Office of External Communications

Houston, TX 77204-5017 Fax: 713.743.8199

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 16, 2006

Contact: Eric Gerber
713.743.8189 (office)
713.617.7130(pager)
egerber@uh.edu

HOUSTON, March 16, 2006 – President Jay Gogue announced today that the University of Houston is nearing the completion of 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 have been academic integrity, governance and commitment to rules compliance, as well as a commitment to equity and student-athlete welfare.

While academic accreditation is common in colleges and universities, this program focuses solely on certification of athletics programs. Following a pilot project, the Division I membership overwhelmingly supported the program and its standards at the 1993 NCAA Convention. The University of Houston completed its first certification self-study in 1996. At the 1997 NCAA Convention, the Division I membership voted to change the frequency of athletics certification from once every five years to once every 10 years and to require a five-year interim-status report. Thus, the current self-study is the second in the certification process for the University of Houston.

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 university/college 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 includes President Gogue; Richard Scamell, NCAA faculty athletics representative; various members of the university’s faculty and staff; and athletics department personnel.

Within each area studied by the committee, 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.

Once the University of Houston has concluded its study in May, an external team of reviewers will conduct a two-day minimum evaluation visit on campus. This visit is scheduled to take place October 16-18, 2006. The reviewers will be peers from other colleges, universities or conference offices. That team will report to the NCAA Division I Committee on Athletics Certification, another independent group. The committee will then determine the institution's certification status and announce the decision publicly. For institutions that fail to conduct a comprehensive self-study or to correct problems, tough sanctions can be imposed.

The three options of certification status are: (a) certified; (b) certified with conditions; and (c) not certified. While universities/colleges will have an opportunity to correct deficient areas, those universities/colleges 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 about UH visit the university’s ‘Newsroom’ at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.