STARKVILLE, Miss.--Mississippi State is launching a scheduled yearlong effort to continue certification of its NCAA Division I athletics programs.
University President Charles Lee said specific areas of the study include academic integrity, governance and commitment to rules compliance, as well as a commitment to equity and student-athlete welfare.
Lee said the project is being led by Sandra H. Harpole, interim associate vice president for research, and Donna S. Reese, interim associate dean of the Bagley College of Engineering. A 15-member steering committee "will lead broad campus participation in studying each area," Lee added.
Institutional self-studies were instituted by NCAA member institutions in 1993 and are required approximately every five-10 years. MSU undertook its initial NCAA self-study in 1997.
"The purpose of certification is to help ensure rules compliance in the institution's athletics operations," Harpole said. "It opens up athletics to the rest of the university community and to the public."
The resulting examination confirms strengths of the program and promotes plans to improve areas of concern, she observed.
The self-study committee will include faculty, administration, student, and staff representatives, as well as athletics department personnel. Members will evaluate athletics programs in accordance with NCAA operating principles.
"Once the university concludes its study this year, an external team of reviewers will conduct a two-day evaluation site visit to Mississippi State," Reese said.
Composed of peers from other universities, the site team will report to the NCAA Division I Committee on Athletics Certification, which may decide that the institution is certified, certified with conditions, or not certified.
The steering committee also includes Jimmy Abraham of the Division of Student Affairs; outgoing Athletic Council faculty representative Kirk Arnett of the College of Business and Industry; and Julie Berry of the Student Support Services Office, chair of the Professional and Support Staff Advisory Council.
Others include Art Cosby of the Social Science Research Center, Maridith Geuder of the university relations office, Sue Minchew of the College of Education, Student Association President Adam Telle, and incoming Athletic Council faculty representative Steven Turner of the agricultural economics department.
Athletic department members include director Larry Templeton; associate director David Boles, who also heads the university's Academic Advising Center; associate director Samye Johnson, who directs the women's sports programs; and varsity basketball player Shane Power, representing the Student Athlete Advisory Council.
For additional information, contact Sandra Harpole at (662) 325-2922. Donna Reese may be reached at 325-0624.