With ACS InControl^TM, UTC will give coaches in all sports the tools to operate more efficiently and effectively in the recruiting process.  Coaches will be able to brand their sports programs through email and letter writing campaigns, better organize recruiting information and streamline compliance reporting activities.  Further, the compliance staff will greatly reduce the amount of paper used as a result of online submission of recruiting activities, CARA logs and student-athlete forms.  The department will now have one central location for sport rosters and other critical recruiting and student-athlete information, resulting in better communication, quicker decision-making and, ultimately, better serve the Mocs’ student-athletes.

“We are excited about partnering with ACS,” stated UTC Director of Athletics, Rick Hart.  “Their services will assist us to provide guidance to the entire University of Tennessee at Chattanooga community with regard to the rules, regulations and standards which mandate integrity and fair play in all our affairs.”

Understanding the need to have more control over current processes, such as monitoring and record keeping, and centralizing student-athlete information played a key role in UTC taking a proactive approach in addressing these issues.  ACS Athletics shares this philosophy, creating a solid foundation for a successful, long-term partnership.

ACS Athletics is the only company that provides all of these services in one integrated platform, ACS InControl^TM, which allows coaches, administrators and student-athletes to be more successful.  For more information on this proven, battle-tested technology solution, please contact ACS Athletics at (800) 343-6220 or sales@acsathletics.com.

“We are thrilled as a department to be able to move toward a more efficient and collaborative approach to maintaining institutional control at the highest level,” said Alicia Alford, Senior Associate Athletics Director for Compliance.  “It is great to have all areas of the department on one system, working with one roster that is generated through the compliance office!  We were already utilizing the ACS equipment software, so now we are even more streamlined as a department with nearly all the facets of our program being housed under one system.”

With so many moving parts and the desire to maximize efficiency, Sacred Heart University chose to move away from products that provide a solution for only one area and instead approach the challenge from a broader perspective.  In this manner, ACS Athletics will help the athletics department solve multiple challenges, such as managing recruiting and student-athlete records, sending branded email campaigns and automating compliance monitoring, with one holistic solution.

ACS InControl^TM is a bundled product that features a rapid, easy to adopt training and implementation program. The implementation timeline is typically 30-60 days, allowing customers like Sacred Heart to quickly see a return on investment through improved operational performance, enhanced recruiting capabilities and increased compliance monitoring.   Sacred Heart University released their first web-based student-athlete forms with ACS InControl^TM within two weeks of starting their implementation!

“In addition, the ACS staff was quick to adapt to our unique department needs when it came to moving forward in the implementation process,” Alford said.  “With 31 varsity programs that consist of both part-time and full-time staff members and nearly 800 student-athletes, the service provided by the implementation team has been top-notch for training our staff about the ins and outs of such a complex and efficient software program. We now have the ability to track and audit recruiting and compliance activities in real-time.    Even coaches that were not very computer savvy are finding the many advantages to the recruiting portal for the ACS system.  Getting coaches excited about tracking their recruiting activities is not an easy task on most campuses!”

If you have an interest in exploring how ACS Athletics can help your program through the implementation of a proven, battle-tested product, please contact us at sales@acsathletics.com or (800) 343-6220 x302.

“ACS is the total package,” said Chad Jackson, Associate Athletics Director for Compliance. “We reviewed several other service providers, but none matched the overall product that ACS has generated. Beyond that, the ACS sales team was patient with our questions and diligent in providing the resolution we needed to solidify our decision to join the ACS team.”

The InControl^TM system will provide UAB coaches with industry-leading recruiting tools such as email campaign management, initial-eligibility tracking, recruiting activity logging functions, depth chart features and much, much more.  In addition, all UAB student-athlete information will be centrally located and integrated with departments across campus involved in managing student-athlete information.  This will assist in streamlining operations, providing a heightened level of institutional control and monitoring.

Like many institutions that have not yet taken a holistic approach in implementing a technology solution, the UAB leadership realized many of its paper and manually-driven processes could not maintain the pace at which an athletics department in today’s environment is expected to operate.  Increasing costs and overhead due to inefficiency, and a commitment to improve the management and oversight of student-athlete and compliance information, led UAB to partner with ACS to take a more integrated, paperless approach.

