The Rice Thresher, Vol. 93, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, March 10, 2006 Page: 6 of 20
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THE RICE THRESHER NEWS FRIDAY. MARCH 10,2006
NCAA ACADEMIC PROGRESS RATES
Rice teams rank high in
NCAA academic statistic
by Amber Obermeyer
THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF
Eight of Rice's fourteen varsity
athletic teams ranked among the
top lOpercentofDivision Iuniversi-
ties based on the NCAA's Academic
Progress Rates, which were re-
leased last week. The golf, soccer,
swimming, men's tennis, women's
cross country and women's track
and field teams all had perfect
scores of 1,000, which means that
over the last two years, every team
member remained both eligible to
play and enrolled at Rice.
A team can earn two points
per semester for each scholarship
athlete — one if the athlete stays
eligible to compete and another if
he or she stays enrolled at Rice.
The APR is calculated by dividing
a team's points by the total points
possible and multiplying by 1,000.
The men's track and field and
women's basketball teams also
ranked in the top 10 percent nation-
ally in those sports with APRs of
994 and 992, respectively.
The baseball team had the low-
est APR at Rice, 943. Teams with
APRs below 925 face sanctions
from the NCAA. The NCAA sets
the maximum number of scholar-
ships a school can give in each
sport, and universities can lose
up to 10 percent of this limit by
having deficient APRs. The APRs
were introduced last year, but this
year is the first time teams were
penalized for low rates.
Men's basketball was the only
other team within 45 points of
the minimum, with 957, and both
baseball and men's basketball
were above the national averages
for those sports. Assistant Athletic
Director for Compliance Jason Gray
said it is more common for base-
ball and men's basketball players
to transfer than it is for athletes
in other sports, both at Rice and
nationwide. If an athlete transfers
while in good academic standing,
the team loses one of two possible
points for him or her.
Gray said he expects Rice's
APRs to remain about the same in
the future.
"There's always a chance,
especially with small teams, that
just one person leaving can make
a difference," Gray said. "There
are some things you can't foresee
—someone transferring or leaving
for any reason — but I don't see
anything drastic happening."
Gray said the athletic depart-
ment did not make any changes in
response to the NCAA's adoption
of this new system.
Athletic Director Bobby May
(Will Rice '65) said he was pleased
with Rice's APRs.
"We did very well," May said.
"And that's a function of kids caring
about academics and working hard
to do a great job. They always do
around here — they take it very
seriously, and we're proud of the
work they do."
Three Conference USA schools
were penalized: East Carolina
University in men's basketball, the
University of Memphis in men's
track and field and the University
of Alabama-Birmingham in men's
tennis and women's basketball.
Also, the University of Texas'
baseball team was penalized the
maximum for that sport, 1.17 schol-
arships. May said he thinks the new
penalties will cause other schools
to focus more on academics.
"I'm sure as we get further into
this, things will improve nation-
ally," May said. "1 think [APRs and
penalties] are a very good way to
address a situation that needs to
be addressed."
Last week, the NCAA released its Academic Progress Rates, which measure the academic progress and
retention of varsity athletic teams. The tables below compare Rice's rates to those of selected other private
schools as well as to the averages for Division I universities and Division I private universities.
Men's
Rice
Duke
Stanford
Northwestern
Division 1
Private
Baseball
943
962
965
967
931
952
Basketball
957
978
954
935
927
947
Cross country
984
—
989
—
959
980
Football
971
975
995
961
929
955
Golf
1000
1000
983
1000
961
974
Tennis
1000
971
1000
1000
960
969
Track and field
994
—
992
—
950
972
Women's
Rice
Duke
Stanford
Northwestern
Division 1
Private
Basketball
992
989
984
980
958
969
Cross country
1000
990
988
986
971
980
Soccer
1000
1000
983
995
971
982
Swimming
1000
995
1000
994
978
985
Tennis
971
1000
955
984
968
975
Track and field
1000
1000
966
—
965
979
Volleyball
971
990
1000
1000
968
979
Team APRs
1000
900
800
X) 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000
ill
211
957
925
«<?
