Dec. 22, 2008

Ask the AD

(Issue 1 - December 2008)

Hello Fellow Eagles!

I am excited to introduce to you our newest addition to our efforts to keep our fans and supporters well-informed about your Athletics Department, we bring you... "Ask the AD." This post will provide our fans the opportunity to ask me questions related to our athletics program. Quarterly, questions will be picked from your inquiries and answered on our website.

As we move to Division I, I'm sure you all have plenty of questions. In my effort to keep you posted and understand more about a Division I athletics program, this is one of many ways we will ensure that you, our fans and supporters, have information to be the best advocates of the NCCU Athletics program.

Please send your questions to Kyle Serba at kserba@nccu.edu . Please remember, you can always call me or any of our athletics staff (including coaches), if you have questions regarding your athletics program.

Why do we have such a rigorous basketball travel schedule? Regina, Raleigh, N.C.

I am so happy someone has finally asked this question. Due to our independent status right now, it is very difficult to schedule with teams who are conference members. If you notice that most schools start conference competition the beginning of January, thus the number of available dates these schools will have for non-conference games decreases significantly. Thus, we are left with very few open dates to schedule later in the season. Hence, all of our travel and the bulk of our schedule occurs during the months of November - January. Once we have been accepted for membership into a conference, our travel schedule will decrease.

With the rigorous travel schedule that our student-athletes have to endure, what type of academic support programs are in place to ensure academic success? David, Richmond, Va.

This is one area for which we have placed priority emphasis, academic support. This year we hired the first full-time Director of Student-Athlete Services, Mr. Anthony Bennett. He is responsible for overseeing our student-athletes' academic progress. He has regularly-scheduled meetings with each student-athlete, and in particular our freshmen/new student-athletes. Mr. Bennett has been establishing a great relationship with the NCCU Academic community as well. Mr. Bennett has been at Duke University, Tulane University, and University of Dayton, and brings a wealth of experience in the areas of student success and performance. Additionally, all of our sports teams have access to laptop computers to utilize when traveling and academic staff are assigned to teams when traveling overnight. We have also extended an opportunity to our faculty to travel as well, to provide academic assistance to our student-athletes. Our coaches also conduct random class checks each week to ensure that our student-athletes are attending classes. With the increased Division I academic requirements, we are placing academic support at the top of our list as the first priority for our student-athletes is to obtain a degree.

The funds generated from your donations are first always applied to athletic scholarships. We have approximately 36 student-athletes whose scholarships are paid through fundraised dollars, thus this is always a priority. We have several donors who earmark their funds for a particular sport or unit in Athletics. Each sport has a foundation account as well as athletic marketing, strength and conditioning, sports information, and many others. In order for us to meet our scholarship commitments, the head coaches decided that 15% of any donation to their particular account is designated also for athletic scholarships. There are other accounts such as the Athletic Enhancement account for general operational activities, like hosting receptions for our donors, faculty, staff, and sponsors.

Where are we in the NCAA Division I transition process? John, Lithonia, Ga.

We are in the third year of the transitional process. This year we completed the required NCAA compliance review and will attend the NCAA National Convention in Washington, D.C. Next year we will start the Division I Certification process. This process will conclude in the final year, when the NCAA will send a certification team for the final review. This is the most important step in the transition process. This will determine whether or not we gain full Division I FCS membership in 2011-2012. In the meantime, each year we have to update our strategic plan and submit an annual report which details our scholarship allotments per sport.

Ingrid Wicker-McCree, Ed.D., Director of Athletics