“We have been proud of the ‘home made compliance system’ created over the years here at UAB,” Jackson said. “However, we recognized the need to remain on the cutting edge and provide our department the latest technology to enhance efficiency keeping up with the demands of today’s intercollegiate athletics world. President Carol Garrison and Athletics Director Brian Mackin were vital in supporting this move to ACS.”

ACS InControl^TM will have a profound effect on UAB operations across the department.  With greater efficiency, coaches and administrators will have more time to spend improving the student-athlete experience.  With a 30-45 day expected implementation, the UAB staff will quickly see the benefits and experience immediate results with this type of technology solution.

UAB joins fellow Conference USA members Southern Methodist University, the University of Houston, the University of Texas at El-Paso and the University of Memphis, as ACS Athletics customers using one or more components of the ACS InControl^TM software suite.

If you would like more information on ACS Athletics, please call (512) 343-8811 or send an email to sales@acsathletics.com.

“We are excited about the potential that ACS has for our coaching staffs,” said Amy Herman, Assistant Athletics Director for Compliance. “Not only does it offer our coaches a stellar recruiting tool, but it also gives them the ability to manage both their current team roster and their alumni and booster information.”

Managing the entire student-athlete life cycle was a critical aspect when it came to evaluating a potential technology solution, and the UNC coaches and staff felt that ACS Athletics provided the most comprehensive solution.

“It (ACS InControl^TM) truly spans the entire life cycle of student-athletes, from their first days as prospects, throughout their careers as student-athletes, and into the post-graduation phase, as continued supporters of the program,” Herman said. “We are eager to have the capabilities of the ACS system implemented across all 28 of our sport programs.”

By reducing much of the paper-driven, cumbersome and time-consuming processes that previously existed within the department, staff members will have more time to focus on the tasks each was originally hired to do; tasks such as coaching, educating, mentoring, and generally providing the most positive student-athlete experience attainable.  With InControl^TM, coaches are no longer required to submit paper recruiting logs to the compliance office and the system’s analytical capabilities greatly reduce the amount of time the Compliance staff spends monitoring recruiting activities.  Further, with online student-athlete forms and CARA logs, student-athlete information can be accessed quickly through the system, as opposed to sitting in a folder in a file cabinet.

“While these features alone make the program worthwhile, we are thrilled about the possibilities that ACS presents for our department’s support services and University as a whole,” Herman said. “The benefits of ‘going paperless’ with student-athlete forms and automating many aspects of rules monitoring is immeasurable in terms of the time that the Compliance staff will now have to focus  efforts in other areas.  Additionally, the ACS program provides our department with a common platform, accessible by all staff members, in which to store student-athlete data relevant to many departmental work functions.  With ACS in place, the possibilities and opportunities really are limitless!”

The ACS Athletics team is equally upbeat about the partnership with UNC Chapel Hill.  “The ACS Athletics staff is very excited that the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill has selected the ACS InControl^TM software to improve efficiency and effectiveness for the entire athletics department,” said Kevin Bresser, ACS Vice-President of Sales.  “We’re very proud to have institutions such as UNC Chapel Hill, with a long and rich history of both athletic and academic excellence, selecting ACS Athletics as a technology solution for all sports, as well as other critical areas that drive the student-athlete life cycle.”

If you would like more information, please contact sales@acsathletics.com or call (512) 343-8811.

ACS Athletics and GradesFirst are excited to announce the companies are collaborating to better service their mutual customers and provide an enhanced experience to collegiate athletics staff, coaches and academic advisors.   Details of the agreement are being finalized, but this partnership will provide additional value to institutions currently using the ACS Athletics InControl^TM software to manage the student-athlete life-cycle, as well as GradesFirst technology to manage and track student-athlete academic progress.  The partnership will allow systems integration of these two innovative software systems and give users greater control and access to critical student-athlete information.

