Illinois State University interim president Dr. Al Bowman was notified Friday by the National Collegiate Athletic Association that the Redbird Athletics Department was officially certified by the NCAA during the associations second cycle of athletics certification.
Illinois State was originally certified by the NCAA in 1995. The second round of athletics certifications is being completed on a 10-year cycle rather than the five-year cycle used during the initial certification process. All 325 active Division I members participate in the certification process.
The purpose of athletics certification is to ensure integrity and to assist in improving university athletics departments. NCAA legislation mandating athletics certification was adopted in 1993.
Bowman sees the certification as a significant accomplishment.
It is very satisfying to have this process complete and to have our department fully certified by the NCAA, Bowman said. Certification by the NCAA provides external validation of the Universitys commitment to integrity in intercollegiate athletics.
Five primary areas compose the certification process. Those five are: governance and commitment to rules compliance; academic integrity; fiscal integrity; equity; welfare; and sportsmanship.
A designation of certified means that an institution operates its athletics program in substantial conformity with operating principles adopted by the Division I membership.
The exhaustive 32-month certification process included an in-depth self-study before the NCAAs own peer review team visited the campus.
Forty-six individuals selected by former university president Dr. Victor Boschini served on various self-study committees. Among those serving on the committees were representatives from the student body, faculty and staff, university administration, board of regents, coaching staff, athletics administration and the private sector. The steering committee for the project was chaired by Jude Boyer, vice president of student affairs emeritus at Illinois State.
The self-study generated a 525-page document reviewing the athletics departments mode of operation.
Given the quality and integrity of Illinois State Universitys athletic programs, I am not surprised that the self-study team, led by Judith Boyer, earned high marks from the National Collegiate Athletic Association, Bowman added/.
Once the self-study was completed, an external peer review team visited the ISU campus for three days. That team was charged with verifying that the institutions self-study was characterized by campus-wide participation and that the self-study was completed with an accurate reflection of campus policies. Finally, the peer review team evaluated the self-study in terms of the operational principles that have been approved for all Division I members.
With that work completed, the peer review team submitted a formal report to the NCAAs Committee on Athletics Certification. That committee considered the findings and certified Illinois State. Director of Athletics Perk Weisenburger was pleased with the news.
Certification is a time consuming and divulging process that exposes our entire department, Weisenburger said. But in the end, the result is worth it because it reaffirms what people associated with Illinois State have always known we run a model athletics program of which our institution, constituents, alumni and donors can be proud.
I would like to thank the university community for all of the help and support with this project. In particular, I would also like to thank all of the individuals that were on the certification committee, along with Jude Boyer and Linda Herman, who each played instrumental roles throughout this process.
Boyer was also happy with the outcome.
Im obviously very pleased with the result, Boyer said. I was confident that the result would be in our favor, but anytime you are involved in a process that lengthy it is natural to be a little bit on edge. I found the process to be very instructional. I hope that the many others involved in the process found it that way as well. I think that the NCAAs goal in the certification process is not only to ensure integrity within athletics, but also to broadened the knowledge of athletics on institutional campuses.
