University of Wisconsin head football coach Bret Bielema received a one-year contract extension Friday, keeping him on the lead of the Badgers until 2013.

The UW Athletic Board also approved three other contract extensions during its closed meeting Friday. Volleyball coach Pete Waite, men?s soccer coach Jeff Rohrmann and women?s soccer coach Paula Wilkins all received one-year contract extensions.

Men?s cross country coach Jerry Schumacher received a multi-year contract offer, though the board did not specify how long the new contract is.

UW Chancellor John Wiley, who generally does not attend Athletic Board meetings, made a special appearance to address the board during a closed session. Wiley presented his evaluation of UW Athletic Director Barry Alvarez?s performance in the Athletic Department.

According to Linda Baumann, faculty athletic representative of the board, Wiley?s assessment of the Athletic Department was ?very good,? adding Wiley had ?no complaints.?

After the meeting, Wiley told The Badger Herald he is impressed with UW student athletes? academic records.

?I?m just very proud of our Athletic Department?s continued emphasis on the academic progress of our student athletes,? Wiley said. ?It?s exactly where we want to see them going.?

The Academic Affairs Committee reported to the board that the overall grade point average of student athletes for the fall term was 2.95.

The football team had a team-record 19 Academic All-Big Ten Athletes, an award granted by the Big Ten Conference for student athlete academic excellence.

Alvarez said he was impressed with student athletes? grades from top to bottom.

?For 800 student athletes to average 3.0 is pretty stellar,? Alvarez said.

Baumann said the NCAA convention voted on an override of a ban that prevented university employees from text messaging athletic recruits. The override was defeated with the exception that officials may now only text message recruits who have already signed a national letter of intent.

Baumann said she was glad the override failed, and added many delegates believed allowing text messages to recruits would be ?an invasion of privacy.?

The NCAA Board of Directors also amended the rule that prohibits institutions from reducing or canceling athletic scholarships because of injury, according to Baumann. The rule now includes the terms illness or medical condition (including pregnancy) as invalid reasons to cancel a scholarship.