RENO, Nev. — The NCAA Division I Committee on Athletics Certification announced today that the University of Nevada is one of 26 institutions to be certified as part of the NCAA's regularly scheduled, ongoing athletics certification process.
The designation of certified means that the University of Nevada operates its athletics program in substantial conformity with operating principles adopted by the Division I membership. All 335 active Division I members participate in the athletics certification process.
The purpose of athletics certification is to ensure integrity in the institution’s athletics program and to assist institutions in improving their athletics departments. NCAA legislation mandating athletics certification was adopted in 1993.
“We are very pleased and proud to earn NCAA certification. It is a testament to the University of Nevada’s commitment to running an athletics program with integrity and dedication to academic and competitive excellence, compliance with all NCAA and university policies, equity and diversity and student-athlete well-being,” Nevada Director of Athletics Cary Groth said.
The certification process, which involves a self-study led by an institution’s president or chancellor, includes a review of these primary components: governance and commitment to rules compliance; academic integrity; and gender/diversity issues and student-athlete well-being. Each member institution is to complete a self-study at least once every 10 years.
The Division I Committee on Athletics Certification preliminarily reviews an institution’s certification materials and provides a list of issues identified during the evaluation. The university then hosts a visit by peer reviewers who file a report regarding the institution’s resolution of those issues before a final certification decision is rendered. An institution’s failure to satisfactorily respond to the committee may negatively impact certification status.
“We have a strong athletics program that is a source of pride for our university and community, and places an important emphasis on athletic and academic success while maintaining the highest standards of integrity and equity,” University President Dr. Milton Glick said. “I want to commend the efforts of all of the committee members who dedicated their time and expertise to this process.”
The members of the NCAA Committee on Athletics Certification are: Anthony Archbald, Princeton University; John Balog, Jacksonville University; Robert Bernardi, Nicholls State University; Henry Brooks, University of Maryland, Eastern Shore; Ann Carr, Mississippi State University; Roger Caves, San Diego State University; Casey Comoroski, Missouri State University; Beth DeBauche, Ohio Valley Conference; Tom Douple, The Summit League; John M. Dunn, Western Michigan University; Amy Folan, University of Texas at Austin; Joanne Glasser (chair), Bradley University; Angela Johnson “A.J.” Grube, Western Carolina University; Barbara Luebke, University of Rhode Island; Sheila Patterson, Cleveland State University; William Perry, Eastern Illinois University; Judy Van Horn, University of South Carolina; and Sarah Wilhelmi, West Coast Conference.
“So many people from across the university gave many hours of their time to participate in this valuable and exhaustive process, and we want to thank them for the outstanding job they did,” Groth said. “We especially want to recognize Dr. Jannet Vreeland who headed up our certification process under the direction of President Glick as well as all of the committee chairs who dedicated so much of their time to our self-study.”
