The Division I Committee on Academic Performance is about to face what committee Chair Walter Harrison called a crucial test for measuring the success of academic reform.

The major hurdle will come later this spring with the public release of Academic Progress Rate. For many teams, it will be the first data set that does not have the built-in squad-size adjustment that provided a safe harbor for smaller teams.

Harrison, president at the University of Hartford, said the squad-size adjustment was the right thing to do for the first three years of APR data collection.

“But now we have enough data to be confident about its accuracy,” he said. “The margin of error will no longer protect those teams, so more teams will be subject to penalties. When that happens, people are going to feel the hits, and they’re going to object to it.”

Addressing the committee at its October meeting, NCAA President Myles Brand said he hasn’t heard as much criticism of academic reform as he had expected, but he said that he anticipates the elimination of the squad-size adjustment will cause some pushback, especially as the media continues its trend of reporting on the academic performance of teams.

“There are many challenges ahead. I don’t want to say that what we’ve done is complete, but I think we’re in good shape now,” Brand said. “I’m concerned as we all are about how this is going to be absorbed by the athletics community. I believe that for the most part, we’ve incorporated the messages into our culture.”

Harrison agreed, noting that the acronym “APR” and the numbers 900 and 925 resonate within intercollegiate athletics. “We’ve established a standard that people know they need to meet. It’s complicated to explain how you get there, and so some people, in good faith, are still trying to understand the ramifications of it,” he said. “The more time goes by, though, the more people will understand it.”

The more people understand the program, the closer academic reform is to being successful, he said.

“The next two years are crucial,” Harrison said. “If we can keep our eye on the ball and get through this initial shock of scholarships lost for teams that haven’t performed well, people will adjust accordingly, and we’ll all be better for it.”