Men's Golf and Volleyball Receive NCAA APR Public Recognition Award
4/13/2016 12:00:00 AM | General, Academics
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer University men's golf and women's indoor volleyball team were among those honored Wednesday by the NCAA with the Public Recognition Awards for their latest Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores, as two of the SoCon's 25 athletic programs recognized.
"Congratulations to our men's golf and volleyball student-athletes, coaches and academic staff for earning the APR Public Recognition Award," said Mercer Director of Athletics Jim Cole. "Academic success is of our upmost priority at Mercer and we are proud of these programs for their success in the classroom being recognized at a national level."
Each year, the NCAA tracks the classroom performance of student-athletes on every Division I team through the annual scorecard of academic achievement, known as APR. The score honors selected Division I sports teams by publicly recognizing their latest multiyear APR (the most recent APRs are based on scores from the 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 academic years). Division I teams that posted multi-year APRs in the top 10 percent of all squads in their respective sports were acknowledged today by the NCAA.
The award marks the third straight year that the Mercer volleyball program has achieved the status, as the team also received the honor for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 academic years. This marks the first year the men's golf team has earned the award.
With the two award-winning programs this year, Mercer now has received the honor nine times since the NCAA began bestowing the award to athletic programs.
This announcement is part of the overall Division I academic reform effort and is intended to highlight teams who demonstrate a commitment to academic progress and retention of student-athletes by achieving the top APRs within their respective sports.
All Division I teams' APR scores will be released April 20. All teams must meet a certain academic threshold to qualify for the postseason and can face penalties for continued low academic performance.
The APR measures eligibility, graduation and retention each term and provides a clear picture of the academic performance for each team in every sport.
