INDIANAPOLIS --- The NCAA and the National Association of Academic Advisors for Athletics (N4A) today announced a partnership to educate athletics administrators and develop student-athletes for success in the classroom. In support of the NCAA’s ongoing academic reform efforts, this partnership will help educate athletic and college administrators on the intent, goals and improvement strategies of NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate (APR).

The partnership centers on the development and delivery of educational initiatives for NCAA member institutions to enhance academic performance of student-athletes. The N4A will design and implement instructional workshops and consultation visits to improve academic performance through individual campus training, assessment, and educational initiatives for athletics and university personnel and programs.

N4A initiatives will reach out to faculty athletics representatives (FAR), head and assistant coaches, athletics department and university administrators, faculty oversight members, university retention officers and academic support administrators.

“The NCAA is pleased to partner with the N4A as we continue to educate student-athletes and strengthen the future of academic reform,” said Kevin Lennon, NCAA vice president of membership services. “The expertise and experience of N4A professionals who already work with student-athlete eligibility and retention challenges allows us to impact academic reform in a meaningful, influential manner.”

Along with a comprehensive training program, the partnership will provide consultant teams to campuses to administer self-assessment instruments, site visits, and develop recommendations for academic reform administration and improvement specific to the individual university.

“As N4A members work with the NCAA to implement new educational initiatives for academic reform, we strive to create a culture of shared-ownership and responsibility for establishing academic priority and educating student-athletes,” said N4A president Phil Hughes.

About the NCAA

The NCAA is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletic opportunities for more than 380,000 student-athletes at more than 1,000 member colleges and universities. The NCAA continually strives to ensure that academic success is a primary goal of intercollegiate athletics and has instituted a number of academic reform initiatives to encourage improved academic performance and progress toward graduation for all student-athletes. For more information, go to www.ncaa.org. Additional information on NCAA can be found by clicking here.

About N4A

N4A is an association of academic support and student services personnel committed to facilitating student-athlete academic and personal success. The Association was founded in 1975 and now has over 1,000 members. N4A provides guiding principles and quality services as they work to empower student-athletes to become more productive individuals through educational and personal development. Members provide informed, competent advising and serve as a liaison between the academic and athletic communities on college campuses across the country. Further information is available at http://www.nfoura.org/.

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