Reduction of Paperwork Key to Texas Christian University Compliance Efficiency
It’s July 20th, and Andrea Nordmann, Texas Christian University’s Associate Athletics Director for Compliance, is preparing the required student-athlete participation forms for the 2009-10 academic year. Only this year, she is not spending her time at the copier preparing hundreds of packets of tedious and time-consuming paperwork. The reason: TCU uses a Web-based software program from a company called ACS Athletics, which allows her to administer the student-athlete forms electronically. “It’s great,” Nordmann says. “Not only does it reduce the volumes of paper previously needed, we reduce student-athlete meetings by at least 40 minutes, and time is money.” Prior to having the ability to administer the forms electronically, much of the time during each sport meeting was spent on actually completing the forms. Now, Nordmann says, more time is available to educate student-athletes on NCAA, Conference and TCU policies.
In addition to saving time and trees, Nordmann indicated the ability to extract information from electronically filed student-athlete forms allows the compliance office to operate much more efficiently. “We now have the ability to identify and analyze information almost immediately, which previously took tons of time and energy,” Nordmann says. “It has made the difference between simply collecting and storing information, and the ability to analyze and monitor student-athlete responses via the ACS Athletics reporting features.”
In addition to electronic administration of student-athlete paperwork, the ACS Athletics program has allowed TCU to go virtually paperless in the area of recruiting. Nordmann indicated that prior to implementing the software, coaches were required to submit monthly recruiting telephone logs and contact and evaluation summaries on a monthly basis. Once received, the compliance staff would have to review the logs and attempt to track activities associated with each prospective student-athlete. “It was nearly an impossible task,” Nordmann says. “Trying to keep track of the number of recruiting activities for each prospect using only (hand-written or typed) forms was difficult to monitor. The ACS program allows me access to individual prospect recruiting summaries, so I know when, where, who and how many, at all times.”
When asked what prompted the institution to implement such a program, Nordmann indicated that two recent NCAA major infractions cases were the catalyst. “When you compare the cost of defending a case, with attorney fees, person hours, etc., it made sense to invest in a program that will assist in meeting the NCAA Committee on Infractions expectation to monitor your athletics programs.”