“ACS Athletics has been fortunate to become the premier system within collegiate athletics to centralize student-athlete records and enhance communication among coaches and administrators with our department-wide notification tools,” said Kevin Bresser, VP Sales at ACS Athletics.  “We have also encouraged campuses to consider our product integration options to better connect InControl^TM with key administrative systems such as campus student information systems and CAi. We are pleased to respond to our customers’ requests to collaborate with GradesFirst to further consolidate information and increase access to critical student-athlete data.  GradesFirst is an exciting addition to our partnership channel due to the high-level of respect and customer satisfaction they have earned in the industry. This collaboration is a big win for coaches and athletics staff around the country.”

“As our partnership with ACS progresses, we look forward to providing even greater efficiencies to our customers,” said Mario Moore, CEO at GradesFirst.  “Making more student information available in GradesFirst enables us to continue our mission of improving the lives of academic advisors. Having integration with the ACS InControl system makes it easier for advisors to share information and communicate more easily with students, coaches and other athletic staff.”

To learn more about this groundbreaking relationship, please find representatives from ACS Athletics and GradesFirst at the NAAC Convention in Anaheim (June 21-22).   Questions may also be emailed to ACS Athletics at info@acsathletics.com or GradesFirst at sales@gradesfirst.com .

About ACS Athletics

ACS Athletics flagship product, ACS InControl™, centralizes document and information management in one system for the key operational areas that drive the Student-Athlete Lifecycle™, allowing stakeholders across an organization to see a holistic view of student-athlete records, recruiting, compliance monitoring, student-athlete forms, CARA logs, complimentary admissions, and much more.

About GradesFirst

GradesFirst is a leading web-based student support system that provides athletic advising departments an easy and efficient way to automate progress reports, study hall management, tutor management, attendance tracking, and reporting.  GradesFirst also improves communications between advisors, students, coaches, and faculty with tools like text messaging and automated email.  The school-branded Facebook application provides integration with the most popular social networking site; facilitating yet another method of student-athlete communication.  GradesFirst  works with athletic departments across the country to help advisors and coaches monitor the academic performance of their student-athletes so they can stay on the team and remain competitive.

To better service their customers and the athletics compliance community, ACS Athletics has contracted with The Compliance Group (TCG) – a leader in the NCAA compliance consulting business – to conduct a thorough review of the InControl^TM product suite.  InControl™ is a comprehensive student-athlete life cycle management software system comprised of integrated modules for managing student-athlete records, compliance monitoring, recruiting, equipment management, complimentary tickets, CARA logs, athletic forms and other key processes.

TCG’s review of the ACS InControl^TM software was intended to determine the likelihood that implementation of this system would assist in reducing both secondary and major violations of NCAA legislation on an institution’s campus.  The basis for this report was information provided to TCG staff by ACS during in-person presentations and interviews with experienced ACS Athletics customers.

“As a company, we have a responsibility to make sure our customers have the best solutions and services possible, and that they’re proactively positioned to meet compliance related challenges head on,” said Phillip Engle, CEO of ACS Athletics. “Due to its extensive experience in conducting on-campus compliance reviews and inquiries, we chose TCG to provide an independent and objective analysis of our product.  Contracting with TCG helps us maintain high performance standards and continue to deliver the types of proven solutions our collegiate customers have come to expect over the last seven years.”

To learn more about this extensive product review and how ACS Athletics can improve an athletics department’s compliance operations, you can find a member of the ACS Athletics team at the NCAA Regional Rules Seminar in Dallas (June 14-17) and the NAAC Convention in Anaheim (June 21-22).   A copy of this review may also be requested by emailing ACS Athletics at info@acsathletics.com or by calling (800) 343-6220 x302.

About ACS Athletics

ACS Athletics flagship product, ACS InControl™, centralizes document and information management in one system for the key operational areas that drive the Student-Athlete Lifecycle™, allowing stakeholders across an organization to see a holistic view of student-athlete records, recruiting, compliance monitoring, student-athlete forms, CARA logs, complimentary admissions, and much more.

