Long Beach State athletics is fully certified by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I for a third consecutive year, as of Aug. 5.
Certified programs are determined by operating principles adopted by the NCAA Division I membership, which include governance and commitment to rules compliance, academic integrity and gender/diversity, as well as student-athlete well-being.
According to Douglas W. Robinson, vice president for student services and chair of the steering committee, institutions are required to assemble plans for improvement and a timeline to fix discrepancies in their standards, whether they are in conformity of the NCAA rules or not.
In this way, gender/diversity and student athlete well-being will continue to receive particular attention.
Certification is a two-year process of planning. In 2010, an extensive self-study report of athletics programs was conducted, giving committees an opportunity to fully review and understand their institution’s standing. The process included up to 63 members of the campus community, including student, faculty, staff, administrators and community participants.
“We didn’t just sit in a smoke-filled room and complete the report,” Robinson said. “We had to go out to survey people. We had to go out and look at records to see whether or not we were operating our athletics program in conformity with the NCAA rules and regulations.”
The NCAA certification process is also said to enlighten faculty, student and members of the Long Beach community on the internal workings of the athletics programs through investigations.
Senior criminal justice major Chris Sweeney of the track and field team says he had little-to-no knowledge of the NCAA.
“I didn’t really understand certification until now, with my coach Shaun Meinecke,” Sweeney said.
According to Sweeney, meetings can cover topics such as the illegality of gambling on sports, accepting money as “gifts” from businesses and hazing. Sweeney said that, as an athlete, he hadn’t noticed any significant changes to the athletics programs.
“This campus community and the external community can take a lot of pride in how we operate as a university community and as a family,” Robinson said. “It just warms my heart.”
However, Robinson also said he believes the entire certification process is flawed. He argues that the NCAA treats its applicants impersonally.
“They said to have a teleconference to save money, but I thought they should have sent a representative to the campus,” he said. “If anybody saves any money, it’s the NCAA, not this university, and that’s a big problem.”
According to Robinson, the entire process cost approximately $600,000 from CSULB’s budget.
A week before the self study report was due, the steering committee received an email from the NCAA stating that all 30 institutions in the review cycle were halting their self-studies, on behalf of the NCAA admitting it’s certification process needs improvement. CSULB was given the option to terminate its review for a two-year moratorium, but the steering committee declined.
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