Asia Presentations

Florida International University (FIU) leveraged, delivered and customized functionality to create an automated NCAA certification system to support its student athletes. Learn how FIU transitioned from a paper-intensive NCAA certification process to a “World’s Ahead” automated system. FIU developed customized user-friendly eForms that utilize delivered workflow involving advisors, coordinators, registrar and NCAA compliance officers. Each level of review sees real-time data to evaluate. System edits help ensure entered data meets NCAA and FIU requirements. The transparency of workflow improves accountability between advisors and certifying officers. Security roles limit the data that may be entered at each level while still allowing users to see the basis for certification decisions.

Values from all forms feed into others as the process progresses. The components of the system include:

• Athletic Participation Page where students are coded as athletes and basic information such as amateur status is maintained
• Prior to Term Credits (PTC) form for incoming transfer student-athletes includes transfer GPA and NCAA transfer type
• Progress Toward Degree (PTD) form displays real-time enrollment by term, applicable to degree and minimum grade requirements and more
• Application for Satisfactory Academic Progress Form ( ASAP) is used by the Office of the Registrar to certify the student-athlete meets NCAA criteria by term
• Compliance Worksheet is used to collect the data from all of these forms when submitting to Conference USA for certification.
• Automated processes including email notifications and identify change of majors and re-routing forms to new workflow as necessary.

These eForms utilize workflow functionality and were developed in the existing student record system (PeopleSoft). The new eForm process has: saved time for all parties involved with added features such as email notifications and reminders; improved accuracy by assuring the data is always fresh; creating accountability by building an action history of who, what, when and why; and allowing for transparency with all users with security access the ability to always view the form(s) in read-only access at any given point in the work flow.
In this presentation, I will illustrate solutions to the challenges related to the athletic certification process, including improved communication between involved parties, greater understanding of NCAA regulations by the advising community, and enhanced availability of athletic data for various reports.