About The Compliance Group

The Compliance Group, founded by former NCAA  Major Case Coordinator in 1999 Chuck Smrt, provides an array of quality and cost effective compliance services to intercollegiate athletics departments and conference offices. These include conducting a compliance review on behalf of conferences and institutions, and assisting NCAA members in major case processing, waivers, academic services reviews, strategic planning, etc.   TCG has assisted numerous Division I, II, and III institutions and conferences.  TCG personnel have extensive on-campus, conference, and NCAA national office experience in various capacities, including NCAA major infractions case coordinator, university general counsel, and director of compliance.

“In evaluating potential technology solutions, it became clear that ACS not only has the most product depth and substance, but the ACS staff also has the most experienced team in implementing these types of solutions,” said Brad Bertani, Tennessee Associate Athletics Director for Compliance. “Being able to organize the volumes of information we are required to keep on a day-to-day and year-to-year basis was a top priority,” Bertani said. “Having a system that integrates several key areas into one centralized location was our primary need, and ACS delivers the most proven solution.”

With ACS InControlTM, all sports on the Knoxville campus will have access to powerful recruiting tools, such as email tracking, reporting features, initial-eligibility evaluation and prospect record organization. The compliance staff will streamline operations via real-time analysis of recruiting activities, such as contacts, evaluations and telephone calls. Coaches will have the ability to enter recruiting activities into their mobile devices helping to avoid pesky violations with proactive alerts. Student-athletes will complete required paperwork and verify CARA logs through a secure student-athlete portal, greatly reducing time demands.

In addition to finding an organizational solution, Bertani was pleased to find a system that generated so much excitement among coaches. “With ACS, all of our sport programs will have access to a top-of-the-line recruiting system, which will allow them to maintain a competitive edge over other schools,” Bertani said. “Purchasing a product with this combination of recruiting and compliance tools was an easy decision.”

Finally, Bertani is already planning for the future by exploring customization options to meet specific needs within the Volunteer athletics program. “We’re very interested in exploring the custom workflow options, such as official visit approvals, for the future,” Bertani said. “The possibilities are really limitless, and going completely paperless is a realistic goal with this system.”

“The greatest benefit of the ACS software to our staff and student-athletes is that we can now centralize all of the information we collect from student-athletes and we can do that from the time they are prospects right through the length of their careers at Brown,” said Michael Goldberger, Director of Athletics at Brown University.  ”In the past, our staff was bound by inefficient, paper-driven processes which made us more vulnerable to violations and increased the time that both staff and student-athletes spent handling forms.  Now, not only will we improve the student-athlete experience by streamlining this process, but we will also have the data we collect in a usable format, instead of buried within filing cabinets and drawers.”

ACS InControl™ is the industry-leading student-athlete information management system that takes a holistic approach to solving the operational challenges facing athletics departments today.  InControl is a comprehensive, integrated system that simplifies processes and gives coaches and administrators better control of the data and day-to-day operations that drive the student-athlete life-cycle.  InControl helps with student-athlete forms, roster management, CARA logs, complimentary admissions, compliance monitoring, recruiting, and more.   Additionally, Brown has turned to ACS Athletics’ integrated equipment inventory tracking system to provide an increased level of transparency to the equipment on-hand, issued, and on order.   The equipment operations staff will be tied directly into the official rosters for the department, further eliminating duplicate lists and communication as everyday changes occur.

Brown is setting the pace among its peer institutions by adopting this holistic approach in managing its operations.  By bringing student-athlete information into one integrated platform, coaches and staff will have more time to spend coaching and mentoring student-athletes, producing a much more positive experience.  Brown coaches will be more efficient and effective in the recruiting process and gain that all-important edge in attracting the best and brightest talent.  The compliance staff will save significant time and energy by eliminating the piles of paper-based student-athlete forms and manual processes associated with collecting, data-entering, filing, and retrieving this information.   The department will have immediate access to this critical information to better analyze trends among their student-athletes and provide faster and enhanced service to each individual student-athlete.   Compliance will also save time by eliminating incomplete spot-checking of recruiting logs, as well as the collection of such logs from coaches, altogether.  Student-athletes will spend less time completing required paperwork and requesting complimentary admissions so that family and friends can attend competitions.

