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Interesting Article from the Columbus Dispatch


MDZip

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There is a pretty interesting article from the Columbus dispatch about how open FBS schools are to athletics records (particularly football).Columbus Dispatch ArticleIts hows how amenable schools were to giving the records, lots of schools blanked them out, Akron did not get very good marks in that regard. Some wanted too much money to cover the cost of the request (most were under $100, all but one was under $1,000 and the University of Maryland wanted over $30,000 - I guess when you have a 10% basketball garduation rate, you have a lot more to hide). The Zips have also been hit with only one major violation ove the last 50 years or so, it was in 1984 and it was the only violation they ever got. Arizona State is tied for the lead with 8 majors (and a number of minors) while the entire MAC only has 10 majors between all 14 teams. Buffalo leads the way with three. I definitely question one stat for Akron though, it says the general student population graduation rate is only 36%. That can't be right. Anyway, a pretty interesting article with some useful information.

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There is a pretty interesting article from the Columbus dispatch about how open FBS schools are to athletics records (particularly football).Well the Columbus Disgrace sometimes gets it right but I can tell you personally because i know the scoop personally, that they only got the tip of the proverbial iceberg on the Smith and other athletes deal with Robert Q Baker (otherwise known as "Mellon Head"). They covered up a bunch more. The whistle blower is also a personal friend (perhaps my very best close personal friend), so i got the whole story. It is a good read. It's a huge business. It happens everywhere. I can tell you from personal experience also having being tagged as an Akron Booster, because I was a donor and had a scholar-athlete son, the U of A did a pretty good job, IMHO of outlining the rules of the game and playing it straight.
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I definitely question one stat for Akron though, it says the general student population graduation rate is only 36%. That can't be right.
It's likely just another typically misleading stat from the same kind of idiots who bring us the US News rankings.Most often these sorts of numbers assume that all students begin as full-time freshmen with the goal of degree completion in exactly four years. As most people fully understand, such a traditional approach is the choice of fewer and fewer college students, particularly at places like Akron, where a substantial number of students are essentially part-timers or are not seeking baccalaureate degrees in the first place.In other words, you're looking at a number that is essentially meaningless as a measure of educational quality.
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Any school with a lot of transient and part-time students is going to get hammered by most graduation rate calculations.
It's really more than that. Our graduation rate will never be that great because of open enrollment. The same can be said of Toledo(and OSU until a few years ago). The state has forced multiple public universities to lower their admissions requirements in order to help bring in more lower class and minority students. For every one of these students who actually graduates I'd guarantee at least another drops out. It's depressing because it really hurts the reputation of schools that historically bring in good students, like Toledo and Akron. A good idea in theory, but they'd be better off sending the unprepared students to community colleges first like CA does it. But then again, who ever associated straight thinking with Ohio politics? :rolleyes: Regardless, you can't take away the great facilities, programs, and spirit that schools like Akron and Toledo still have. Just kind of sucks to see your school ranked next to Cleveland State every year :( .
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A good idea in theory, but they'd be better off sending the unprepared students to community colleges first like CA does it. But then again, who ever associated straight thinking with Ohio politics? :rolleyes:
I understand your point of view, but I think it would be wrong to do away with open enrollment just to pad a meaningless statistic that is serially miscalculated and misapplied by so-called "journalists" who ought to know better. Like it or not, Summit County's community college is the University of Akron, and I don't expect that to change any time soon. Nor should it, quite frankly.And the fact of the matter is that underprepared students are not the primary cause of the "low" graduation rate. Disproportionate numbers of part-time, transient, and non-degree-seeking students... who should not be included in these sorts of numbers in the first freaking place... are what depresses Akron's number the most. They are applying one measurement acquired in only one way and (mis)applying it to apples, oranges, paper weights and protozoa.
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That ranking leaves me cold, my HS record was poor, 4 years in the military and the Tech School I attended prepared me for college.I was a part time student and earned a BA & MA over 10+ years. Using the accounting method the Dispatch reported on I never attendedTHE U of A! :lol:

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That ranking leaves me cold, my HS record was poor, 4 years in the military and the Tech School I attended prepared me for college.I was a part time student and earned a BA & MA over 10+ years. Using the accounting method the Dispatch reported on I never attendedTHE U of A! :lol:
Oh, you attended alright. It's just that you apparently failed miserably on your way to total success. :beam: You're a perfect example of how so many of the very best things about the University of Akron and a host of similarly situated universities... things that truly transform lives... somehow get twisted into a negative. It drives me up the wall. I'd like to b*tch-slap that Dispatch writer and every other pseudo-intellect who has absolutely no understanding of the honest and relevant use of statistics.By the way, I admire your dedication and perseverance. A lot.
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