INTERCOLLEGIATE
ATHLETICS
MISSION STATEMENT
The primary mission of Northern Kentucky University's intercollegiate athletics
program is to provide a natural extension of secondary school programs, offering
skilled student-athletes the opportunity to continue their educational and athletic
experiences beyond high school. The program will function at a level and in
a manner that project a positive image for the University in the community.
Membership in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II and Great
Lakes Valley Conference, and adherence to the governing philosophies and regulations
of these bodies, provide a framework for implementing this mission statement.
INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS
ENDURING GOALS
In its activities and programs, the NKU Intercollegiate Athletics program will
strive:
1. To insure student-athletes have a positive academic and athletic experience
that provides further development of athletic skills, personal mental and social
growth, and in some instances, possible career preparation. The Athletics Department
shall be constantly aware of the primacy of the academic over the athletic and
shall do all it can to urge student-athletes to attain a meaningful education
culminating in the attainment of their degree.
2. To become a premiere NCAA Division II athletics program in all sports sponsored.
The Athletics Department shall aim at observing and fulfilling the objectives
and regulations of the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) and the National
Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Athletics Department will aim to
be consistently competitive within the GLVC and the NCAA Division II.
3. To be guided by the United States federal government’s Title IX of
the Education Amendments of 1972 and the principles of gender equity that insures
equal opportunity for all students and to provide equal opportunities in employment
within the athletics staff.
4. To continue to strengthen the fund raising capabilities to improve the overall
operation and insure the overall growth of the program. The Athletics Department
is committed to improve the funding of all sports programs with resources from
organized fund-raising activities of the Norse Athletics Club.
5. To provide the main athletic complexes in the northern Kentucky region for
hosting Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) regional, sectional,
and state competitions; United States Olympics events; GLVC conference championships;
and, NCAA regional and national competitions.
6. To be cognizant that the intercollegiate athletics program endeavors are
not ends in themselves but are directed to the benefit of each student-athlete
as a total person in particular and to the good of the University as a whole.
7. To project a positive image of the University within the northern Kentucky
community and the surrounding region.
INTERCOLLEGIATE
ATHLETICS
PHILOSOPHY
Northern Kentucky University's intercollegiate athletic program is a natural
extension of secondary school programs, offering skilled student-athletes the
opportunity to continue their development beyond high school, just as the University
provides such opportunities in other ancillary and extracurricular activities.
Such opportunities are consistent with the University's principal mission of
providing academic opportunities, and also with public expectations.
The University believes that athletics should be an educational experience rather
than an economic venture and it will continue to develop policies and seek personnel
to advance this philosophy. The overall educational experience of the individual
athlete is our highest priority in the sense that the University will not allow
other possible aims of the athletic program to subvert the benefits to student-athletes.
Given that the athlete's academic career is our first concern, we nevertheless
recognize the important contributions that athletic competition can make to
the individual participants. These contributions should include:
The further development of athletic skill. In this sense Intercollegiate athletics
are an extension
of physical education, recreational play, and interscholastic competition.
The personal growth, notably in the areas of confidence, a sense of personal
worth, a healthy competitive spirit, social presence, cooperative behavior,
discipline and responsibility. In this sense intercollegiate athletics share
the values of all campus extracurricular activities.
The opportunity for close learning and personal relation-ships with a coach-teacher.
In this sense athletics can be comparable to the best student-teacher relationships
and are consistent with the teaching mission of the university.
For a few students, possible career preparation, most probably not as professional
athletes but more likely as coaches or teachers, paid or volunteer. In this
sense athletics are consistent with the University's mission of career preparation,
an important consideration in a sports-conscious society.
The University's intercollegiate athletics program will provide an environment
where student-athletes can benefit thus from participation. The program will
provide competitive opportunities governed by principles of fair play and amateur
competition and a concern for the physical well being of the participants. The
program will function at a level and in a manner that project a positive image
for the University in the community. Membership in Division II of the NCAA and
the Great Lakes Valley Conference, and adherence to the governing philosophies
and regulations of these bodies, provide a framework for implementing this philosophy
of NKU's intercollegiate athletic program.