CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois University had three of its intercollegiate athletic teams recognized on Wednesday afternoon by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for public recognition for top academic performance. The awards are given to teams scoring in the top ten percent of the multi-year Academic Progress Rates (APR), which is part of the NCAA's academic reform program.
EIU had its men's golf, women's golf and women's soccer programs honored by the NCAA marking the second straight year that three Panther programs had been nationally recognized.
“This is a great testament to the hard work put in by our student-athletes and coaches in the class room and in their respective sport of competition,” said EIU athletic director Barbara Burke. “To have three teams recognized nationally is a great accomplishment and we are honored to be a representative of Eastern Illinois University and the Ohio Valley Conference.”
A total of six Ohio Valley Conference teams were honored by the NCAA with two from Morehead State and one from Murray State joining the three EIU teams. Mixed rifle and women's soccer were honored for Morehead State while Murray State's women's tennis team was honored.
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 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09). High-performing teams receiving public recognition awards posted APR scores ranging from 978 to a perfect 1,000.
This year 841 teams (492 women's teams, 349 men's or mixed teams) were publicly recognized for high academic achievement; that figure represents 13.4 percent of the approximately 6,297 Division I teams. In all, 228 institutions (out of 331 Division I schools) placed at least one team on the list. Last year 767 teams were recognized.
Multi-year APR scores for all Division I sports teams, including the teams receiving public recognition awards, will be announced at a later date. That announcement will also include immediate and historical penalties for low-performing teams.