“With ACS, we have a complete system that is easy for student-athletes, coaches and administrators to use and will allow us to increase our monitoring efforts in a broad range of areas,” said Goldberger.  “Compliance staff will be able to automate certain functions, which will provide the ability to focus attention in other places. And our coaches will use the same tool for recruiting and team management functions, which simplifies their efforts as well.  In this economic climate, when budgets are tight and staff time is a resource that must be maximized, ACS InControl will allow us to reclaim precious minutes and devote that time to improving our programs in other ways.”

If your department’s efficiency and effectiveness is still handicapped by paper-trails, separate systems/spreadsheets and communication bottlenecks, you are at risk and have a competitive disadvantage.  Inaccessible, inaccurate information impedes decision making, slows response time and distracts key stakeholders, like coaches, from doing the jobs they were hired to do.  Adding more staff to shuffle paper, or purchasing software to tackle one area or issue, only perpetuates the problem and creates more costly overhead.

If you are serious about taking that next step to improving departmental operations, please contact ACS Athletics at (800) 343-6220 or via email at sales@acsathletics.com.

“After evaluating several potential technology solutions for TAMUCC, ACS Athletics offered the most comprehensive system available,” says Scott Lazenby, Associate Athletics Director for Compliance.  “We were also impressed by the depth of experience ACS possessed, having worked with some of the top programs in the country. The value associated with the ACS system is simply unmatched.”

TAMUCC has joined a growing list of institutions that are electing to solve challenges on a broader scale, noting the department-wide benefits of using a single software platform to manage the student-athlete life-cycle.  With InControl^TM, TAMUCC will retain an electronic record of every activity associated with each student-athlete from the time he or she completes an online questionnaire as a prospect, until graduation and beyond.  Not only will coaches and staff members have access to review this information as needed and in real time, but it will be accessible to generate reports and identify historical trends.  In addition, ACS InControl^TM will allow TAMUCC to meet or exceed industry standards in monitoring recruiting, playing and practice season logs, complimentary admissions and more.  Further, the equipment inventory management system will allow TAMUCC to have greater control over equipment ordering and distribution, resulting in significant costs savings.

“Speaking from a compliance perspective,” says Lazenby, “by choosing the InControl product suite, our two person compliance operation expanded to a four person operation without actually adding staff.  We were able to expand our compliance systems two-fold and increase effectiveness without increasing our workload.  On a broader scale, we feel InControl will produce similar results with all sport programs and other administrative areas.”

If your institution is interested in taking the next step and implementing a technology solution that will allow your program to move forward, please contact ACS Athletics at (512) 343-8811 or via email at sales@acsathletics.com.

“Based on the benefits of the software, specifically, reduction in time to complete the numerous forms that are required throughout the year, centralization of all student-athlete information, improved tracking of recruiting information, and improved ability to monitor, the proposal was ultimately approved by the Board of Regents,” Leonard said.  When asked what features of the ACS Athletics program were most attractive, Leonard noted the ability to centralize student-athlete information and forms, the capability to electronically route department forms for approval and/or signatures, and the ability to maintain the complimentary ticket database in a centralized location.

Once implemented, Leonard indicated that the ACS Athletics program enables the institution to monitor recruiting activity in a timelier manner and allows his staff to track recruiting telephone calls more accurately.  Further, Leonard said the program provides coaches the ability to easily log comments about each recruiting call (e.g., prospect did not answer the call, no message left); and it provides an online central area for all recruiting activities (e.g., phone calls, contacts, evaluations, official visits), thus eliminating the need to physically go to the coaching staffs each month to collect this information.

In addition to providing coaches with powerful recruiting software that streamlines the recruiting process, Leonard also envisioned creating a central location for all student-athlete information.  This information is collected from a variety of sources beginning with the student-athlete’s recruitment through graduation; otherwise known as the, “student-athlete life-cycle.”  Leonard said the compliance staff now has the ability to “push” the requested information to the student-athletes via electronic forms, which has greatly improved the efficiency of the process.  “The reporting function has vastly improved our ability to review and analyze the information gathered.  For example, instead of reviewing each vehicle form individually, we can isolate certain information within the form and run reports based on that information for all student-athletes,” Leonard said.

Finally, