Lipscomb University will begin a year-long campus-wide study of its athletic program as part of a required NCAA Division I athletics certification program, university President Steve Flatt announced today.
The study will include academic and fiscal integrity, governance, rules compliance, as well as a commitment to equity, student-athlete welfare and sportsmanship, Flatt said.
The NCAA athletics certification program is similar to academic accreditation processes that are common to universities, but focuses solely on certification of athletics programs, he said.
The purpose of the program is to help ensure integrity in the institution's athletics operations, according to an NCAA press release. The program opens up athletics to the rest of the university community and to the public. Institutions benefit by increasing campus-wide awareness and knowledge of the athletics program, confirming its strengths and developing plans to improve in areas of concern.
The committee responsible for the study will include Flatt, athletics director Steve Potts, members of the university faculty and staff, and athletics department personnel. A member of the membership services staff will be on campus Dec. 2 for a one-day orientation visit with the committees and subcommittees as they begin their studies.
"We welcome this as an opportunity to make our athletic department better, to identify strengths and weaknesses and improve upon those. We fully anticipate that we will successfully complete this process in a positive manner," Potts said.
Within each area to be studied by the committee, the NCAA has established standards, or "operating principles," by which all Division I members are evaluated. The university will also examine how the activities of the athletics program relate to the mission and purpose of the institution.
Once the university has concluded its study, which is scheduled for November 2004, an external team of reviewers from other NCAA Division I institutions will conduct a four-day evaluation visit on campus. The committee will determine the institution's certification status and announce the decision publicly.
After an historic era of membership in the NAIA, Lipscomb became a provisional member of NCAA Division I for the 1999-2000 season. This year marks Lipscomb's first as a full member of the NCAA and the Atlantic Sun Conference.
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 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, according to an NCAA press release.