INDIANAPOLIS --- At the opening of the 30th National Conference on Academic Advising, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) will announce a partnership to further student-athlete development and academic success, with the goal of supporting recent NCAA academic reform efforts. Both NCAA President Myles Brand and NACADA President Jo Anne Huber will share the stage on Thursday, October 19, 2006 at the Indiana Convention Center and the Westin hotel to announce the agreement.

The partnership aligns with NCAA’s continued academic reform efforts and will add both an in-person institute and an online course for universities across the nation to the robust NACADA library of academic advising resources. The partnership will provide a unique opportunity to encourage collaboration between athletics and non-athletics campus administrators and faculty in best practices for the integration of student learning and academic advising with NCAA policies and rules to ensure student-athlete success.

“The NCAA and NACADA share an interest in ensuring academic success for collegiate students. Just as strengthening the intercollegiate athletics connection with higher education is an ongoing goal of the NCAA and its member institutions, engaging campus academic advisors and personnel outside the athletics department is another important part of academic reform,” Brand said. 

The partnership will first be shared with NACADA members during its four-day annual convention. The gathering of over 2600 will feature prominent figures in higher education and include more than 300 sessions dedicated to academic advising within higher education.

 “The NCAA partnership supports the mission of our association as we strive to enhance the educational development of all students and to provide opportunities for faculty and staff within higher education to apply the principles of student learning and academic advising,” Huber said.

About the NCAA

The NCAA is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletic opportunities for more than 360,000 student-athletes at more than 1,000 member colleges and universities. The NCAA continually strives to ensure that academic success is a primary goal of intercollegiate athletics and has instituted a number of academic reform initiatives to encourage improved academic performance and progress toward graduation for all student-athletes. For more information, go to www.ncaa.org.  Additional information on NCAA academic reform efforts can be found at http://www.2.ncaa.org/portal/academics_and_athletes/education_and_research/academic_reform/index.html.

About NACADA

NACADA is an association of professional advisors, counselors, faculty, administrators and students working to enhance the educational development of students. The Association was established in 1979 and now has over 9,200 members representing every state, Canada, Puerto Rico and several other countries. It is NACADA’s mission to affirm the role of academic advising in student success and persistence; anticipate the academic advising needs of twenty-first century students, advisors and institutions;  and advance the body of knowledge on academic advising. Further information is available at http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/