Sac State doesn't make grade

Sacramento State has seven athletic programs subject to NCAA penalties, the most of any Division I school in the country, based on Academic Progress Rate data released on Tuesday.

New Mexico State, San Jose State and Alabama-Birmingham have six programs subject to sanctions.

There were 218 teams at 123 schools cited for poor performance based on APR, which factors in eligibility, retention and graduation over a four-year period from 2003-2004 to 2006-2007. There are 6,272 Division I athletic teams.

Sacramento State's baseball, men's basketball, football, men's golf, men's indoor track, men's outdoor track and women's tennis programs are scheduled to receive penalties ranging from public notice to scholarship reduction.

The Hornets were penalized one scholarship each in men's basketball and women's tennis, 0.84 scholarships in baseball, 0.36 scholarships in men's indoor track and 0.15 scholarships in football.

But those penalties are based on the assumption the sports are fully funded. Sacramento State's baseball team, for example, funds 11 scholarships, below the 11.7 full amount, so it will actually lose 0.14 scholarships.

Indoor track will be limited to awarding 12.24 scholarships, down from the allowable 12.6. But the Hornets only give five scholarships in that sport, so in effect there will be no scholarship penalty.

Sacramento State's football team, which has posted an APR below 900 for two consecutive years, could be banned from postseason play if it doesn't meet certain NCAA criteria for a third consecutive year.

UC Davis was penalized in one sport, with men's wrestling receiving a 0.96 scholarship reduction.

Eight of the nine Division I schools in the CSU system and six of the nine Big Sky Conference institutions were subject to penalties.

"It's not something we're very happy with, but we are working extremely hard as an institution and as a department to address this issue," said Terry Wanless, Sacramento State's director of athletics.

"We've done a lot of great things over the past couple of years to work on this issue. We're making great progress and feel we're on the right path.

"We're committed to being a program with academic integrity. The vast majority of student-athletes are doing things the right way."

Bill Macriss, Sacramento State's deputy director of athletics, said the APR results were disappointing but that the philosophy behind the academic barometer was important.

"We need to retain student-athletes, we need to keep them eligible, and if you do those two things you're going to be graduating kids," he said.

Sacramento State's APR ranged from a low of 855 in football to a high of 990 in gymnastics and softball. The average APR for all Division I student-athletes is 961, according to the NCAA.

Steve Perez, Sacramento State's assistant to the president for special projects, said the athletic department is making academic progress not yet reflected in the APR.

"Certainly, having seven sports singled out is nothing we're proud of," Perez said. "We don't think it's a total reflection of what we're doing for our student-athletes.

"Our perspective would be there's quite a few people over there working really hard. We need a little time to have those efforts take effect."

Macriss said taking in community college transfers, part of the CSU mission, has a negative impact on APR. Students requiring remedial work under CSU system guidelines also impact APR, with remedial course work not counting toward percentage of degree completion.

"Transfer kids have been our highest risk students," Wanless said. "The mission of the university is to take JC kids. They in turn struggle."

An on-campus committee that began meeting last fall has developed an academic improvement plan to balance the CSU mission, Sacramento State's mission and NCAA requirements.

Changes adopted include raising entrance requirements to include college-level math and English for community college transfers, requiring incoming freshmen in programs with an APR below 925 to take a minimum of three college-level credits prior to attending classes at Sacramento State and having athletes in programs with an APR below 900 have daily attendance forms signed by instructors and themselves.

"We're very committed to graduating our student-athletes," Macriss said. "We believe that the coaches are recruiting quality students.

"We believe the plans, and the action we're taking right now to improve our numbers within the APR, are going to be working immediately in some areas and for the long haul in all the programs."

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