BALTIMORE – Coppin State University, which was one of six institutions to receive a National Collegiate Athletic Association Accelerating Academic Success Program Grant, has earned a renewal for year two. The grant is designed to assist limited-resource schools in developing and enhancing systems to increase student-athlete academic performance.
Coppin State received $300,000 in grant money in January 2014 and was one of only four institutions to receive the maximum grant amount.
“I am firmly committed to the importance of high academic performance by today's intercollegiate student-athletes, especially in light of the challenges confronted by those who compete on the Division I level,” said University System of Maryland Chancellor William Kirwan. “This grant from the NCAA will help identify ways to support even better the academic performance of student-athletes at Coppin State, where the tradition of success in intercollegiate athletics is well-established.”
Among some of the highlights of the first year of the grant was Coppin State being able to enhance its academic support services to student-athletes under the direction of Assistant Athletic Director for Academics Fred Reynolds.
The grant afforded the Department of Athletics to add three full-time academic support personnel and five part-time classroom checkers to support the academic and career development of the student-athletes. In addition, the grant allowed Coppin State’s athletics office to collaborate with the office of information technology to purchase 25 laptops/i-pads and 10 wifi hot spots to extend the universities technological capabilities while student-athletes traveled to competitions.
Another highlight from the first year of the grant was that CSU Athletics Department implemented a Faculty Enrichment Program. The enrichment program was generated for faculty and staff who were interested in furthering the integration of the student-athlete within the ideals and mission of the University. Faculty members traveled with teams to away competitions.
Faculty member Robert Eccles, Director of TEAR-C, presented a panel session at the 2014 NCAA National Convention. The grant also allowed 39 student-athletes to attend additional summer, spring and winter sessions to assist with graduating within a four-year period for a combined total of 243 credits.
In August of 2012, the NCAA Executive Committee approved $4.8 million in funding over the next three years for the pilot program. The Accelerating Academic Success Program Grant is administered by the NCAA national office staff and includes reporting requirements to hold institutions accountable for properly using the funds and to better measure the initiative’s success.
Coppin State completed a rigorous renewal process which detailed methods the University used the grant for during its first year. The department was able to satisfactorily demonstrate that the academic performance of its student-athletes improved. They were also able to ensure that adequate steps had been put in place to ensure the long-term academic success of the student-athletes. The NCAA also required a commitment from institutional personnel to ensure engagement and accountability from the University.
Division I institutions in the non-Football Bowl Subdivision and in the bottom 10 percent of resources as determined by per capita institutional expenditures, athletics department funding and Pell Grant aid were eligible to apply for the program.
Institutions were able to request a maximum of $300,000 per year for three years. As part of the request, they are required to match grant dollars each year of the program with either direct funds or in-kind contributions. In the first year the institution must commit a 25 percent match, 50 percent in year two and 75 percent in year three.
Grant recipients were selected by a committee made up of representatives from the NCAA membership and staff. The group considered several criteria including presidential oversight, involvement of key staff, goals identified by the institution, the institution’s ability to match grant funds, the demonstrated sustainability of the initiative, the institution’s history in APP, and institution’s infractions history.
“This is an incredible opportunity for Coppin State University,” said Coppin State Director of Athletics Derrick Ramsey. “It’s just a tremendous shot in the arm for the athletic department. Aside from the revenue generated through playing guarantee games this is the largest infusion of financial support we have ever received. We have to be smart with it, we have to produce with it and we have to show results from it.”
During the application process Coppin State detailed eight initiatives which, if supported by the grant, would enhance the academic performance of its student-athletes. The initiatives included funding of summer school and winter session, hiring additional staff in the academic services area, the creation of a faculty enrichment program and peer mentoring program, purchasing technology that would create a mobile athletic computer lab for student-athletes while traveling, designating resources to support academic readiness, allocating funds to develop a broad based Academic Progress Rate plan, the development a fifth-year degree completion program to increase real-time graduates and the creation of a campus-wide Academic Progress Rate team.
“The most important aspect to me is the $90 thousand we have earmarked in each of the three years for the summer school and winter session,” added Ramsey. “In the past, we have been able to fund summer school and winter session through the Student-Athlete Opportunity Fund, but that money has diminished in recent years forcing me to be very selective in who we could enroll in summer school and winter session classes. With this grant we are now able to include all of our student-athletes in these programs.
“Combining the grant funds with the Summer Academic Success Academy program basically allows us to fund our student-athletes for all four years. In the SASA program, the student-athletes can earn 10 credits as freshmen and then we can place our sophomores, juniors and seniors in summer school and winter session to ensure graduation.”
Ramsey views the grant as an opportunity to elevate Coppin State to new heights in the academic arena.
“Our goal is to graduate our student-athletes in three and a half years and enroll them in graduate school for their final semester,” he said. “We are going to work very hard. We are going to be more efficient and more thoughtful in our approach to making the most of this grant. This gives us more support, but we still need to be very strategic in terms of how we utilize the funds.”
California State-Northridge, Jackson State, Tennessee State, Morehead State and Norfolk State were the other institutions that will receive the grant in addition to Coppin State.