The University of Connecticut has been recertified as a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) school after undergoing a 12-month reaccredidation process.
According to Michael Enright, the executive director of UConn's athletic communication, UConn last went through the process in 1998. The NCAA instituted the reaccredidation program to ensure that schools were complying with rules and that academic support was being conducted.
UConn has been a part of the NCAA since the organization's inception in 1906, Enright said. Reaccreditation is mandated for every Division I school in the NCAA and is conducted every 10 years. The process is similar to the reaccreditation that the university goes through for its academic operations.
UConn has a self-study committee that looks at the university's intercollegiate athletic program in great detail to ensure that the school is meeting NCAA qualifications. According to Ronald Schurin, an associate professor of political science who chaired the committee, the university is also evaluated every four years by an authority outside the athletic department.
A group of three people were designated by the NCAA to conduct the evaluations. V. Lane Rawlins, the former president of Washington State University, Susan Hartmann, professor of history and women's studies at the Ohio State University, and Karin Lee, assistant director of athletics at the University of Alabama, examined a report written by UConn's self-study committee and then conducted interviews and wrote up their own report evaluating the university.
One major area the committee looked at is academic integrity. UConn uses the Counseling Program for Intercollegiate Athletes (CPIA). This program helps the university to help ensure their student athletes meet the academic standards of the institution.
The NCAA was pleased with UConn's academic support system and asked if they could share the report on the CPIA's activities with other schools.
"They looked at it as a model program, a program that other students should aspire to," Enright said.
Another area that the evaluation committee looked at was rules compliance. A major principle in this area is governance. Schurin said that the university has to document that the Board of Trustees provides broad oversight of the policies of the athletic department. The President Athletics Advisory Committee, headed by Professor Robert Hoskin of the Business school, monitors the Athletics department to ensure that it is in compliance with NCAA rules.
"We have a clear and unambiguous commitment to rules compliance," Schurin said.
UConn was also evaluated in the areas of equity and student athlete well-being.
Under the Title IX act, the university has a commitment to providing equal opportunities to student athletes, regardless of gender.
"We have a commitment to maintaining equity," Schurin said.
UConn also has a commitment to ensuring the well-being of its student-athletes. The school ensures that its athletes are provided with adequate health services, that their safety is acknowledged and that their needs are met. According to Schurin, a key area in this category is ensuring that the student athletes aren't exploited.
"This isn't an issue at UConn, but it could be an issue at other institutions," he said.
The NCAA's mission is to "govern competition in a fair, safe, equitable and sportsmanlike manner, and to integrate intercollegiate athletics into higher education so that the educational experience of the student-athlete is paramount," according to its Web site.
Contact Michelle Firestone at Michelle.Firestone@UConn.edu.
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