NCAA Athletics Certification Announcement

Saint Louis University President Lawrence Biondi, S.J., announced today that the University will begin a yearlong, campus-wide effort to study the athletics program as part of the NCAA Division I athletics certification program. Specific areas of the study are: academic and fiscal integrity, governance and rules compliance, as well as commitment to equity, student-athlete welfare and sportsmanship.

Following a pilot project, the Division I membership overwhelmingly supported a program for certification of intercollegiate athletic programs at the 1993 NCAA Convention. Saint Louis University completed its first certification self-study in 1997. 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. Thus, the current self-study will be the second in the certification process for Saint Louis University.

The certification program helps ensure integrity in an institution's athletics operations, opening athletics to the University community and to the public. SLU will benefit by increasing campus-wide awareness and knowledge of the athletics program, confirming its strengths and developing plans to improve areas of concern.

The steering committee responsible for the study includes Biondi; Edwin B. Harris, Ph.D., associate provost and chairman of the steering committee; Michael Ross, Ph.D., professor of psychology and faculty athletics representative; Doug Woolard, director of athletics; Lori Flanagan, senior associate director of athletics; Judy Durham, Ph.D., associate professor of chemistry and chairwoman of the governance and rules compliance subcommittee; Donald Brennan, Ph.D., dean of the Graduate School and chairman of the academic integrity subcommittee; Neil Seitz, Ph.D., dean of the John Cook School of Business and chairman of the fiscal integrity subcommittee; Mary Elizabeth Hogan, Ph.D., associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and co-chairwoman of the equity, welfare and sportsmanship subcommittee; Ruth Marquis, Ph.D., director of training and human resources planning and co-chairwoman of the equity, welfare and sportsmanship subcommittee; and Jeff Fowler, associate director of University marketing and communications.

A complete list of those serving on the NCAA self-study subcommittees can be found on SLU Newslink or the SLU Billikens Web site by clicking on the NCAA Certification link. Updates and information about the University's self-study also will be posted on those sites throughout the next year.

A representative from the NCAA membership services staff will travel to SLU Feb. 14 for a one-day orientation visit to meet with the steering committee and its subcommittees early in the re-certification process.

Throughout this process, the University seeks to demonstrate its fundamental commitment to institutional control of intercollegiate athletics within the academic setting and to the integrity of its intercollegiate athletic program through self-study and peer-review.

Once the University has concluded its study, an external team of reviewers will conduct a four-day evaluation visit on campus. Reviewers will be peers from other colleges, universities or conference offices. That team will report to the NCAA Division I Committee on Athletics Certification, another independent group, which will then determine the institution's certification status and announce its decision publicly.

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 athletes as integral parts of the student body.

The University community will receive regular updates on the self-study process. Any questions or comments regarding the NCAA self-study should be directed to Edwin Harris, Ph.D., chair of the steering committee, at 977-3078 or by e-mail at harriseb@slu.edu.

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