Sara Parman, assistant director of athletic academics at NDSU, was featured in the N4A “Research Spotlight” for December. N4A stands for the National Association of Academic and Student-Athlete Development Professionals.
Parman, who joined NDSU in 2018, conducts research on NDSU’s predictive model for academic support and intervention for first-year student-athletes at NDSU. The model uses a variety of factors, including such things as ACT score, first-generation student status, home setting and high school grade-point average.
“The initial tests demonstrate that high school GPA is the best predictor for intervention with the student-athletes of NDSU, which is consistent with current research, linking high school GPA as the best predictor for postsecondary graduation rates,” Parman said in the profile. According to the story, NDSU’s academic intervention has seen a 93.62 percent success rate following the model between 2011-18, with success measured by good academic standing in GPA and progress toward a degree.
“Sara’s research has garnered interest from other NCAA institutions around the nation, and highlights the high levels of success NDSU student-athletes experience in the classroom as well as in their sports,” said Casey Peterson, director of Student success Programs and interim dean of students. “She provides a great example of using data and assessment to improve our work with students.”
Parman earned her bachelor’s degree at Peru State College in Nebraska and her master’s degree in human development and family studies at Mississippi State University.
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