UALR’s University Assembly, comprised of the Faculty, Student, and Staff Senate, honored Athletic Director Chris Peterson at the end-of-the academic-year assembly for the successes – academically and athletically – of Trojan teams.

“When he came to UALR, not only did he make sure UALR continued to strive for excellence athletically, he made sure our student-athletes were the best in the state,” said Dr. Richard Ford, president of the Faculty Senate.

The assembly presented Peterson with a plaque for his leadership in making academic stats as important to his student-athletes as those from competition arenas, courts, and playing fields.

Those academic stats include:

• UALR student-athletes posted an all-time high combined cumulative GPA of 3.27 for the 2007-2008 academic year.
• 61 percent of UALR student-athletes maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better.
• UALR boasts an 88 percent – the highest in the state – freshman graduation rate for all full-time entering freshmen who remained at UALR for their four years of eligibility.
• 12 of our 16 teams were recognized as Academic All-American programs by their respective coaches associations.
• Head men’s basketball coach Steve Shields has graduated 100 percent of his players who have exhausted their eligibility under his watch, while women’s head coach Joe Foley has graduated 92 percent of his players.
• Women’s track and field led the nation with a 3.61 team GPA during the 2006-07 season out of 298 teams in the Division I ranks.
• Men’s track and field was ranked 12th nationally out of 272 schools in team GPA during the 2007-08 season.
• The women’s golf team has been ranked in the top-25 each of the past two years for team GPA, and was ranked 11th nationally in 2007-08 with a 3.608 GPA out of 240 competing institutions.

Athletically, the stats paint a picture of success across sports:

• Men’s Basketball captured the Sun Belt West Division Title and finished with a 23-8 record. It was the program’s second 20-win season in 12 years.
• It marked the fourth title in six years under head men’s coach Steve Shields.
• Women’s basketball advanced to the Sun Belt Championship and earned their second post-season berth as they hosted the first round of the WNIT. The team also won back-to-back Sun Belt division titles and posted a school record 26 wins.
• Volleyball won 24 games last season.
• Women’s Golf finished second in the Sun Belt Conference this season behind nationally ranked Denver.

“There are three reasons why we have been able to succeed at such a high level academically: one, our coaches recruit quality young people; two, we have great academic support from our professors and university staff on our campus; and three, it is a priority of our chancellor,” Peterson said.

“Dr. Anderson and I meet each semester with our head coaches to discuss the progression of each one of our student-athletes. These three things are key to our success. It’s a pleasure to be the director of athletics at UALR.”