UNC faculty athletics council discusses APR scores

Morass.

The word, meaning “a confusing situation,” was how one faculty athletics committee member described varying UNC athletic and academic success statistics.

The committee, which met Monday, discussed that and the athletic department’s strategic plan, which aims for UNC to be ranked third in the conference and 10th nationally in both academics and athletics.

“The idea that academics are on the same par as athletics is new,” said Paul Friga, a business professor. “We need to tell the academic story more.”

How realistic that goal is — and how to measure such success — was a topic of confusion at the meeting.

Individual teams’ five-year Academic Progress Rates dominated the discussion. The rate, which is used by the NCAA, gives teams a score out of 1,000.The lowest five-year scores were held by the football team, with a score of 934; the wrestling team, with a score of 938; and the men’s soccer team, with a score of 953. To stay eligible for championships, teams must keep a 930 average two-year APR.

UNC’s football team was ranked 189th among Division 1 schools for APR, and men’s soccer was ranked 160th.

But members criticized the scores for only including scholarship or recruited athletes.

“Will we ever know if we’ve achieved or moved closer to this goal?” said Andrew Perrin, a member and sociology professor. “It seems like a morass.”

Nursing professor Beverly Foster said the numbers were confusing because they exclude some players.

“If these athletes vary by team and are only part of the iceberg … they’re all part of our conversation,” she said.

UNC has led the ACC average in APR for the past seven years, Friga said. The conference average is an APR of 975 — UNC’s average was a 980.

Private schools, such as Duke University and Stanford University, were ranked higher than UNC academically, according to the data.

“We’re trying to be as good academically as the privates and as good athletically as the publics,” said Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham.

Committee Chairwoman Joy Renner said she was worried that the committee could become bogged down by comparing UNC to other schools.

“We’re not in a place to compare ourselves to anyone,” she said. We spent the last two years figuring out who we are. I’m hoping by the end of the year we can say who we want to be. Then we can say, ‘How do we get there?’”

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