Changes in the Second Certification Cycle

The membership has made changes for the second cycle of athletics certification in response to evolving standards (e.g. through modifications in the operating principles) and the NCAA Committee on Athletics Certification's expectation is that schools will have made progress in the four certification areas from the first cycle.

A school will be evaluated mainly on information from its second-cycle self-study, with the exception of the school's implementation and progress on required actions from the certification committee's first-cycle decision and those plans for improvement adopted by the school in the first cycle that are related directly to the operating principles.
As a part of the committee's evaluation of the gender-equity and minority-issues areas, the committee will use, in its deliberations and in the training of peer reviewers, a checklist of Title IX areas and requirements and a similar document representing minority-issues areas to determine whether an institution has (a) thoroughly studied itself in the two areas and described how it studies each area; (b) compiled complete data demonstrating its current status and commitment; and (c) established a complete plan for making or maintaining progress with its gender-equity and minority-opportunities positions. (It is critical to note that the committee will not be evaluating, nor training peer reviewers to evaluate, whether an institution is in legal compliance with Title IX areas, rather, it and peer reviewers will be evaluating the institution in terms of whether the school has thoroughly addressed its standing in each Title IX area.)
The membership adopted legislation that revised NCAA Bylaw 23.2.1.3 (e) to require an institution's rules compliance program to undergo an evaluation by an authority outside the athletics department once every three years. It is important to note that the effective date of the revision in Bylaw 23.2.1.3 (e) is January 13, 1998 and, therefore, an institution is required to conduct an evaluation within three years (starting January 13, 1998).