11:30 a.m., Nov. 12, 2002--The University of Delaware will begin a year-long self-study of its athletics program as part of the process for periodic recertification by the NCAA.
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| UD’s Women’s Basketball season begins Nov. 22 at Richmond. Tickets are on sale for the first home game on Dec. 4 against St. John’s. For more information, call UD1-HENS, or go to [www.udel.edu/sportsinfo/tickets/]. |
The self-study will cover such areas as academic and fiscal integrity, governance and rules compliance, as well as institutional commitment to equity, student-athlete welfare and sportsmanship.
UD completed its first athletics self-study in 1996. In 1997, Division I membership voted to change the frequency of such certification from once every five years to once every 10 years and to require a five-year interim-status report.
The certification program's purpose is to help ensure integrity in the institution's athletics operations. Institutions benefit from the process by increasing campus-wide awareness and knowledge of the athletics program, confirming its strengths and developing plans to improve areas of concern.
Bobby Gempesaw, vice provost, and Michael Ginzberg, dean of the College of Business and Economics, will chair the committee, whose members include UD faculty and staff, students and athletics department personnel.
A member of the NCAA membership services staff visited the campus Sept. 30 for a one-day orientation session to meet with the committee and its subcommittees.
Within each area to be studied by the committee, the program has standards, called operating principles, which were adopted by the NCAA to put in place a “measuring stick” by which all Division I members are evaluated.
Once UD has concluded its study, an external team of reviewers will conduct a four-day site visit on campus. Those reviewers will be peers from other colleges and universities.
That team will report to the NCAA Division I Committee on Athletics Certification, another independent group. The committee will then determine and announce the institution's certification status.
Three options of certification status are possible–certified, certified with conditions and not certified. While institutions will have an opportunity to correct deficient areas, those institutions that do not take corrective actions may be ruled ineligible for NCAA championships.
The NCAA is a membership organization of colleges and universities that participate in intercollegiate athletics. The primary purpose of the Association is to maintain intercollegiate athletics as an integral part of the educational program and the athlete as an integral part of the student body.
Activities of the NCAA membership include formulating rules of play for NCAA sports, conducting national championships, adopting and enforcing standards of eligibility and studying all phases of intercollegiate athletics.
Article by Neil Thomas
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