{"id":9316,"date":"2013-01-18T09:04:22","date_gmt":"2013-01-18T16:04:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=9316"},"modified":"2013-01-18T09:06:38","modified_gmt":"2013-01-18T16:06:38","slug":"9316","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=9316","title":{"rendered":"Mountain Lion athletics honored with Division II President\u2019s Award for Academic Excellence"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"UCCS<\/a>UCCS is one of 24 NCAA Division II schools notified it received the President\u2019s Award for Academic Excellence during annual NCAA meetings this week in Grapevine, Texas.<\/p>\n

The President\u2019s Award for Academic Excellence recognizes athletic programs with four-year academic success rates of 90 percent or more.<\/p>\n

With its score of 91, UCCS was the only public university in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference to receive the honor. For four consecutive years, more than 90 percent of UCCS student-athletes have earned degrees in addition to representing Mountain Lion teams.<\/p>\n

The Division II Academic Requirements Committee established the Division II President\u2019s Award for Academic Excellence to recognize programs achieving long-term academic success. The honor is intended to call attention to those programs and is not intended as a ranking.<\/p>\n

The Division II Academic Success Rate measures graduation rates for virtually all Division II student-athletes, including transfers and those not receiving athletically related financial aid. Active and provisional member institutions when the data were submitted for 2010-11 were eligible for the Division II Presidents\u2019 Award for Academic Excellence. The four-year ASR measured the entering cohorts from 2001 to 2004, inclusive. There are 315 U.S. and Canadian colleges and universities that participate in NCAA Division II athletics.<\/p>\n

“I congratulate the student-athletes for their work on the field or court and in the classroom,\u201d UCCS Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak said. \u201cWe are extremely proud of them and the efforts of the Athletic Department to create leaders of the future who understand the importance of a life in the balance.\u201d<\/p>\n

UCCS had three of its 13 athletic teams produce an Academic Success rate of 100 percent for the cohort years 2001-2004. The teams included men\u2019s golf, women\u2019s softball and women\u2019s volleyball.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Presidents Council commends all of these programs for this outstanding accomplishment,\u201d said Pat O\u2019Brien, president of West Texas A&M University and chair of the Division II Presidents Council. \u201cAchieving a 90 percent graduation rate over even one year is an impressive accomplishment. To do it over four years says so much about the commitment that these schools have to the academic success of their student-athletes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Division II programs with a four-year Academic Success Rate of 90 percent of higher:<\/p>\n