April 2000

George Mason Launches Effort To Certify Athletic Program George Mason University will begin a yearlong, campuswide effort to study its athletics programs as part of the NCAA Division I athletics certification program. Specific areas the study will cover are academic and fiscal integrity, governance, rules compliance, and commitment to equity and student-athlete welfare and sportsmanship. 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. At the 1997 convention, the Division I membership voted to change the frequency of athletics certification from once every five years to once every ten years and to require a five-year interim status report. Thus, the current self-study will be the second in the certification process for George Mason. The university's NCAA certification self-study is being directed by a steering committee. Martin Ford of the Graduate School of Education is the committee chair. Also on the committee are President Alan Merten; Gerald Cook, faculty athletic representative; Thomas O'Connor and Susan Collins, Intercollegiate Athletics; David Rossell, Provost's Office; Darcy Cors, President's Office; Carl Harris, School of Information Technology and Engineering; Linda Miller, Dance Division; Donna Kidd, Budget Office; Linda Westphal, Human Resources; Janet Hale, College of Nursing and Health Science; James Hazel, Board of Visitors; Margaret Howell, Equity Office; Susan Jones, university registrar; Stephen McGinn, student-athlete council representative; and Eric Sas, Student Government Association. Serving as ex-officio members are Kathleen Hallock of the Colonial Athletic Association; Linda Schwartzstein, Provost's Office; and Maurice Scherrens, senior vice president. "We want George Mason to be widely viewed as a university that operates with high integrity in everything it does. The NCAA certification process is an important part of that philosophy," says Ford. "It will also be a terrific opportunity for people throughout the university to learn more about how a very significant part of the university operates and how our athletic programs contribute to the overall mission of the institution." Once George Mason has con-cluded its study, an external team of reviewers will conduct a four-day evaluation visit on campus. Those reviewers will be peers from other colleges, universities, or conference offices. That team, which will report to the NCAA Division I Committee on Athletics Certification, will then determine George Mason's status and announce the decision publicly.