Important Dates

August 1, 2023

The 2023-24 NAIA Official & Policy Handbook will be available. Members will receive an email notification with a link to the updated handbook.

September 15, 2023

Deadline for Collegiate Student-Athlete of Character nomination. (See details below.)

REMINDER:

As you prepare for the 2023-24 academic year, please login to NAIAHelp and make sure your institution's information is up-to-date. The national office uses NAIAHelp for member communications and accounting purposes, so it's important that this information is correct. Thank you!

News

Dr. Amy Novak Named New COP Chair

Dr. Amy Novak, St. Ambrose University president, was elected as the new chair for the Council of Presidents (COP) and began her term this month. Dr. Novak has been the president of St. Ambrose since August 2021 and served on the NAIA's COP Board for seven years. During that time, she served as an initial member of the Return on Athletics^® Advisory Board and has been on the COP Executive Committee for five years. Prior to joining St. Ambrose, Dr. Novak was the president of Dakota Wesleyan University (DWU) in Mitchell, South Dakota from 2013-2021.

The Room: Leadership Principles

Do you facilitate your campus Association for Student-Athletes or SAAC group? Or maybe you want to help student-athletes continue to grow in their leadership development? If so, The Room is for you. The Room is a leadership speaker series specifically for NAIA student-athletes. Join NAIA staff and our partners at Catalyst Development for a conversation on how to utilize The Room's leadership principles to help your student-athletes on their leadership journey. We’ll cover the LEADERs (Lead, Engage, Accept, Develop, Effective, Resilient) philosophy, facilitator resources, and best practices.

The next discussion session will be held on:

Tuesday, August 1 at 2 p.m. Central.

Zoom Link

Meeting ID: 835 0562 7995

Collegiate Student-Athlete of Character Nomination

The NAIA is seeking nominations for the Collegiate Student-Athlete of Character Award. This award recognizes a student-athlete for a specific of act of character displayed during competition or practice which reflects at least one of the five Champions of Character® core values. Teams are eligible to be nominated for this award. One overall winner will be chosen and recognized at the 2023 Champions of Character Foundation Luncheon in November. The deadline submission is September 15.

Legislative Services

Rules Education - New PowerPoints and Quizzes Added

Two more rules education PPTs & quizzes have been added to the Rules Ed tab on the Rules Education webpage:

Basics of Eligibility 102: Definitions!

Stay in the Game! Continuing Eligibility Rules Ed + Quiz

Members can take these quizzes on our Rules Ed page and the score will be immediately reported to the person taking the quiz. You may also contact Legislative Services for the scores of all your staff members. 

ACAA Webpage

Members of the Athletics Compliance Administrator Association are updating the ACAA webpage to make it a valuable resource for all NAIA compliance members. As the upcoming academic year approaches, keep an eye out for additions to this page as it will include informative compliance discussions and materials that all NAIA institutions will be able to utilize on their campuses. 

If you would like to schedule a meeting with either Brenda or Morgan to discuss ECP or eligibility questions, please utilize the links below:



• Schedule a meeting with Brenda
• Schedule a meeting with Morgan

ECP Certification Open

The Eligibility Certification Process (ECP) is now live and ready for members to start certifying for the Fall 2023 term. Multiple updates were passed at the convention in April, the details of which can be found here.

Return on Athletics^®

ROA Data Collection

Data collection for the ROA year-end report is open for submissions. Resources are available both inside the ROA Insights tool and on NAIA.org. Annual submissions are due December 1.

Are you new to ROA data collection, need a refresh, or just have a question? Schedule a one-on-one demo or call with ROA Director Alan Grosbach.

Did You Know?

Did you know that women’s wrestling is the fastest growing sport in the NAIA? Since 2019, women’s wrestling participation has increased 72%. What’s the fastest growing sport at your institution? Login to ROA Insights to check it out. 

Partners

New Partnership with TEL Education

TEL Education is now the Official Provider of College Courses for Eligibility and Retention of the NAIA. The initial agreement will run through June 2026. TEL Education is excited to help support NAIA institutions and their student-athletes with accessible online courses, fostering student retention and keeping student-athletes eligible. Read more about the partnership with TEL Education here.

Newcastle University to bring graduate program and athletic opportunities beyond the US

The NAIA has partnered with Newcastle University as the Official International Athletics Graduate Program of the NAIA. The agreement will span three years. Newcastle University will offer several graduate programs at the Master’s and PhD level, as well as opportunities for recently graduated NAIA student-athletes to continuing playing sports through their own leagues.  

Eligibility

July Eligibility Edge

Check out the most recent issue of the Eligibility Edge, a newsletter dedicated exclusively to NAIA eligibility topics. For questions regarding newsletter distribution or to add someone to the email list before the May issue, please contact Jen Saab.