Recruited athletes graduate from the University at one of the highest rates in Division I-A sports and the second highest in the ACC, according to 2004 NCAA data released recently.
Student athletes who received an athletic scholarship and entered the University in 1997 and 1998 graduated within six years at a rate of 83 percent. Among the student body at large, 92 percent received a degree. The spread between the graduation rates of recruited athletes and the entire student body is 9 percent. Within the ACC, only Duke University graduated a higher percentage of recruited athletes.
"Our conference has the highest graduation rates in the country," said Tomas Jimenez, associate Athletic Director for Academic Affairs. "Not too many schools across the country can say they perform at this level academically and athletically."
Four years ago, the Strategic Planning Task Force on Athletics suggested that the University improve communication between athletics, academic and admissions personnel.
"Admissions follows admitted students carefully and builds future admissions decisions in part on past student performance," University President John T. Casteen, III said. "That practice plus sound advising and tutorial assistance may be the key ingredients of success."
The University has succeeded in coordinating academic, athletic and administrative concerns into an effective academic support program for student athletes, Jiminez said.
"I've been to six different schools, and I haven't seen the type of connections that students have with faculty and the deans as here at Virginia," Jiminez said.
Part of the effort involves trying to ensure that the University recruits athletes capable of handling the academic rigor of the University, Dean of Admissions John A. Blackburn said.
"In my presentation to the coaches each fall, I show them the profile of the entire class in order to show them the type of competition their students will face. As overall classes have become stronger, so have the recruited athletes," Blackburn said.
This semester, the athletic department began a Proactive Progress Program that aims to pair up student athletes with an academic coordinator. The program functions as a "one-on-one tour guide through the semester or year in the program," Jimenez said.
Student athletes are offered the opportunity to attend a Summer Transition Program, which helps incoming student athletes' transition from high school to college. Once enrolled, they are offered opportunities to attend summer school throughout their tenure at the University, a topic discussed at the Board of Visitors meeting last week.
The athletic department has a staff of 10 study skills specialists, 40 tutors and 10 to 16 instructional assistants available to aid athletes.
While pleased with the University's performance particularly given the number of teams the University fields, Casteen cautioned against reading too much into the statistics.
"This is not a competition with simple winners and losers," he said. "No two athletics programs are exactly the same"
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