Sept. 16, 2009

PHILADELPHIA - La Salle University has begun a year-long, campus-wide effort to study its athletics program as part of the NCAA Division I athletics certification program. Specific areas the study will cover are academic integrity, governance, and commitment to rules compliance, and commitment to gender and diversity and student-athlete well-being.

Along with 47 other Division I institutions, La Salle is participating in the third cycle of certification, introduced in 1993. The certification program's purpose is to help ensure integrity in the institution's athletics operations. The program opens up athletics to the rest of the University community and to the public. Institutions will benefit by increasing campus-wide awareness and knowledge of the athletics program, confirming its strengths, and developing plans to improve areas of concern.

The committee responsible for the study include Brother Michael J. McGinniss, F.S.C., Ph.D., La Salle President; Gregory Bruce, Dean Emeritus of the School of Business; Thomas Brennan, Ed.D., Director of Intercollegiate Athletics and Recreation; Annette O'Connor, Ph.D., NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative and professor of biology; Margaret McGuinness, Ph.D., Chair of the Governance Subcommittee and professor of religion; Nancy Jones, Ph.D., Chair of the Academic Subcommittee and Director of the Integrated Science, Business, and Technology Program; Lane Neubauer, Ph.D., Chair of the Equity, Diversity, and Student-Athlete Well-being Subcommittee, and Associate Dean of Students for Counseling and Health Services; and various members of the University's faculty, staff, and Alumni Association, as well as Department of Athletics staff.

When La Salle has concluded its study, an external team of reviewers will conduct a three-day evaluation visit on campus. Those reviewers will be peers from other colleges, universities, or conference offices. The peer-review team will report to the NCAA Division I Committee on Athletics Certification. The Committee will then determine the institution's certification status and announce the decision publicly.

The three options for certification status are: certified, certified with conditions, and not certified. While institutions will have an opportunity to correct deficient areas, those institutions that do not take corrective actions may be ruled ineligible for NCAA championships.

The NCAA is a membership organization of colleges and universities that participate in intercollegiate athletics. The primary purpose of the Association is to maintain intercollegiate athletics as an integral part of the educational program and the athlete as an integral part of the student body. Activities of the NCAA membership include formulating rules of play for NCAA sports, conducting national championships, adopting and enforcing standards of eligibility, and studying all phases of intercollegiate athletics.