Spartans' APR Commitment On Display At NCAA Convention

Atlanta, Ga.-----No longer is the San Jose State University athletics program mired among the poorest academic performers in the National Collegiate Athletics Association's (NCAA) Division I membership. A model for executing a dramatic turnaround, the University was featured at the NCAA's annual convention that began January 12.

            Assistant athletics director for academic services Eileen Daley and recently retired football coach Dick Tomey were featured speakers at the Association's general session meeting on January 14 titled, "NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate (APR) Plans: Instruments for Campus Change."

            Their presentations follow the Association's 2010 convention theme of "...improving student-athletes' academic and athletics experiences."

            In her role at San Jose State, Daley is directly responsible for monitoring and implementing the athletics department's program to raise its APR scores per team and collectively as a department. The threshold number for San Jose State and all other Division I members is 925 out of 1,000 which translates to a 60 percent graduation rate.

            During the first four years Tomey was the Spartans' football head coach, 64 players earned either a bachelor's or master's degree - the most at San Jose State for a comparable time span in recent memory. The number does not include the members of the 2009 team that earned their degree in less than five years.

            Fresno State's Susan Gutkind, Daley's counterpart at Fresno State, and Weber State University President F. Ann Millner will join Daley and Tomey as speakers during the 60-minute presentation.

Click on the link above for a power-point display of Daley and Tomey's presentation to the NCAA Convention attendees.