South Dakota State University Athletics
NCAA Certification
5/18/2007 1:00:00 AM | General
Beginning in the fall of 2006 and concluding in the spring of 2008, South Dakota State University will complete an NCAA Division Athletics Certification review.
The Athletics Certification program was approved at the 1993 NCAA Conventioin as a key part of the Association's reform agenda. The NCAA Division I Committee on Athletics Certification is comprised of 15 administrators (presidents/chancellors, faculty athletics representatives, directors of athletics, senior woman administrators, conference commissioners) from the membership, and is appointed to administer the program and determine the certification status of each Division I institutions.
The Athletics Certification process serves three main purposes:
1. Open affairs of intercollegiate athletics to the university community and the public
2. Set standards, called operating principles, for operation of a Division I athletic program
3. Establish tough sanctions for failure to conduct a comprehensive self-study or correct problems
Benefits of the self-study include increasing self-awareness, affirmation and identifying opportunities to improve.
STEERING COMMITTEE
The self-study will be managed by a 22-member steering committee appointed by President Peggy Gordon Miller in August 2006. Steering committee membership is a broad-based group made up of individuals from the various campus constituent groups: governing board members, administration external to athletics, faculty, students, student-athletes and alumni.
The steering committee is divided into three subcommittees of 11-12 members each:
1. Governance and Commitment to Rules (Keith Corbet, chairperson)
2. Academic Integrity (Joel Hefling, chairperson)
3. Equity and Student-Athlete Well-Being (Marysz Rames, chairperson
The steering committee is chaired by Mary Kay Helling, associate vice-president for academic affairs.
EVALUATION OF SELF-STUDY
The self-study report is due to the NCAA by May 1, 2007. Once completed, a peer-review visit will be conducted. The Committee on Athletics Certification (CAC) will identify issues it believes may prevent the institution from establishing conformity with the operating principles. These issues will be provided to the peer review team and the institution prior to the visit.
A maximum of a four-member peer-review team will visit SDSU in the first two weeks of October 2007. Any rules violations relating to an operating principle discovered by the peer-review team will be included in its written report to the institution and the committee.
THE CERTIFICATION DECISION
The CAC will render its decision based on materials provided by the institution and the peer-review team. Upon reviewing the institution's self-study report, the issues identified by the committee, the peer-review team's report and the institution's response to the peer-review team report, the committee will notify the institution of its certification decision.
The committee is obligated to choose from one of the three options in determining each institution's certification status:
1. Certified
2. Certified with Conditions
3. Not Certified
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
NCAA Certification Website
South Dakota State Certification Timeline
South Dakota State University Self-Study Draft
