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This article outlines the changes which have come about in the last decade concerning the role, recruitment and support of volunteers. It discusses the operation of the Department of Health Opportunities for Volunteering scheme and comments on what this scheme has achieved. The author suggests that further study and research are needed to improve the understanding of the work under taken by volunteers, and to assess the influence they have on small organisations. National voluntary organisations should be encouraged to apply their marketing skills to the recruitment and retaining of volunteers.

The Academic Progress Report, commonly referred to as APR, is an evaluation tool established by the NCAA to monitor current academic progress for Division I intercollegiate student-athletes in regard to eligibility, retention, and graduation. APR data collection was initially started with the 2003-04 academic year. The first data report was released in February 2005 for all Division I member institutions. The Academic Progress Report was born out of a need to better calculate graduation rates and is a continuous assessment tool for the NCAA. Under this new system, the APR awards two points each term to student-athletes who meet all minimum academic eligibility standards and who remain at that Division I institution. The Division I Board of Directors approved 925 as the minimum cut off score for all teams. The 925 score out of a possible 1,000 translates to approximately sixty percent on the new Graduation Success Rate (GSR). The GSR is an alternate graduation rate system that was also recently launched by the NCAA. While the existing graduation rate calculation system is still in place, the new GSR accounts for outgoing transfer or incoming transfer student-athletes which the current graduation rate calculation does not. The existing graduation rate system also does not monitor student-athlete eligibility.

Teaching in higher education is a very complicated and detailed subject. Good teaching encourages high quality student learning. One of the key principle of effective teaching in higher education is the concern and respect for student learning. Learning style, learning dimensions and academic belief systems as significant factors contributing to academic achievement. The quality of student learning in higher education should be improved and can be improved. How can it best be improved?. The answer is nearer to home :it lies in the connection between students' learning of particular content and quality of our teaching of that content. Through listening to what students have said about their learning, we have observed how real this connection is. Good teaching and good learning are linked through students 'experiences of what we do. It follows that we can not teach belter unless we are able to see what we are doing from their point of view' (Ramsden,1999). Learning dimensions and academic belief systems as significant factors contributing to academic achievement. Anyone can only improve the quality of higher education if he/she study its effects on students and look at the experience through their and their lecturers' eyes.

In today's world of higher education, intercollegiate athletics, and complex society there is much focus and attention placed on the student-athlete. Regardless of the region of the country, the level of the school or the specific sport, the student-athlete experiences a high level of public and private scrutiny, which is often negative. According to Watson (2006), the general perception of college student-athletes is that they are privileged, pampered, lazy, out-of-control, and primarily attend school with the sole purpose of participating in intercollegiate athletics. This stereotype is often held by people who do not fully understand the relationship between the student-athlete and the academic setting.