Important Dates

August 15, 2023

Tune in to the NAIA social media accounts for the announcement of all Champions of Character^® Five-Star Award Winners. You won't want to miss this special reveal!

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

NAIA Connect: New Technology Platform Coming Spring 2024

We are excited to announce that the NAIA is moving from NAIAHelp to NAIA Connect as our primary technology platform over the next 12 months. While NAIAHelp has served the association well for 17 years, that technology will no longer be supported and NAIA Connect, which is supported by Salesforce, will be a more modern and functional platform.

Benefits to NAIA Connect for members include:

• More transparent processes and data
• Consistent look and feel across all applications
• A more digital-based system instead of a paper-based system

We understand that change can be challenging, especially when it comes to technology. But rest assured, there will be extensive training opportunities and resources for members. From in-person training at the 2024 National Convention to videos to individual process documents, we will make sure you are comfortable using NAIA Connect to conduct business with the NAIA.

While there is no specific action needed from members at this time, it would be helpful to double-check the accuracy of you institution's information in NAIAHelp. That data is what will be used when NAIA Connect goes live next spring. We will continue to send more details as we progress through the implementation process.

Job Openings at the NAIA National Office

The NAIA national office currently has three job openings, all based in Kansas City, Mo. They include:



• Coordinator of Student-Athlete Experience and Development
• Team Lead of International Eligibility
• Coordinator of Membership Value and Retention



You can find all three job descriptions, as well as more about the perks and benefits of working for the NAIA, on our Working at the NAIA webpage.

Career Center Survey

With all the channels available to post job positions, job boards continue to produce the most applicants. More than half of job seekers use job boards as part of their career search. Knowing this, our goal is to make the NAIA Career Center job board an effective way for our members to hire qualified personnel and build a talent pipeline for your athletic department positions. 

Please take a few minutes and complete our survey, telling us what is most important to you when hiring for your athletic department. In exchange for your time, your name will be placed in a drawing for two free job postings on the NAIA Career Center.  

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

Updated 2023-24 Forms Available Online

Legislative Services has updated the online forms and legislative processes pages for the 2023-2024 academic year. Among these resources, you will find how-to information and forms for requesting an exception, reporting a violation, appeal processes, amongst others. Additionally, paper forms found in ECP are also made available such as the Transfer Player Eligibility Statement and the Outside Competitive Experience form. 

Athletics Communications

Did You Know?

• There is a dedicated Presto Sports help site specifically for NAIA members to get one-on-one support, access to the Presto Sports support ticketing system and an emergency text line for your Presto Stats issues on gameday. Make sure to bookmark the webpage to connect on all of your Presto support questions.

• The NAIA Athletics Communications team has an SID-specific calendar with important dates and deadlines. You can view and/or download the calendar for the upcoming year, so you never miss a deadline.

NAIA RISE

Senior Woman Leaders Lunch and Learn Today

Topic: Champions of Character^® 

When: Wednesday, August 9 at Noon (CT)

Lunch and Learn Link

Meeting ID: 890 1408 5050 | Passcode: 947096

Join Nik Rule, athletics director at William Penn University, today at noon (CT) to better understand how Champions of Character^® can help institutions with recruitment and retention. He will also discuss improvements coming to the Champions of Character program that will take place in the coming year.

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.

Partners

FieldTurf: At The Surface of a Positive Change for Colleges, Universities & Communities

Did you know that one artificial turf field saves an estimated two million gallons of water annually compared to a natural grass field? Along with water conservation, FieldTurf, through its sustainability program, Sustain The Game, is focused on making a real difference. With industry-leading infill reuse solutions, a carbon offset program, exclusive carpet recycling technology, and circular product design, FieldTurf is building for tomorrow. When AMB Sports & Entertainment embarked on replacing the surface at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in 2022, they trusted FieldTurf to ensure all components of the field avoided being sent to landfills in the replacement of the surface. Learn more here.

Check out the NAIA’s Ring Partners

As you prepare for the 2023-24 year, make sure to check out the NAIA's three preferred ring vendors - Baron Rings, Herff Jones, and Signature Rings that are the “Official Licensed Suppliers of Recognition Rings of the NAIA.” Each of the three companies has extensive experience in providing custom, championship rings for both collegiate and professional athletics. 

Eligibility

August 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 September issue, please contact Jen Saab.