On a different subject, I'd like your input on this. This is a Division I-A issue.
I still have a ways to go, but I have an idea for a potential dissertation topic. I'm looking at some of the issues with APR, most specifically the tension that occurs for institutions that may not have the academic support services to support their students.
Basically, I'm curious to see how many institutions fail to reach the minimum APR bar of 925 this year. I wouldn't be surprised if MORE institutions from non-BCS schools were on the sanctions list than BCS schools. My line of inquiry would be that APR actually exacerbates the competitiveness issue, especially in football and mens basketball, making a fair playing field even more of a misnomer. Those non-BCS institutions have less resources to improve their athletes' education, and APR scores to keep them in school (in fact, making more studies available for borderline athletes to study harder may force them to leave!), therefore they either: 1) move their athletes into tracked/non-challenging majors to keep them eligible; 2) attract more academically talented and less athletically talented students (ie raise admissions standards but get more losses than wins), or 3) rack up lower team APR scores for wins. Is there really a tension here... and how deep does it go?
I know APR scores are coming out shortly. It should be a big wow this year. And, it has me thinking.
What are your thoughts on this inquiry? I'm working on our draft again tonight.
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Scott, this topic really gets my blood boiling.
My dissertation is examining the career development process of Division I-A athletes. I am realizing what existed at one point with their career development is now about to drastically change due to APR. I expect the increased use of tracked and/or new multidisciplinary majors (have heard much buzz about the increased creation of these). I also think that due to the degree progression component, even student-athletes with strong academics will be unable to change their major. I have already had one student with a 3.8 GPA who was denied the chance to change her major as she was going to miss her 1st degree progression point. For fear of missing those points, I expect student-athletes will 1) be fearful and pressured to declare early without proper advisement, 2) pick athlete-friendly majors and 3) remain trapped in a major regardless of later decisions.
Are there tensions? Certainly! I think you are correct about the possibility of an increased divide between non-BCS and BCS schools, but I bet we might be surprised at the # of BCS schools which are going to fall below the 925. I fear that in a short period of time the historical and continuous penalties are going to pile up faster than a game of tetris. It will be interesting to see how schools react when the full pressure of these reforms arrives.
While I am not sure where (or over which issue) the first will emerge, I fully expect lawsuits over some of these issues.
I am working on the draft. I should have some feedback to you soon.
Scott: Interesting topic! I don't have much to offer in terms of APR-specific feedback, but do have some questions that I hope will generate some thinking. How would you frame this issue theoretically? Would your unit of analysis be the policy, the athletes, or the athletic department? Would a dissertation on this topic move you into a larger research agenda? One concern I have with my research, and I suspect it is an issue with athletics-related research (particularly qualitative studies), is getting "socially acceptable" answers from participants. Given the tensions that do exist, I wonder how open the NCAA, atletic departments, coaches, athletes, etc. would be. Universities work really hard at keeping an unblemished image, so I struggle with how to ensure honest and critical feedback from those working and living in the field.
Scott,
first, my bet is that the APR findings are not going to be as severe as implied last year. whether through the processes you cite or otherwise, schools are figuring out how to work the system to stay out of trouble.
second, following Troy, you need to think about what kind of data you want and how to come up with models to test for that data. The first part would be pretty tough--most schools aren't going to want to cough up the kind of data you'd need to track athletes and account for APR scores, much less to track changes in major, transfers, and other changes.
the second part could be quite interesting, though. I'm becoming more of an organizational theorist, so I'd consider some kind of institutional framework whereby colleges need athletes to stay eligible to affirm institutional adherence to the NCAA APR rules, and thus reward them for that more than actually achieving in the classroom and graduating. But there may be other academic theories to explore in terms of reward structures etc.
Hope this is helpful.
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