Athletes v. Academics at UA story part 1

C.A.T.S, or Commitment to Athletes’ Total Success, consistently tries to raise standards for academics among athletes through the offering of tutoring and advising that better allows athletes to manage their schedules.
Despite a poor rate of graduation among athletes that was reported on in the Wildcat earlier this year as being the fourth worst among athletes who entered school during the years of 1998-99 and 2000-01, academics among athletes on campus seem to be improving. C.A.T.S. institutes a number of programs to help improve academics among athletes for the future.
“Our mission is to ensure that student athletes handle the transition from high school to college and that this transition is as smooth as possible,” said director of Director of C.A.T.S. Academic Services for Athletes Mike Meade, “We wish to provide athletes the tools and resources needed given the taxing time demands split between academics and sport.”
C.A.T.S. no longer reports to the University of Arizona’s athletic department. Instead, C.A.T.S. reports to the Division of Student Affairs. Meade says this allows for more academic support on campus outside the athletics department and maintains communication between the athletics and the academic sides of the University.
According to Meade, the reports of low graduation among athletes were for students who are “long gone” from the school, and since then, the academics among athletes has improved.
There is a new measurement for athletes’ academic success since those reports have come out, the Academic Progress Rate (APR). The report, instituted in 2005, measures teams based on athletes’ academic progression from semester to semester, retention of athletes within a given program and the graduation rate after 5 years, according to Meade.
“It’s a better indication of how athletes are doing,” he said.
According to NCAA, collegiate teams that fail to achieve an APR score of at least 925, or a 50 percent graduation rate, can be penalized. A perfect score is 1000.
The University of Arizona’s Men’s Cross Country team posted a perfect score of 1000 in the APR report posted on May 1 of this year, earning them the Public Recognition Award. However, men’s football received a score of 924 in the same report, one point shy of what was needed to pass.
Mike Meade is optimistic for the coming APR report in May, 2010, saying, “We’re looking healthy in the classroom.”
C.A.T.S. utilizes methods to maintain academic success among athletes. They monitor the academic progress among athletes on a regular basis, and professors of athletes are required to give updates on student athletes at least twice during a semester.
“C.A.T.S. is a huge help,” said women’s Soccer player and Physical Education junior Alex Davis, “For freshman and sophomores there is planned and scheduled study hall and it really helps you prioritize when you get to college. The advisors are awesome, and we get both educational and sports advisors and it’s good to get opinions from both.”
“Student athletes are held to higher standards and require close attention,” said Meade, “So if a student dips (in grades) we know about it before things get beyond repair.”