PULLMAN, Wash. — Washington State University has started a yearlong, campus-wide effort to study its athletics programs as part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Athletics Certification Program.
The certification is a routine study by the NCAA covering academic and fiscal integrity, governance, rules compliance, commitment to equity, student-athlete welfare and sportsmanship, said Rom Markin, chair of NCAA Certification Self-Study Review Steering Committee and professor of marketing. WSU’s first study began in 1995 and was completed in 1996. The next will take place in 10 years.
A committee composed of various members of the university faculty, staff and administration, athletics department personnel and students are responsible for the study. The study process increases awareness on campus about the athletic department’s goals and purposes. It also highlights areas to improve and examines how the athletic program relates to WSU’s mission and purpose.
Once the committee finishes the study, an external team of reviewers conducts a four-day evaluation visit on campus in February 2003. The team, composed of people from other universities, reports to the NCAA Division I Committee on Athletics Certification to determine the institution’s certification status.
Steering committee members include Markin; V. Lane Rawlins, WSU president; Doug Baker, vice provost for academic affairs; Ken Casavant, faculty athletic representative and professor of agricultural economics; William Cofer, professor of civil and environmental engineering; Conor Cook, Associated Students of WSU representative; Felicia Gaskins, associate vice provost for human relations and diversity; Holly Harris, Student Athlete Advisory Committee representative; Bryan Hudson, Graduate and Professional Student Association representative; Charlene Jaeger, vice president for student affairs; John Kicza, associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and professor of history; Keith Lincoln, executive director of the Lewis Alumni Centre; Nancy Magnuson, professor of molecular biosciences; Rueben Mayes, director of the Cougar Athletic Foundation; Marcia Saneholtz, senior associate athletic director; and Jim Sterk, athletic director.
