CU NCAA CERTIFICATION

CU NCAA Certification

2004 Second Cycle NCAA Certification

Athletics certification is meant to ensure the NCAA’s fundamental commitment to integrity in intercollegiate athletics. The program is structured to achieve its goal in several ways:

1. By opening the affairs of athletics to the university community and the public.

? Key campus constituent groups must be meaningfully involved in the institution’s self-study.

? Self-study reports are evaluated by teams of peer reviewers from other institutions and conference

offices.

? Decisions of the NCAA Division I Committee on Athletics Certification related to an institution’s

status are announced publicly.

2. By setting standards (called operating principles) for the operation of Division I athletics programs.

These operating principles originally were adopted overwhelmingly at the 1993

Convention. They cover three basic areas?governance and commitment to rules compliance, academic integrity, and equity. In preparation for the second cycle of the athletics certification program, the operating principles in each of those four areas were reworked and revised as necessary to complement and supplement information obtained by institutions during their first cycle self-studies. At that point, the sportsmanship and ethical conduct operating principle was added.

3. By putting tough sanctions in place for institutions that fail to conduct a comprehensive self-study or to correct problems.

Athletics certification is intended to help an institution. For this reason, the program allows ample time for an institution to consider its programs, to identify problems and to correct them. Institutions that fail to make an honest effort face serious consequences: ineligibility for NCAA championships and, eventually, removal from active membership in the Association.

Benefits of self-study...

The core of athletics certification is the institution’s self-study, in which campus-wide participation is

critical. An effective self-study benefits the institution by providing:

1. Self-awareness. 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 institution’s mission.

2. Affirmation. Athletics certification is couched in the affirmative?its aim, after all, is to certify?and the self-study process will reveal many aspects of the athletics program worthy of praise.

3. Opportunities to improve. Even an outstanding program can be better, and problems will be

identified routinely as part of any institution’s self-study. As these problems come to light, the self-study process will offer a forum for suggestions from individuals with a wide range of experience.

In the 2004 cycle of Certification, the NCAA eliminated two elements: Fiscal Integrity and Sporting and Ethical Conduct. CU completed those projects to give a complete picture of Athletics Department activities.

Ron Stump, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, chairs the CU-Boulder 2004 2nd cycle NCAA Certification Steering Committee for the Chancellor. The following are Subcommittee chairs:

Academic Integrity: Michael Grant, Associate Vice Chancellor, Student Affairs

Fiscal integrity: Ric Porreca, Vice Chancellor, Planning, Budget and Analysis

Governance and Commitment to Compliance: Phil DiStefano, Executive Vice

Chancellor and Provost

Equity, Welfare and Sporting Conduct: Elease Robbins, Associate Vice Chancellor, Student Affairs

NCAA 2nd Cycle Written Plan

CU Written Report -- February 2005