Every 10 years, the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) requires all Division I schools to undergo a certification of their athletics programs. This involves an extensive self-study followed by an external review team site visit. During the 2007-08 academic year, Weber State University has conducted a comprehensive self-study based on specific NCAA criteria in the following three areas: (1) governance and commitment to rules compliance, (2) academic integrity, and (3) student-athlete well-being.

Before submitting the WSU Athletics Certification Self-Study to the NCAA on May 1, the Steering Committee is soliciting input/feedback from the Weber State community. A copy of the full self-study report is available at the following URL: http://weber.edu/AthleticCertification. The following executive summary highlights key points, strengths, areas for improvement, and action items related to each of the three areas of study listed above.

Operating Principle 1.1 – Institutional Control, Presidential Authority, and Shared Responsibilities

Key Points

• The institution’s governing board provides oversight and broad policy formation for intercollegiate athletics in a manner consistent with other units of the institution.
• The president is assigned ultimate responsibility and authority for the operation and personnel of the athletics program.
• Appropriate campus constituencies have the opportunity, under the purview of the president, to provide input into the formulation of policies relating to the conduct of the athletics program and to review periodically the implementation of such policies.

Strengths

• Two recommendations for improvement from the 1999 Certification have effectively been addressed:
• The Athletics Department mission statement has been reviewed and modified, receiving endorsement from the Athletics Board and University President’s Council.
• The Athletics Board was reorganized to be more active in assisting the Athletics Department in meeting objectives through the process of identifying board members and establishing three standing committees. These committees included the Strategic Planning, Student-Athlete Welfare, and Campus and Community Relations Committees.
• The Weber State University Board of Trustees and University President have a longstanding record of responsibility and engagement in key intercollegiate athletics decisions.
• Additional staffing in the areas of administrative support, compliance, academic support services, and the formalization of the role and appointment of a senior women’s administrator demonstrate ongoing commitment by the university to the principles of institutional control.

Areas for Improvement/Challenges

• None noted.

Action Items

• Continue existing practices of engaging the Board of Trustees and University President in major athletics decision-making processes, and utilize appropriate campus constituencies, in particular the Athletics Board, to review and provide input on the athletics program and its policies.

Operating Principle 1.2 - Rules Compliance

Key Points

• The institution has in place a set of written policies and procedures that assign specific responsibilities in the areas of rules compliance. The president has assigned overall responsibility for the athletics program to the VP for Administrative Services.
• In critical and sensitive areas, institutional compliance procedures provide for the regular participation of persons outside of the Athletics Department.
• Rules compliance is the subject of an ongoing educational effort.
• A clear and unambiguous commitment to rules compliance is a central element in all personnel matters for individuals involved in the intercollegiate athletics program.
• At least once every four years, the institution’s rule-compliance program is evaluated by an authority outside of the Athletics Department.

Strengths

• Three recommendations for improvement from the 1999 NCAA Certification have effectively been addressed:
• The job description for the Athletics Director has been updated and approved.
• The membership, roles, and responsibilities of the compliance committee have been organized and outlined.
• Job descriptions have been created for positions related to compliance.
• Weber State University independently pursued three actions to improve rules compliance by increasing the personnel dedicated to rules compliance, upgrading key positions related to rules compliance in the athletics academic advising area and the eligibility evaluator position, and separating and formalizing the duties of the Senior Women’s Administrator.
• Responsibility for rules compliance is clearly identified and individuals with this responsibility report outside of the Athletics Department.
• The NCAA Compliance Committee actively engages individuals from across campus and within the Athletics Department in monthly meetings to address internal compliance issues and stay abreast of rules changes and rule interpretations.
• Rules education programs are provided for booster groups, coaches and staff within the Athletics Department, and for staff across the university that have are involved in rules compliance activities.
• Regular external reviews of compliance programs over the last four years have occurred annually by the WSU Internal Auditor’s Office, in 2005 by an external consultant, and in 2007 by the Big Sky Conference.

Areas for Improvement/Challenges

• Weber State University continues to formalize the process for regularly including a review of individuals’ commitment to rules compliance in performance evaluations. This includes coaches and assistant coaches, staff in the Athletics Department, and staff outside of the Athletics Department that have a role in rules compliance activities.

Action Items

• Maintain an active role for the NCAA Compliance Committee and the compliance rules education program.
• Continue regular reviews of university compliance programs and implement appropriate improvements and recommendations from such reviews.
• Assure diligence in referencing the importance of rules compliance in all coach’s contracts, Athletics Department staff job descriptions, and job descriptions of other university staff involved in compliance.
• Follow through on the consistent review of a commitment to rules compliance in personnel evaluations.

Operating Principle 2.1 - Academic Standards

• The institution admits only student-athletes who have a reasonable expectation of obtaining an academic degree.
• Academic standards and policies applicable to student-athletes are consistent with NCAA standards.
• The responsibilities for admission, certification of academic standing, and evaluation of academic performance of student-athletes are vested in the same organizations that have authority for students generally.
• Written policies related to scheduling are established in all sports to minimize student-athletes conflicts with their academic work.

Operating Principle 2.2 - Academic Support

• Adequate academic support services are available for student-athletes.
• Student-athletes are encouraged and assisted in reaching attainable academic goals of their choosing.
• When it is determined that individual student-athletes have special academic needs, these needs are addressed.
• The support services are reviewed and approved periodically by academic authorities outside the athletics department.
• There is a commitment to the fair treatment of student-athletes in their academic role as students.

Recommendations for Improvement from the 1999 Certification that have been addressed:

1. In addition to institutional personnel and computer system changes that have occurred at WSU since the first-cycle certification process, the NCAA created the Compliance Assistant internet program in 2004. Complete conversion has since taken place at WSU with a total interface ability to connect all entities involved with tracking student-athlete academic profiles.
2. Student-athletes are being encouraged verbally and in writing to enroll in 15 or more credit hours each semester. The Student-Athlete Handbook states: “It is recommended that you take at least 15 to 16 credit hours every semester to maintain eligibility and continue to make satisfactory progress toward your degree.”
3. Since the first-cycle review, Weber State University has established an Academic Progress Program review team that monitors the eligibility and retention of student-athletes.
4. In 2004, the Athletics Academic Manager, initiated a Study Table program (monitored by WSU Athletics Department staff) designed to enhance the academic progress of freshmen, transfers, and “academic-at-risk” student-athletes which is equipped with state-of-the-art teaching aids and certified tutors from the Weber State University Academic Support Centers and Programs. Participation is mandatory the first year and open to all student-athletes that need additional assistance.
5. A new Athletics Academic Center was created for student-athletes in the Stewart Stadium Suites, which provides a quiet, supervised, secure environment for student-athletes to work on class assignments, projects, homework, etc.
6. A Lap Top Computer Checkout Program has been instituted.
7. The Athletic Academic Services Manager and Academic Coordinator now conduct weekly one-on-one meetings with student-athletes that are considered to be academically “at-risk.”
8. The peer-review team recommended that a well-defined plan of oversight be identified for academic support services. The institutional self-study identified the office of the Vice President for Student Affairs as the responsible office for the periodic review. At the time of the first cycle self-study, athletics academic support was housed in and provided by the university’s Academic Support Services and Programs (ASSP). During the comprehensive self-study for the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities performed in 2003-04, the ASSP office assessed the effectiveness of their services and programs. As a result, Athletics Academic Support Services created a separate program for student-athletes housed in the Athletics Department facility beginning in February 2004. The Athletics Academic Support Services is being evaluated spring 2008. A survey of customer satisfaction is being administered to Study Hall Table Program participants, utilizing a random sample of student-athletes and coaches from each sport. The Weber State Provost will select a faculty member to collect, analyze, review and report on this evaluation to the Athletics Advisory Board.
9. The Athletics Academic Support Services is now housed in the Athletics Department offices on the second floor of Stewart Stadium. Two full-time employees comprise the Athletics Academic Support Services office. They report directly to the Associate Vice President for Administrative Services. Prior to 2003, these services were provided to student-athletes along with the general student population through the centralized Academic Advisement Center.

Results of Current Analysis:
Admission Rates: There appear to be no differences in the admission profiles for standardized test scores by gender between student–athletes and students-in-general. Female student-athletes have significantly higher standardized test scores the past two years compared to female students-in-general. Black and Hispanic student-athletes also have higher standardized test scores while Asian and Others have slightly lower standardized test scores than students-in-general. A comparison between individual sports indicates the GPA and average standardized test scores for football are lower than for freshman student-athletes in the other sports but still acceptable for admittance to the university.
Graduation Rates: Student-athletes have an overall higher graduation rate than students-in-general. Over the past three years WSU’s female student-athletes had a higher graduation rate than male student-athletes but there is no observable difference between gender rates and graduation rates when compared to students-in-general. No differences or trends are noted when comparing graduation rates by ethnicity between student-athletes and students-in-general with the exception of black student-athletes but the number is extremely small when compared to “all black students” at the university
The only sport with a consistently lower graduation rate than the average graduation rate for students-in-general is football. Due to the high academic requirements in math and English at WSU, many student-athletes recruited from junior colleges have struggled to maintain acceptable progress toward degree. WSU has implemented a review process whereby a committee directed by central administration reviews core GPA and ACT/SAT scores to determine academic stability of all football recruits. The committee approves official visits and scholarship offers prior to the football coaching staff making the official offer. The committee currently has set academic standards which are higher than NCAA minimums. In addition, women’s basketball had two years of lower graduation rates but improved significantly last year. The head women’s basketball coach focused on recruiting freshman and working harder early on with parents to develop a good relationship with incoming freshman student-athletes which seems to be helping retain these student-athletes and thus the percentages have shown improvement.

Operating Principle 3.1 - Gender Issues

Key Points

• Opportunities for Women to Participate in Athletics - In the last decade the percentage of women who participate in intercollegiate athletics has moved closer to the percentage of women in the student body.
• Quality of Women’s intercollegiate athletics experience - In numerous ways, female athletes enjoy greatly improved athletics experiences compared to ten years ago. These include:
• Practice facilities, competitive facilities, and locker room facilities
• Medical and training facilities
• The quality and availability of coaching
• Sports information and marketing
• Competitiveness of the Women’s Athletic Program - In the last decade, WSU’s women’s athletics program has dominated the Big Sky Conference in the all-sport competition.
• Recruiting of women coaches - WSU has taken pro-active steps to increase the opportunities for women to be hired as coaches on women's teams, i.e., publicizing coaching opportunities through ads/notices targeting female coaching associations, female publications, and league/conference offices.  Despite these efforts, WSU has fewer women head coaches today than ten years ago.
• Salary Fairness - WSU has developed a system to evaluate salaries and benefits for the coaches of men’s and women’s teams that is based on fair and objective assessment of their duties and responsibilities, performance, and seniority.
• Senior Woman Administrator - The position of SWA was strengthened. This was first accomplished through combining that position with an Associate Athletic Director. When that individual left WSU, the responsibility was assigned to the head women’s basketball coach.
• Title IX Self-Assessments - WSU has conducted detailed self-studies of the Athletics Department’s compliance with Title IX twice since the last NCAA self-study.

Strengths

• As indicated, practice and competitive facilities for female student-athletes have been improved. The women’s soccer program has seen the greatest improvement in its facilities. The practice and competition field was completely reconstructed, taking it from dangerous to the finest collegiate soccer field in the state. In addition, their locker and training rooms are new. Women’s track and volleyball are also enjoying new locker and training room facilities.
• The return of the volleyball program to the Swenson Gym gives that program greater flexibility in scheduling games and practices. It also eases the scheduling of practices at the Dee Events Center for the women’s and men’s basketball programs.

Areas for Improvement/Challenges

• The participation rate for women student-athletes at WSU is still below the proportion of women in the student body.
• The Senior Woman Administrator position is not yet positioned organizationally to provide the greatest internal leadership and oversight for gender equity possible.
• The salary model adopted by the department needs to be adapted to better reflect market realities in the head coach job group.
• Evaluation and monitoring of gender equity in athletics has not been as regular and systematic as possible. There are data sources such as the Student-Athlete Welfare Survey and the Athletic Director’s exit interviews that could be better mined for data that would identify potential areas of inequity requiring action.
• The women’s basketball program, though much closer to parity with the men’s program, still lacks comparable operating resources.

Action Items

• The university has committed to creating a varsity women’s softball program next year. This will accomplish several important objectives related to gender-equity. The adoption of this sport will address the gap in the accommodation of interests and abilities. It can also help balance and stabilize the financial aid provided to female student-athletes.
• The evaluation process in athletics will integrate gender equity with minority concerns and student-athlete well-being. An independent team, made up of athletics professionals, student-athletes, faculty and others will annually monitor and oversee these critical concerns.
• The Athletics Departments salary model will be modified to more accurately account for market factors in head coaching salaries.
• The women’s basketball program’s operating budget will be increased next year by $15,000. This will boost that program’s ability to recruit out-of-state athletes without negatively impacting other aspects of their program such as travel, equipment, etc. In addition, a detailed marketing plan for women’s basketball will be developed each season with the support of the Marketing Department in cooperation with the community advisory board currently supporting the women's basketball program.

