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RICOTTA |
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Barbara
Ricotta
is dean of students and chair of the Steering Committee overseeing the
NCAA certification program.
What
is the NCAA certification program? How did it come about?
Although academic accreditation is common in colleges and universities,
the NCAA Division I Athletics Certification Program focuses solely on
certification of athletics programs. Certification is meant to ensure
the NCAA's fundamental commitment to integrity in intercollegiate athletics.
Following a pilot project, the NCAA's Division I membership overwhelmingly
supported the program and its standards at the 1993 NCAA Convention as
a key part of the NCAA's reform agenda. At the 1997 convention, the Division
I membership voted to change the frequency of athletics certification
from once every five years to once every 10 years and to require a five-year
interim-status report.
How
does the NCAA ensure this commitment to integrity?
The certification program is structured to achieve this in several ways.
It opens the affairs of the athletics department to the university community
and the public. Key campus constituent groups must be meaningfully involved
in the self-study process. The NCAA requires that someone who is not involved
in the athletics program chair the Steering Committee, which shepherds
the self-study process on campus. The Steering Committee and the four
subcommittees working on the self-study feature a broad-based representation
of the campus community, including faculty, students and staff, as well
as the Division of Athletics. The certification program also sets standardscalled
operating principlesfor the operation of Division I athletics programs.
These operating principles place a "measuring stick" by which all Division
I members are measured. They cover four basic areas: governance and commitment
to rules compliance, academic integrity, fiscal integrity, and equity,
welfare and sportsmanship. In addition, the NCAA has put tough standards
in place for institutions that fail to conduct a comprehensive self-study
or fail to correct problems. Certification is intended to help an institution,
not harm it. For this reason, ample time is given for an institution to
consider its programs, identify problems and correct them. Institutions
that fail to make an honest effort face serious consequences: ineligibility
for NCAA championships, and if problems are not corrected, removal from
active membership in the NCAA.
What
are the benefits of the self-study to UB?
The self-study offers a unique opportunity to educate individuals across
the campus about the athletics program's goals and purposes, the many
challenges facing athletics and the ways in which athletics supports the
mission of the university. It also reveals many aspects of the athletics
program worthy of praiseit allows us to pat ourselves on the back,
so to speak. But perhaps most importantly, the self-study process identifies
problems and areas that can be improved, and offers a forum for suggestions
from members of the campus community with a wide range of experience.
Where
is UB now in the certification process?
The university now is in the final stages of the self-study process, which
began Oct. 1. The Steering Committee and the four subcommittees are evaluating
responses, reviewing feedback and preparing plans for improvement prior
to the preparation of a draft of the self-study report and an executive
summary. Once the draft report and summary are completed, they will be
presented to the campus community in June for further input via campus
meetings, focus groups, the campus media and the Athletics Web site at
www.ubathletics.buffalo.edu/certification.
A final self-study report will go to the NCAA in late August, with a peer
review team from the NCAA expected to come to campus in November. UB should
receive a decision about its certification status in early 2003.
What
are the possible outcomes?
When making a decision on certification, the NCAA's Committee on Athletics
Certification first must decide if the institution's self-study was adequate.
Much of that decision is based on the work of the peer review teams that
visits the campus. The peer review team is responsible for verifying the
accuracy and completeness of the self-study report, verifying the broad-based
participation in the self-study and evaluating conformity with the operating
principles and the institution's mission and purpose. Once the Committee
on Athletics Certification considers a self-study report adequate, it
works toward a specific certification decision. An institution can be
"certified" when it is considered to be operating its athletics program
in substantial conformity with the operating principles. It can be "certified
with conditions" if problems are identified that are considered serious
enough to have full certification withheld until those problems are corrected.
An institution can be deemed "not certified" when it is not considered
to be operating its athletics program in substantial conformity with the
operating principles. Institutions classified as "certified with conditions"
or "not certified" may be placed in a restricted membership category for
up to one year. As a result, the institution would not be eligible for
NCAA championship competition in all sports. If at the end of this restricted
membership the committee concludes that the institution has not addressed
the identified concerns properly, it may reclassify the institution as
a corresponding member. That means the institution would no longer be
an active member of the NCAA.
UB
also is undergoing a self-study as part of the Middle States reaccreditation
process. How are the two self-study processes similar? Different?
The two certifications are similar in that they are the processes that
are recognized in their respective fieldsacademics and athleticsas
validating the institution's ability to meet the standards set by the
governing association. Both processes mirror one another in the requirement
of broad-based participation in a campus self-study, followed by a visit
from an external peer-review team. Achieving certification, or accreditation
in the words of the Middle States process, is a critical milestone that
is vitally important to the university's reputation and continued association
with the NCAA and the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.
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