Specific areas the study will cover are academic and financial integrity, rules compliance and a commitment to equity. We believe we run a first-rate athletics program, and this study will allow us to confirm that to ourselves and to our peer institutions.
Academic accreditation is common for colleges and universities.
This program is the first to focus solely on certification of athletics programs. Following a pilot project, the NCAA Division I membership overwhelmingly supported the program and its standards at its 1993 annual convention. The certification program's purpose is to ensure integrity in the institution's athletics operations. It will open up athletics to the rest of the university community and to the public. Cornell will benefit by increasing awareness and knowledge of the athletics program campuswide, confirming strengths and developing plans to improve in areas of concern, administrators say.