ABAC STUDENT/ATHLETE TRANSFER RATE

AT HIGH LEVEL

          According to a report presented by Abraham Baldwin College's 2001 - 02 Athletics Committee, a total of 87.3 percent of athletes transferred to four-year institutions during the past five years (1996 - 2001). These students began their academic and athletics careers at ABAC and then moved on to four-year colleges and universities.

          In terms of gender, the percentage of males who transferred was 83.3 percent. The percentage of females who transferred was 92.8 percent. By individual sport, the percentage of students who transferred was as follows: men's tennis--86.9 percent, women's tennis--95 percent, women's volleyball--78.5 percent, softball--96.6 percent, baseball--89.3 percent, men's basketball--69.2 percent, and women's basketball--100 percent.

          Alan Kramer, ABAC's Athletics Director and Men's Tennis Coach, said the transfer rate report is a good start for ABAC in terms of tracking sophomore transfer/graduation rates.

          "This is something we have never done before," Kramer said. "The positive thing to keep in mind regarding the report is that we feel we are successful on two different levels: whether our student/athletes graduate and whether our student/athletes transfer. Our strength of scheduling, along with tough conference play, has always helped our recruits get exposure at the next level whether our student/athletes have plans for college or goals at the professional level. I believe our facility improvements and additions will help improve upon the fundamental traditions that we have had so much success with over the years."

          Dr. Bettie Horne, Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs at ABAC, said she was pleased to see the athletics department take this initial step to determine how well ABAC athletes are progressing through their academic programs.

          "Coach Kramer promises a more comprehensive view of the success of all entering athletes in the future, and that data will give us much-needed information about how well our student/athletes perform at ABAC," Horne said. "Our emphasis is, and quite rightly should be, on a potential student's ability to be academically successful as well as to be athletically competitive. This first report is a good and encouraging start."

          Kramer said the athletics department plans on tracking the retention rate more carefully in the future to include the freshmen retention and the graduation rates of student/athletes at the institutions they transfer to from ABAC.

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