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Report to Faculty Senate on Intercollegiate Athletics
September 30, 2011
Jim O’Day, Athletic Director
Jean Gee, Associate Athletic Director
Jim Lopach, Faculty Athletic Representative
As required by the Office of the President, this annual report to the Faculty Senate covers AY
2010-2011 with respect to 1) student-athlete academic performance, 2) student-athlete eligibility
for competition, 3) violations of NCAA and Big Sky Conference (BSC) regulations, and 4) the
Athletic Director’s statement regarding notable developments and issues. At the November 10
Faculty Senate meeting, we will be happy to answer questions.
I. Academic Performance of Student-Athletes
UM grade point average and credits taken
Athletes
All undergrads
Fall 2010
Average term GPA
Average cumulative GPA
Average term credits
On Dean’s list
On academic probation
2.96
3.02
12.99
22.5%
4.4%
2.84
2.91
11.91
19.6%
6.9%
Spring 2011
Average term GPA
Average cumulative GPA
Average term credits
On Dean’s list
On academic probation
2.96
3.02
13.93
18.9%
3.2%
2.88
2.95
12.22
19.7 %
5.0%
NCAA Multiyear Academic Progress Rates (perfect = 1000; problematic = 925)*
UM sport
Men’s Basketball
Men’s Cross Country
Football
Men’s Tennis
Men’s Track, Indoor
Men’s Track, Outdoor
Women’s Basketball
Women’s Cross Country
Women’s Golf
Women’s Soccer
APR
950
940
932
963
946
939
963
981
992
970
2
Women’s Tennis
Women’s Track, Indoor
Women’s Track, Outdoor
Women’s Volleyball
977
981
979
970
*APR formula: Each student-athlete can earn a maximum of two points each semester: 1 point
for retention and 1 point for academic eligibility (maximum of 4 points for an academic year).
For each sport, the earned points of the student athletes are added up, divided by the number of
possible points, and multiplied by 1000 to yield the yearly APR for that sport. The multiyear
APR is derived from the most current APR and the APR for each of the prior 3 years.
UM Graduation Rates: Four-Class Average (unreleased data, based on 2004-05 freshmen cohort)
Athletes
65%
All students
43%
II. Ineligibility for Competition, Spring 2011 and Fall 2011: Reasons and Number
Reason
18/24 credit-hour rule
Grade point average rule
Six-credit rule
Percentage-of-degree rule
# Spring 2011
0
3
4
1
# Fall 2011
9
4
3
10
Of these 34 athletes determined to be ineligible to compete Spring 2011 and Fall 2011, 16
have regained their eligibility to compete at UM and 13 did not return to UM.
III. Rules Compliance
UM reported the following 12 NCAA and/or BSC violations:
 Assistant coach inadvertently made an email contact with a high school athlete prior to
September 1 of the prospect’s junior year.
 Student-athlete dropped a 3-credit course by mistake, putting him below the 12-credit
full-time enrollment rule for practice and competition.
 UM sport bought a subscription to a recruiting service that did not meet NCAA rules.
 Volunteer coach recruited off-campus prior to passing NCAA coach recruiting test.
 Head coach inadvertently but illegally sent a text message to a prospect while attempting
to send the message to an assistant coach.
 Department of Athletics personnel spoke with media outlets about a prospect’s status
with UM program prior to prospect’s formal enrollment at UM.
 UM sport contacted two prospects during a recruiting period seven times each, one more
time than NCAA rules allow.
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UM sport during a prospect’s official visit allowed two friends of coaches to attend a
meal with the prospect, which is a violation of NCAA rules.
Ball signed by an athlete was placed for sale on EBay by a fan, violating an NCAA rule
prohibiting use of a student-athlete’s name without knowledge or permission.
Coaching staff in UM sport exceeded the NCAA’s limitation of one phone call per week
to a prospect.
Missoula business ran a newspaper advertisement that contained the picture of a current
student-athlete without UM’s knowledge and consent, an NCAA violation.
Head coach arranged for a student-athlete to participate in an event at a Missoula
elementary school without following UM Department of Athletics procedures.
IV. Athletic Director’s Statement
FY 2011 was of historical significance to UM Athletics. Here are some of the major initiatives
and projects that took a considerable amount of the department’s energy and time.
Outside study. As the school year began, UM Athletics was in the midst of an independent study
by NACDA Consultants, funded by private sources, to examine the department’s strengths and
weaknesses and to determine how UM compared to peer schools in the Big Sky Conference
(BSC), the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), and the Mountain West Conference.
WAC invitation. Results from the outside study were extremely useful when the WAC
Commissioner invited UM in the fall of 2010 to become a member of that Football Bowl
Subdivision (FBS) conference [UM currently is in the Football Championship Subdivision
(FCS)] and competes with the likes of Idaho, Utah State, and New Mexico State. After a
thorough review, UM President Royce Engstrom determined that it was important at this time to
remain in the BSC and at the FCS level of football (all other UM teams already play at Division I
level).UM was the only FCS school in the country officially invited to move up to the FBS
during recent conference realignments. Appalachian State, James Madison, Liberty, and Georgia
Southern have also conducted FBS feasibility studies, but none has been invited to join a FBS
conference.
