McCaw, Joos earn national awards

Two of Baylor's top athletic department administrators were honored as national award recipients for the 2014-2015 academic year.

Director of Athletics and Vice President Ian McCaw was named one of 28 winners for the Under Armour Athletic Director of the Year (ADOY) as selected by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA). Meanwhile, the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) tapped Executive Associate Director of Athletics for External Relations Nick Joos as the 2015 Arch Ward Award winner.

McCaw has led Baylor to unprecedented athletic success since his arrival in September 2003 as the school's 12th director of athletics. In that span, Baylor has claimed four national team championships, 56 Big 12 Conference titles, its first bowl victories in 20 years and the school's nine highest finishes in the NACDA Directors’ Cup standings. Baylor's 23rd-place finish in 2014-2015 was the best in school history.

Meanwhile, Baylor has finished first or second in the Big 12 in graduation success rate in six of the last eight years and recorded its highest cumulative grade point average on record during the 2013-2014 academic year (3.23). During his tenure, more than $325 million has been raised toward student-athlete scholarships and capital projects, including McLane Stadium.

The ADOY award spans seven divisions (NCAA FBS, FCS; Division I-AAA, II, III, NAIA/Other Four-Year Institutions and Junior/Community Colleges).

Joos is a 27-year veteran of the profession who has served CoSIDA on multiple levels. He served as CoSIDA president during the 2008-2009 academic year and guided the organization into an affiliation with NACDA. Joos has served on the organization's Academic All-America committee since 2001, and he was inducted into the CoSIDA Hall of Fame in 2014.

A West Des Moines, Iowa, native and 1987 graduate of Iowa State University, Joos joined Baylor's athletic department in October 2003, coming from the University of Massachusetts where he worked with McCaw. Joos oversees Baylor's athletic communications, marketing and ticket offices as well as the department’s website. He handles the school's athletics licensing and broadcast operations and is the liaison for IMG, the department's multi-media partner, and he serves as sport administrator for men’s basketball and men's and women's tennis.

The Arch Ward Award is presented annually to a CoSIDA member who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of college sports information, and who by his or her activities has brought dignity to the profession. Ward was sports editor of the Chicago Tribune from 1930 until his death in 1955.

Ward is credited with inventing the concept of an all-star contest. Major League Baseball's first all-star game, held at Chicago's Comiskey Park in conjunction with the World's Fair, was his brainchild. Major League Baseball annually presents the Arch Ward Trophy to the MLB All-Star Game most valuable player. In 1934, Ward arranged the first college football all-star game.

Baylor joins six other universities as the only colleges with multiple Arch Ward Award winners. Last year, Assistant AD for Communications Julie Bennett, who works with Baylor’s women's basketball program, received the award. It is the first time in the award's 58-year history that employees from the same school were honored in consecutive years.

Student-Athletes Excel in Classroom

For the sixth consecutive year, Baylor student-athletes produced at least 600 total Big 12 Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll appearances. The Bears were so honored 616 times during the 2014-2015 academic year--314 selections during the fall semester and 302 selections during the spring semester.

Of those earning 2014-2015 Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll recognition, 79 produced a 4.0 grade point average (GPA) for at least one of the two semesters (44 fall, 35 spring). Student-athletes must achieve at least a 3.0 GPA during the semester to earn Commissioner’s Honor Roll status.

At least 200 Baylor student-athletes have been honored in each of the last 16 semesters with at least 300 being honored in nine of the last 10 terms. The cumulative GPA of Baylor student-athletes has been above 3.0 in each of the last 14 semesters with the last nine terms (since spring 2011) producing the highest semester GPAs in school history. Baylor student-athletes posted a cumulative 3.23 GPA for the spring 2015 semester.

Additionally, 98 student-athletes were named to Baylor's 2015 Spring Deans’ List, which recognizes students with at least a 3.7 GPA who are enrolled in at least 12 hours with no grade lower than C.