OXFORD, Miss. – A University of Mississippi committee is
wrapping up a campuswide study of its athletics programs as
part of the NCAA Division I athletics certification
program.
A draft of the 375-page self-study report is on reserve in
the J.D. Williams Library on the Oxford campus through
March 31 to encourage public review and comment.
The final report is to be submitted to the NCAA about May
1. After reviewing UM’s final self-study report, an NCAA
peer review team plans to visit the campus Oct. 21-23.
Several months later, UM should be notified of the NCAA’s
certification status.
NCAA’s Division I certification program is the first to
focus solely on athletics as an integral part of a
university. It was adopted by NCAA Division I members in
1993, when they overwhelmingly supported the program and
its standards.
The program helps ensure integrity in members’ athletics
operations by throwing them open to the rest of the
university community and to the public. Institutions
involved in the program benefit by increasing campuswide
awareness and knowledge of their athletics programs,
confirming their strengths and developing plans to improve
areas of concern.
Areas studied are academic integrity, governance and
commitment to rules compliance, and equity and student
athlete well-being. Within each area, the program has set
standards, or operating principles, which serve as a
“measuring stick” upon which all Division I members are
evaluated.
To conduct the self-study, committees of faculty, staff,
students, alumni and athletics personnel have since
September gathered data and information from existing
records, interviews and other sources. The steering
committee responsible for the study includes Chancellor
Robert Khayat and is chaired by Acting Provost Morris
Stocks.
NCAA’s certification program “engages representatives from
a wide spectrum of the campus in a full review of the
athletics department,” Stocks said. “Many misperceptions
and myths are laid to rest in the process.”
Individuals with comments or questions after reading the
report should contact Stocks by e-mail
(acstocks@olemiss.edu), phone (662-915-5773) or letter
(Provost’s Office, P.O. Box 1848, University, MS 38677);
or by letter to the Chancellor’s Office at the same
address.
Following its visit, the peer review team reports to the
NCAA Division I Committee on Athletics Certification, which
determines UM’s certification status and announces it
publicly. The three options of certification status are
certified, certified with conditions and not certified.
Institutions have an opportunity to correct deficiencies.
Those that don’t may be ruled ineligible for NCAA
championships. Tough sanctions also can be imposed on
institutions failing to conduct a comprehensive
self-study.
The NCAA is a membership organization of colleges and
universities participating in intercollegiate athletics.
The association’s mission is to maintain intercollegiate
athletics as an integral part of educational programs, and
athletes as an integral part of the student body. The NCAA
also formulates rules of play for NCAA sports, conducts
national championships, adopts and enforces standards of
eligibility, and studies all phases of intercollegiate
athletics.