March 13, 2008

The college is well into a year-long, campus-wide effort to study its athletics program as part of the NCAA Division I athletics certification program.  Specific areas of study  are academic integrity, governance and commitment to rules compliance, and commitment to equity and student-athlete well-being. 

We are making the preliminary findings of the self-study available to you for review.  In addition to the self-study, you will find other related information to the process such as the established committees, the NCAA Athletic Certification Handbook, and the Self-Study Instrument. Within each area to be studied the program has standards, called operating principles, which were adopted by the Association to place a “measuring stick” by which all Division I members are evaluated.  For ease of reading, we have structured the web site so that each item of study can be viewed separately. 

After review, you are encouraged to forward your comments to the steering committee at ncaaselfstudy@providence.edu.  Your feedback is critical to the process.  In addition, a series of open forums will be held this month. The date, time, and location will be announced in a future email and posted on the website.

While academic accreditation is common in colleges and universities, this program focuses solely on certification of athletics programs on a ten year cycle.  Providence College completed its first certification self-study in 1998.  Thus, the current self-study is our second in the certification process.

The certification program's purpose is to help ensure integrity in the institution's athletics operations.  It opens up athletics to the rest of the college community and to the public.  We benefit from this by increasing campus-wide awareness and knowledge of the athletics program, confirming its strengths and developing plans to improve areas of concern.                   

The College’s deadline for submitting its report to the Committee on Athletics Certification (CAC) is May 1.  An external team of reviewers is scheduled to conduct an evaluation visit on campus in September.  Those reviewers will be peers from other colleges, universities, or conference offices.  That team will report to the NCAA Division I CAC, another independent group.  The CAC will then determine the institution's certification status and announce the decision publicly in February 2009.

We welcome your input and encourage participation in the open forums. 

Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P.                                     Michael V. Frazier, Chair
President                                                             Steering Committee