NCAA Self Study
Texas Tech University has begun a year-long, campus-wide study of its athletics programs as part of the NCAA Division I athletics certification program. The study will cover academic integrity, governance and commitment to rules compliance as well as equity and student-athlete well-being.
While academic accreditation is common in colleges and universities, this program focuses solely on certification of athletic programs. Texas Tech completed its first certification self-study in 1999 and was unconditionally certified by the NCAA.
The certification program’s purpose is to help ensure integrity in the institution’s athletics operations by setting standards for the operation of athletics programs and providing sanctions for institutions that fail to address issues within their programs.
“The self study is meant to open up the athletic department to review by the rest of the campus community,” said Jon Whitmore, president of Texas Tech University. “I have every confidence that while we may find areas in which we can improve, our athletic department as a whole runs very well.”
Provost William Marcy is serving as the steering committee’s chairman. The committee consists of Whitmore; Scott Dueser, chairman of the Texas Tech University Board of Regents; faculty; staff; students and alumni as well as athletics department personnel.
Each area studied by the committee has a set of standards, called operating principles, which were adopted by the NCAA and are used to evaluate all Division I members. Preliminary reports from the 3 subcommittees participating in the study have been completed and were posted on the Texas Tech University Webpage at http://www.ttu.edu/administration/president/ncaa/. Members of the Texas Tech community as well as the community at large had the opportunity to read the draft reports and make suggestions on the site, beginning February 6 through April 30th. The report entitled NCAA Self Study Report April 30, 2008 (Final) represents the work of the Steering Committee and Subcommittee members as well as the comments and recommendations received from the public.
The subcommittees are composed of Texas Tech faculty, staff and students who have worked on the draft reports since summer 2007. Once the entire self-study report is complete, a peer review panel made up of officials from other Division I universities will visit the Texas Tech campus. After the review panel submits a report, the university is granted athletics certification by the NCAA. The certification from 1998 is currently valid.
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Steering Committee and Subcommittee Members
This is the full list of appointed self-study steering committee and subcommittee members.
Steering Committee Members
| Chair | Bill Marcy, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs |
| President, TTU | Jon Whitmore, President |
| Faculty Athletics Representative | Robert Baker, Horn Professor, Biological Sciences |
| Director of Athletics | Gerald Myers, Athletic Director |
| Senior Woman Administrator | Judi Henry, Senior Associate Director, Athletics |
| Governance Subcommittee Chair | Brian Shannon, Professor, Law School |
| Academic Integrity Subcommittee Chair | Mary Jane Hurst, Office of the President and Professor, English |
| Equity & Well-being Subcommittee Chair | Sam Medina, District Court Judge, Instructor, Law School |
| Institutional Liaison | Ronald Phillips, Chief of Staff, Office of the President |
| Chief Report Writer | Elizabeth Hall Burns, Senior Vice Provost |
| Board of Regents Representative | F. Scott Dueser |
| Alumni Representative | Rex Isom, Representative, Texas Tech Alumni Association |
| Student Representative | Mason Moses, President, Student Government Association (SGA) |
| Coach | Greg Sands, Head Coach, Men’s Golf |
| Big 12 Conference Representative | Lori Ebihara, Assistant Commissioner, Governance & Compliance |
| Athletics Resource Person | Craig Wells, Senior Associate Director, Athletics |
Governance and Rules Compliance Subcommittee Members
| Chair | Brian Shannon, Professor, Law School |
| Faculty Athletics Representative | Robert Baker, Horn Professor, Biological Sciences |
| Athletics Compliance Officer Athletics Resource Person |
Jennifer Brashear, Associate Athletics Director, Compliance |
| Student Athlete Advisory Council | Montana Patin, Women’s Softball |
| Coach | Tim Siegal, Head Coach, Men’s Tennis |
| Legal Counsel | Victor Mellinger, Office of General Counsel |
| Athletic Council Chair | Herschel Mann, Professor, Rawls College of Business |
| Athletics Council | Larry Gill, TTU Alumnus |
| Athletics Council and Faculty | Eduardo Segarra, Chair, Agricultural Applied Economics |
| Registrar’s Office | Paula Hunter, Assistant Registrar |
| Athletic Administration | Craig Wells, Senior Associate Director, Athletics |
| Faculty Representative | Walt Huffman, Professor and Dean, Law School |
| Faculty Representative | Gary Elbow, Professor and Associate Dean, Honors College |
Academic Integrity Subcommittee
| Chair | Mary Jane Hurst, Professor, English |
| Provost Office Representative | Tibor Nagy, Vice Provost, International Affairs |
| Athletics Department | Steve Uryasz, Senior Associate Director, Development |
| Athletics Department Athletics Resource Person |
John Anderson, Associate Academic Director |
| Athletics Department | Amanda Banks, Senior Academic Counselor |
| Community Athletics and Athletics Council | Melyn Hunt, Member, Lubbock Independent School District Athletic Council |
| Coach | Stacy Totman, Head Coach, Women’s Golf |
| Student Athlete | Brian Duncan, Football |
| Student Athlete Advisory Council | Chris Olson, Football |
| Dean and Faculty | Linda Hoover, Professor and Dean, Human Sciences |
| Faculty Senate President | Gene Wilde, Associate Professor, Biological Sciences |
| Faculty Representative | James L. Smith, Professor, Industrial Engineering |
| Faculty Representative | Leslie Thompson, Professor, Animal & Food Sciences |
| Office of the Registrar | Don Wickard, Registrar |
Equity and Well-being Subcommittee
| Chair | Sam Medina, District Court Judge, Athletic Council Member |
| Athletic Council | Aretha Marbley, Associate Professor, Education |
| Athletics Council | Robert Bradley, Professor, Biological Sciences |
| Athletics Resource Person | Judi Henry, Senior Associate Director, Athletics |
| Coach | Kristy Curry, Head Coach, Women’s Basketball |
| Student Athlete Advisory Council | Erin Myrick, Women’s Basketball |
| Student Athlete Advisory Council | Garrett Merrell, Men’s Golf |
| Dean and Student Affairs | Greg Elkins, Dean of Students |
| Athletics Department | Steve Downing, Senior Associate Director |
| Athletics Department | Amy McBride, Development Officer |
| Athletics Department | Brenda Martinez, Life Skills Coordinator |
| Athletics Department | Ken Murray, Senior Associate Director, Sports Medicine |
| Faculty | Martha Smithey, Associate Professor, Sociology, Anthropology, & Social Work |
| Institutional Diversity | Juan Munoz, Special Assistant to the President for Institutional Diversity |