by Rn T.Com
Shorter?s Josh Hines returns an interception for a touchdown as Tray Malone blocks during a game earlier this season. (File photo, Ryan Smith / RN-T.com)
slideshow The Hawks are officially one step closer to NCAA Division II membership.Shorter University received word from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) that it has successfully completed Candidacy Year 1 in the association?s Division II membership process and is now in Candidacy Year 2.
University President Dr. Don Dowless and Director of Athletics Bill Peterson were notified in a conference call with the NCAA early Friday morning.
?We are very excited about this achievement and moving on to the next stage in the NCAA Division II membership process,? said Peterson. "This is a great day for Shorter University and for our athletic department."
The membership process is a three-year process and Shorter, now one-third of the way through the progression, is on pace to gain active membership status by the 2014-15 academic year.
Shorter will begin its first full NCAA Division II schedule this year as Second-Year Candidacy members of the Gulf South Conference. Though it will not be eligible to compete for NCAA national championships until it completes the membership process and gains active member status, Shorter will play a full GSC schedule in all 14 conference sponsored sports and will count in regular season standings.
Shorter will compete against such GSC members as Valdosta State, West Georgia, Alabama-Huntsville, North Alabama, West Alabama, Delta State and West Florida, among others.
?Our participation in the Gulf South Conference is one of the most exciting aspects of our move to the NCAA,? Peterson said. "The GSC is the SEC of NCAA Division II so we will have our work cut out for us. That said, I know that our coaches and our student-athletes are looking forward to the challenge."
The NCAA approved Shorter?s move from Candidacy Year 1 to Candidacy Year 2 after reviewing over 1,200 pages of material submitted to the association by the university and its Department of Athletics as part of the membership process? annual review procedure.
In a yearlong process spearheaded by Senior Associate Athletic Director for Compliance Dr. Richard Cowan, Senior Associate Athletic Director Matt Green and Senior Woman Administrator Rachel Rogers, Shorter completed an 1,104-page Annual Report and Institutional Self-Study Guide, created the institution?s first Compliance Manual and Student-Athlete Handbook and reconstructed the Department of Athletics? 30-page Strategic Plan that outlines specific goals and objectives of the Department through the year 2015.
?I just cannot say enough about the fine job done by Dr. Richard Cowan, Matt Green and Rachel Rogers in leading this process,? said Peterson. "They are a special group of people that worked very hard to make this happen. We salute their efforts."
With the addition of Shorter and Union University out of Jackson, Tenn., the Gulf South Conference now has 10 members. The GSC extended an invitation to Shorter?s longtime Southern States Athletic Conference rival Lee University pending its acceptance into the NCAA Division II membership process and will welcome Florida Tech as a football only member in 2013.
Shorter completed its final year in the NAIA with its best in program history.
The Hawks finished No. 2 in the Learfield Sports Directors? Cup ? Shorter?s second straight top three finish ? on the shoulders of two more national championships, one in men?s outdoor track and another in softball. The Directors? Cup finish is the highest of any athletic program in the state of Georgia.
Since 2008, Shorter has compiled eight team national championships ? four in the NAIA and four in competitive cheerleading through NCA ? and 19 individual national championships. In addition to back-to-back top three Directors? Cup finishes, Shorter has also seen its coaches receive National Coach of the Year honors on five different occasions.
Click here to read additional press releases on RN-T.com.
Source: http://romenews-tribune.com/bookmark/19310334
halftime show 2012 kelly clarkson super bowl 2012 giants ny giants
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.