COMMITTEE
From page 1
academics. ... There's so much
going on in O-Week that 1 don't
know that we effectively get the
point across that intellectual life
extends beyond the classroom."
Forman said he does not ex-
pect major changes to O-Week an d
that in five or six years, O-Week
will likely resemble the current
model. He said his experience
as Jones College master from
2002-'05 convinced him of how
important O-Week is in setting the
tone for first-year students — and
that currently O-Week is mostly
successful. However, improve-
ments can be made, he said.
"It's in everyone's interest that
we regularly examine O-Week and
see if we're providing as reward-
ing an experience as we can,"
Forman said. "Wedo (orientation J
better than any other university 1
know. But there are some things
we don't spend much time on."
For instance, Forman said he
would also like to see O-Week
focus more on connections to
Houston.
'O-Week gets so
packed... that often,
it's just like afire
hose in the face for
first-year students.'
— Matthew Taylor (Ph.D. '92)
Assistant to the dean of
undergraduates
"Our engagement with the
city of Houston is becoming a
prominent initiative on campus,"
Forman said. "It's changing
weekend social events and [the
curriculum]. It would be great if
that message could be said dur-
ing O-Week as well: that when
you come to Rice, the entire city
of Houston is part of the set of
resources open to you."
The committee has met three
times, and Stoll said it has not
developed consensus opinions.
He said the committee members
should not rely on their own ex-
periences with O-Week, and that
members will seek opinions from
people outside the committee.
Taylor said the committee might
divide into interviewing teams.
"I think we'll be talking to
a lot of people for a long time,"
Taylor said.
The committee is temporary,
Taylor said, but will likely last
through most of the 2006-'07
academic year.
Alex Stoll is not related to
Richard Stoll. Nathan Black
contributed to this report.
COMMITTEE ON THE FIRST-YEAR EXPERIENCE
Name
Richard Stoll, chair
Joel Wolfe
Paul Harcombe
Jane Grande-Allen
Catherine Clack
Michele Daley
Emily Page
Holly Williams
Ceci Mesta
John Horstman
James Lloyd
Alex Paul
Position
Political science professor
Will Rice College master, history professor
Biology professor
Bioengineering professor
Multicultural Affairs director
Academic Advising director
Wellness Center director
Student Activities assistant director
Martel College freshman
Honor Council chair, Sid Richardson College junior
'Student Association president. Brown College senior
2005 0 Week student director, Jones College senior
RONDELET
From page 1
that RPC is strongly consider-
ing holding Esperanza there in
the fall.
Sheeley said the Houston
Zoo was unattractive as a venue
because it closes at midnight,
while dances usually end at
2 a.m., and because the Presi-
dent's Office hosted a similar
Passport to Houston event there
during the first Owl Weekend
this spring.
Sheeley said Rondelet will not
be held at a nightclub because
RPC did not want Rondelet to
be alcohol-focused. Sheeley said
she did not want to hold it at a
hotel or on campus because she
wants attendees to be eager to
participate in a variety of activities
at the event.
"Hotels are not really the idea
I want," Sheeley said. "We want to
get people excited and have a new,
fun thing to do. We could always
hire people [to perform at a hotel I
but at the same time,... hotels just
aren't very interesting."
NEW COLLEGE PRESIDENTS
In the last two weeks, Jones, Martel, Sid Richardson and Wiess
colleges elected their presidents for 2006-'07. The incoming
presidents for all colleges are listed below.
College
Baker
Brown
Hanszen
Jones
Lovett
Martel
Sid Richardson
Wiess
Will Rice
President
Sara Zampierin
Sara Hampton
Stephen Rooke
Patricia Mahoney
Anish Patel
Manny Gardberg
Ashley Rachelle Head
Chris Kudron
Brian Schwab
j ■
•-
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Obermeyer, Amber. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 93, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, March 10, 2006, newspaper, March 10, 2006; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443086/m1/6/: accessed June 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.