From Rick Kindhart, Assistant Director of Athletics - Missouri State University

INDIANAPOLIS -- The NCAA Division I Committee on Athletics Certification announced decisions today (Aug. 18) concerning the athletics certification status of 28 member institutions. Missouri State University has been fully certified through successful completion and review of its Cycle 3 self-study.

  The certified designation denotes that Missouri State operates its athletics program in full compliance with the operating principles adopted by the Division I membership.

  "Anytime you get an endorsement of your program from one of your national governing agencies, it is an accomplishment worth noting," said Missouri State Interim President Clif Smart.  "We are very proud of the balance and integrity with which our intercollegiate athletics program operates.  As a University, we benefited from completing the self-study process, and we very much appreciate gaining full certification from the NCAA."

  Legislation mandating certification was adopted for all active Division I schools in 1993 to ensure the integrity of each member institution’s athletics program, while assisting institutions with improvements when necessary. To complete the certification process, each institution had to complete a self-study led by its president or chancellor. The self-study instrument includes a thorough review of these primary components: governance and commitment to rules compliance; academic integrity; gender/diversity issues; and student-athlete well-being.  

Missouri State Director of Athletics Kyle Moats said he was very pleased with the NCAA announcement and noted the many collaborative efforts that made full certification a reality.  

"I am grateful for the hard work of the steering committee and the sub-committee members on campus who worked countless hours to complete this process," Moats said. "I especially want to thank our chair Sue George and senior associate AD Casey Comoroski for taking ownership in this process on behalf of Missouri State University. They championed this effort from the very first day, and their dedication has ensured our inclusion in this cycle’s NCAA certification class.”  

Each member institution is to complete a self-study at least once every 10 years.  As a Cycle 3 institution, Missouri State has now completed three NCAA certification steps, receiving full certification in previous self-study efforts in 1996 and 2003.  

George, a Missouri State professor in Childhood Education and Family Studies chaired the MSU Certification Steering Committee. She noted her gratitude for the work of the 45 faculty, staff, students and community members who assisted during the 18 months of preparing the voluminous report.  

"Being part of the NCAA Athletics Certification process has confirmed the good work of our Department of Intercollegiate Athletics at Missouri State," said George. "My thanks go out to the members of the University community who worked hard to see this process through to its positive conclusion."  

Joining Missouri State in Wednesday's NCAA certification announcement were fellow fully certified Division I institutions:

















In addition, the following institution was certified with conditions:

            Southern University, Baton Rouge.

The Division I Committee on Athletics Certification preliminarily reviews an institution’s certification materials and provides a list of issues identified during the evaluation.  Then, the university is assessed by a panel of peer reviewers who file a report regarding the institution’s resolution of the issues before a final certification decision is rendered.  This cycle represents the last certifications started before a moratorium was placed on the program in April 2011 by the Division I Board of Directors. No active Division I members will begin the certification again until August of 2013.

The complete Missouri State Self-Study report can be viewed on-line at www.missouristate.edu/ncaa. Members of the Missouri State community who participated in the Self-Study process were:








































For more information on Missouri State Athletics, visit www.missouristatebears.com.