibility Issue Red Flags Total hours used for progress toward degree vs. degree applicable. Percentage of degree > 100 percent. Significant number of student-athletes with greater than 10 hours more than required number of hours for degree. Student-athletes being certified against incorrect major. Major listed on certification form does not match major listed on transcript.

Common Red Flags: Eligibility (cont.) Issue Red Flags Transfer student-athletes being certified incorrectly. All transfer hours reported as degree applicable for all transfer students. Transfer evaluations completed postenrollment. Double counting of repeated courses. Multiple course attempts for student-athletes and total hours earned each term used for evaluation of credit-hour requirements.

Policies and Procedures Compliance Registrar Academics - Athletics FAR Institutional Research Admissions Financial Aid Student Services – Campus Academic Depts. Policies and Procedures

ACADEMIC PORTAL Combines multiple systems (e.g., GSR, APP, etc.). Phase I – opened August 2016.

New Academic Portal Compliance Assistant APR Improvement Plans Graduation Rates Data Collection APR Data Collection Head Coaches APR Portfolio Division II Academic Tracking System APP Penalty Waivers APR Adjustments and Corrections APP Data Reviews Division III Academic Reporting Program Compliance Assistant

Phases Phase 1: *APP Data Collection. Phase 2: Phase 3: NCAA Division II Academic Tracking System Data Collection. APR Adjustments APP Waivers. APP Penalties. Document Management. Communication Tools. Reports. Phase 2: GSR. Public Releases. Alternate Definition of Cohort. LSDBi Items. APR Improvement Plans. Extensions. Phase 3: APP Data Reviews. Data Export. Facilitating Learning and Achieving Graduation/ Graduation Risk Overview.

Academic Portal Adjustment of Testing and Development Over 80 hours of brainstorming teleconferences with membership constituents. In-person and remote user testing. NCAA Regional Rules Seminars and committee meetings. Membership Feedback

Academic Portal Eight-week APR data submission deadline. Year-round APR data entry. Year-round APR adjustment processing. Nonrate related corrections by membership. Submission of policy interpretations.

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