Big Sky Conference expansion. The BSC announced plans to expand starting in Fall 2012 (Cal
Poly and UC-Davis for football only, and Southern Utah and University of North Dakota for all
sports), which will provide 13-teams for football, 11 teams for basketball, volleyball, golf, cross
country, track and field, and tennis, and 10 teams for soccer (Montana State has no soccer).
Women’s softball. UM took the landmark decision to add one more female intercollegiate sport,
women’s softball, which will begin in FY 14. This will be the first sport added in 20 years and
will continue UM’s progress toward maintaining Title IX compliance. Non-compliance could
result in the loss of federal dollars for research grants, loans, work study, etc., but would not
affect UM’s ability to participate in the NCAA (Title IX is a federal standard UM must meet, not
one tied solely to athletics). Funding for softball was approved by ASUM and the Board of
Regents in Spring 2011. It involves increasing the student athletic fee by $12.50 per student per
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semester for the next two years, generating about $700,000 a year, which is the estimated annual
cost of the softball program (not counting one-time costs, e.g., for facilities).
NCAA certification; diversity and gender equity. During the past year UM Athletics went
through a comprehensive NCAA certification review, similar to accreditation of academic units.
The self-study was directed by Teresa Branch, Vice President of Student Affairs, and Bill Muse,
Associate Vice President for Planning, Budget, and Analysis. After months of meetings, data
gathering (principally by Senior Associate A.D. Jean Gee) and drafting – and just before the selfstudy was to be submitted – the NCAA declared a two-year moratorium for the process. UM was
given the option of delaying or submitting its completed study. After UM chose the latter, the
NCAA judged the self-study completely satisfactory and recertified UM Athletics (the future of
the NCAA certification process is yet to be determined). The self- study dealt primarily with
diversity and gender equity issues. UM Athletics greatly appreciates the hard work of all those
involved in the process and will make appropriate adjustments to its policies and procedures.
Five-year funding plan. With assistance from the UM Office of Budget, Planning, and Analysis,
UM Athletics established a 5-year funding plan to stabilize the department’s future fiscal
situation.
Presidents’ Cup Award. For the second time in five years, UM Athletics was awarded the BSC’s
Sterling Savings Presidents’ Cup for being the BSC’s most well-rounded athletic department.
Three-fifths of the criteria are based on academic accomplishments, with the remaining twofifths on athletic accomplishments. UM placed no higher than fifth in the award’s first four
years, but was first in 2007, third in 2008, second in 2009, and second again in 2010.
Fund-raising activities. For the third consecutive year, the Grizzly Scholarship Association
topped the $2 million mark in annual-gift fund raising – easily the highest in the BSC and among
the top at the FCS level. Also last year, major gifts to the UM Foundation for athletics accounted
for another $3.5 million. Remarkably, that was more than half the amount of dollars (not
including endowment gifts or bequests) given to the UM Foundation last year.
Positive fiscal-year ending balance. For the eighth consecutive year, UM Athletics finished with
a positive fund balance. The amount, $200,891, was put into reserves in case of future shortfalls.
Athletic championships. Women’s basketball won the BSC tournament and made their 19th
appearance in the NCAA tournament; women’s cross country, for the first time since 1984, was
the BSC champion.
New official website. After sharing a website with the UC Bookstore for 12 years, UM Athletics
started its own website on January 1, 2011: www.gogriz.com. The new site contains up-to-theminute editorials, pictures, graphics, special-features, and Montana Grizzly apparel sales
information for Griz fans worldwide. It was made available through the assistance of our multi-
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media partner, Learfield Sports/Grizzly Sports Properties, is hosted by CBSSports.com, and uses
the many talents of UM Athletics’ sports information, marketing, and sales personnel. The new
site gives UM Athletics more control of content, and numbers show it has become very popular
with fans.
UM Athletics goals for FY 12.
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Construct new student-athlete academic center, renovate existing athletic facilities
including athletic performance center and locker rooms, and acquire lights for the
football stadium. The latter will accommodate late practices as classes are increasingly
being scheduled during the entire 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. period, and will also accommodate the
new BSC television package that has games running from 1:30 to 4:30.
Upgrade compliance assistant position from half-time to full-time to strengthen
compliance with NCAA rules.
Provide additional staff resources to sports information, marketing and promotions, and
athletic medical services to better meet student-athlete welfare and Title IX requirements.
Develop a long-range financial plan to meet ever increasing grant-in-aid expenses.
Continue to increase privately-generated revenue. With a budget of $15,717,305, UM
Athletics must secure almost $10 million in private funding (which includes almost $4.5
million from football-ticket sales).
Review UM Athletics Strategic Plan. The first plan was put into place in 2007. While it
has since been updated, it needs to undergo comprehensive review in 2012.
Significant statistics
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UM’s Bureau of Economic Research estimates that each Grizzly home football game
generates between $5 million and $7 million for the Missoula community.
UM football led FCS schools in attendance in both 2008 and 2009, and was second to
Appalachian State in 2010.
Last year women’s basketball attendance was 40th among 333 Division I schools (with an
average home crowd of 3,024), and the Lady Griz ranked in the top 20 in ticket-sales
revenue.
Graduation rate for UM student-athletes increased from 63% to 65%, while the
corresponding measure for the entire UM student population decreased from 44% to
43%.
In the eight years of the NCAA Academic Progress Rate, UM Athletics has been
penalized with a loss of only .22 of a scholarship (men’s cross country 5 years ago).
Nationwide, most penalties have been in men’s basketball and football.