SUjagTILLiDIE
Well-Known Member
Excellent Read :tup:
College sports' bait and switch
Gerald S. Gurney and Richard M. Southall [ARCHIVE]
Special to ESPN.com | August 9, 2012
Last month, the NCAA announced its latest team Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores, highlighting the institutions whose four-year averages fell below the 900 threshold score. Among the offending teams was notably the University of Connecticut, which will be ineligible for the 2013 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship and must limit its practice time each week by replacing four hours with academic activities.
However, less publicized was that the remaining penalized basketball teams are all low-budgeted, limited-resource institutions or historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs): Arkansas-Pine Bluff, UC Riverside, Cal State Bakersfield, Jacksonville State, Mississippi Valley State, University of North Carolina-
Wilmington, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Toledo and Towson. In addition, football teams from Hampton, North Carolina A&T and Texas Southern are banned from competing in postseason competition.
To some observers the lack of high-profile Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams among those penalized has raised fundamental questions about the APR's efficacy and fairness. Conversely, some APR supporters have suggested APR success simply indicates some teams have better students than others. These dichotomous perspectives were reflected at last January's NCAA Scholarly Colloquium, where Walter Harrison, president of the University of Hartford and a major architect of the APR, was questioned about the ease with which institutions with financial resources can manipulate APR scores through permissible NCAA adjustments and other strategies. In light of these issues, Harrison was asked if he regarded penalties to underfunded and historically black colleges or universities fair and appropriate. Harrison candidly replied these issues have haunted him for years and assured the audience the NCAA shared his concerns.
http://m.espn.go.com/extra/ncaa/story?storyId=8248046
College sports' bait and switch
Gerald S. Gurney and Richard M. Southall [ARCHIVE]
Special to ESPN.com | August 9, 2012
Last month, the NCAA announced its latest team Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores, highlighting the institutions whose four-year averages fell below the 900 threshold score. Among the offending teams was notably the University of Connecticut, which will be ineligible for the 2013 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship and must limit its practice time each week by replacing four hours with academic activities.
However, less publicized was that the remaining penalized basketball teams are all low-budgeted, limited-resource institutions or historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs): Arkansas-Pine Bluff, UC Riverside, Cal State Bakersfield, Jacksonville State, Mississippi Valley State, University of North Carolina-
Wilmington, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Toledo and Towson. In addition, football teams from Hampton, North Carolina A&T and Texas Southern are banned from competing in postseason competition.
To some observers the lack of high-profile Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams among those penalized has raised fundamental questions about the APR's efficacy and fairness. Conversely, some APR supporters have suggested APR success simply indicates some teams have better students than others. These dichotomous perspectives were reflected at last January's NCAA Scholarly Colloquium, where Walter Harrison, president of the University of Hartford and a major architect of the APR, was questioned about the ease with which institutions with financial resources can manipulate APR scores through permissible NCAA adjustments and other strategies. In light of these issues, Harrison was asked if he regarded penalties to underfunded and historically black colleges or universities fair and appropriate. Harrison candidly replied these issues have haunted him for years and assured the audience the NCAA shared his concerns.
http://m.espn.go.com/extra/ncaa/story?storyId=8248046
