April 30, 2007

Pocatello, ID --- The NCAA will issue a public warning to Idaho State University for their multiyear APR score of 870 in the sport of football. The public warning is a part of the NCAA's broad initiative with the Academic Progress Rate, which will be officially released for all of the NCAA's 326 Division I universities on Wednesday, May 2.

The APR began with the 2003-04 academic year, and 2005-06 was the third year that data was collected. A sports' APR score is a mathematical formula that establishes two points per semester for every scholarship student-athlete on a roster, one for retention and one for eligibility. A student-athlete that stays in school and stays academically eligible receives two out of two points for a semester. The APR score is figured by dividing the points earned by the scholarship athletes, divided by the number of total points available, and then multiplied by 1000. A score of 925 was established by the NCAA, and sports that fall under that score are subject to penalties, including the loss of scholarships if they have "0-for-2" student-athletes, which are students who are ineligible and leave the school.

The only sport among Idaho State's 16 to receive the warning is the football program, which has a three-year rolling average score of 870. Due to squad size limitations, Idaho State needs to reach a score of 900 next year for their four-year rolling average score (once four years of data are established, the APR will always be based on a four-year average, using the newest year's data to replace the oldest data), and ISU is well on the way to that, as their APR score for the fall semester was a 950.

While the public warning is not ideal, Director of Athletics Paul A. Bubb says that steps have already been identified and put into place to improve ISU's APR score.

"We take our academic performance very seriously and the APR is one component which judges us against a performance standard for all Division I programs," said Bubb. "We applaud the efforts of the membership and we are committed to meeting these standards."

"This public warning about one of our teams has given us the opportunity to review how we work with our student-athletes and if there are ways we can improve our own systems in order to better assist these young men and women. I believe establishing systems to better assist our student-athletes in meeting their individual academic goals as well as the standards set by the Big Sky Conference and the NCAA is a must for our university." Bubb added, "Towards that end we have identified areas where we can specifically improve as an institution and within our athletic program, as well as other areas where we believe we can enhance the student-athletes experience at Idaho State University."

Idaho State has identified four areas that they have already started to address that should help with both APR scores as well as retention and overall academic improvement. Those areas are: better incentives for post-student-athlete eligibility; educating coaches on identifying perspective as well as current scholarship student-athletes who might be APR risks, increased study skills and mentoring of all freshmen and incoming student-athletes, and increased academic resources.

Idaho State also has identified a second-tier of areas including increased summer school aid and incentives for non-season eligibility as well. Most importantly, Bubb realizes that while Idaho State has scored well in the APR when compared to other like institutions, the athletic department needs to increase resources for new students in the area of academic support, and that's where the mentoring program comes in.

"In addition to this we are initiating a new program next year where we will have our student-athletes work with a faculty mentor, starting as freshmen and continuing throughout their careers. We believe this will better assist our student-athletes as they adjust to college studies as well as life as a college student. We know that getting our freshmen off on the right foot will provide a solid foundation for their entire career and towards meeting their academic goals."