News Article

Gonzaga University President Rev. Robert J. Spitzer, S.J., announced today that Gonzaga University will begin a yearlong, campuswide effort to study its athletics program as part of the NCAA Division I athletics certification program.

Specific areas the study will cover include: academic integrity, governance and commitment to rules compliance, as well as commitments to gender equality, diversity and the well-being of student-athletes. 

While academic accreditation is common in colleges and universities, this program focuses solely on certification of athletics programs. Following a pilot project, the NCAA Division I membership overwhelmingly supported the program and its standards at the 1993 NCAA Convention. Gonzaga completed its first certification self-study in 1995. At the 1997 Convention, the NCAA Division I membership voted to change the frequency of athletics certification from once every five years to once every 10 years. Gonzaga completed its second certification self-study in 2000. Thus, the current self-study will be the third in the certification process for Gonzaga.

The athletics certification program aims 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 will include Gonzaga President Rev. Spitzer, Interim Vice President for Administration and Planning Joan Allbery, who will chair the Steering Committee, various members of Gonzaga’s faculty and staff, as well as athletic department personnel. A member of the NCAA membership services staff will conduct a one-day orientation videoconference with the committee and its subcommittees early in the process.

Within each area to be studied by the committee, the program has standards known as operating principles that were adopted by the association to establish benchmarks by which all Division I members are evaluated. 

When Gonzaga 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, which will then determine the institution's certification status and announce the decision publicly. Sanctions may be imposed against institutions that fail to conduct a comprehensive self-study or fail to correct problems.

The three options of 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.

For more information, please contact Peter Tormey at Gonzaga, at (509) 313-6132 or via e-mail.