Tallahassee Sun

The NCAA has notified Florida A&M University of a clean audit of its Division 1 Academic Performance Program (APP).  

In an October 20, 2022, letter to FAMU President Larry Robinson, Ph.D., the NCAA Division I Committee on Academics Subcommittee on Data commended FAMU for its “diligence and cooperation during the APP Data Review Process.”

“This NCAA report indicates the quality of the people working to address the issues in Athletics,” Robinson said. “It shows that we are well on our way to turning things around in terms of complying with NCAA requirements.”

For the 15 areas covered, the Committee determined that FAMU substantially complied with the NCAA requirements, and no action was required.

“Florida A&M’s staff was courteous, accommodating and served as an active participant throughout the process,” the letter said. “The subcommittee recognizes that the review process was a time-consuming endeavor and appreciated yourmaking it a priority on campus. The subcommittee believes that successful data reviews contribute to a more accurateAPP Data Collection Program and to an institution’s APP data.”

The FAMU response team included staff from the Registrar’s Office, the Office of Compliance and Ethics and the Athletics Department.

Rica Calhoun, chief Compliance and Ethics Officer, said it was a team effort that the University is proud of and plans to continue.

“It’s a testament to how far we have come and the work of the Athletics compliance team,” she said. “This is consistent with our mission to build a culture of compliance at FAMU.”

Areas of review included Academic Progress Rate (APR) retention,  APR eligibility, graduation, retention, receipt of athletically related financial aid, enrollment, exhausted eligibility and graduated, policies and procedures certifying continuing eligibility and others.

The subcommittee said it plans on reviewing the APP data for 30 to 40 institutions annually. The subcommittee selects institutions for review based on the following indicators: Comparison of academic rates previously submitted; warnings generated by the APP Data Collection Program; manual review of submitted data; any data irregularities and a team(s) with an NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate(s) ranging from 910 to 950. This means that, while the subcommittee intends to review each institution before beginning the new cycle of reviews, it retains the authority toreview an institution sooner than expected if it meets any of the indicators.

Original source can be found here.