Operating Principle 3.2 - Minority Concerns

Key Points

• The university provided diversity training for its athletics staff.
• Proactive steps have been taken to address the shortage of minorities among athletic personnel.
• The institution has improved its systems for monitoring minority issues in athletics.
• Greater efforts were made to integrate minority student-athletes into the campus and broader community.
• A course designed to introduce students to campus life was specially-tailored for student-athletes with special sensitivity to minority concerns.

Strengths

• Three recommendations for improvement from the 1999 Certification have effectively been addressed:
• The Athletics Department participated in a number of diversity trainings in 2000 and 2002.
• Recruitment of minority athletics personnel has been strengthened through better targeted advertising, hiring preferences, and recruitment of student-athletes into assistant coaching positions.
• Tools for monitoring minority concerns in the Athletics Department have been created, such as the Student-Athlete Welfare Survey. Student-athlete exit interviews and coaches’ annual performance reviews have also been improved.
• The employment of coaches who are ethnic minorities has substantially exceeded that of the overall institution
• The university, the Division of Administrative Services and the Athletics Department have developed and maintained written statements that address the issues of diversity.
• The Athletics Department periodically reviews itself to assure adherence to its written commitments to diversity.
• The institution’s organization and structure help to enhance diversity.
• The percentage of students from ethnically diverse backgrounds in athletics substantially exceeds that of the overall student population.

Areas for Improvement/Challenges

• Monitoring of minority concerns in the Athletics Department could be improved still further, by creating an annual evaluation process that integrates minority concerns with gender and student-athlete well-being issues.
• Employment of minorities into athletics administration could be increased.

Action Items

• Develop a coordinated evaluation system that integrates minority, gender and student- athlete well-being concerns.
• Encourage diversity in student-athlete leadership positions, such as Student Athlete Advisory Committee.
• Increase the involvement of minority student-athletes in the diversity activities of the broader campus by improving communication between sponsoring organizations and minority student-athletes.

Operating Principle 3.3 - Student-Athlete Well-Being

Key Points

• The well-being of student-athletes and the fairness of their treatment is monitored, evaluated and addressed on a continuing basis.
• The university has established grievance and appeals procedures for student-athletes.
• The university has programs in place that protect the health of and provide for the safety of student-athletes.

Strengths

• Student-athletes have increased participation in health awareness/promotion programs and services through participation in special sections of the university’s First Year Experience courses and the mandatory Drug Education portion of the Athletics Drug Abuse Program. The FYE courses provide student-athletes with information including university resources, time management and wellness information intended to jumpstart their success at WSU.
• The Athletics Department will strengthen its Study Table program by incorporating significant parts of the FYE program to reach student-athletes who are unable to fit FYE into their schedules.
• Gathering information regarding student-athletes’ well-being has been greatly improved by the annual use of a student-athlete welfare survey and by the improvements in the Athletics Department’s student-athlete exit interviews.
• Athletic Academic and Support Services have been expanded over the last several years, including improvements in the CHAMPS/Life Skills program.
• Athletics facilities, including locker rooms and training rooms, have been significantly improved.
• The athletic training staff has been augmented in the last decade with the addition of a second full-time trainer, an additional part-time athletic trainer and a second team physician.
• The university’s student government established a special student senator position to represent student-athletes.
• Student-athletes are encouraged to utilize a wide range of student support services that are available to WSU students.

Areas for Improvement/Challenges

• Evaluation of student-athlete monitoring can be improved by annually conducting an assessment that integrates student-athlete well-being with gender and minority concerns.
• Coverage of practices by athletic trainers, especially during periods in the calendar when athletic seasons overlap, can be improved.

Action Items

• Develop a coordinated evaluation system that integrates minority, gender and student- athlete well-being concerns.
• As the women’s softball program is added to the varsity sports program, the staffing and assignment of athletic trainers will be assessed to better meet the demands they face, especially when athletic seasons overlap.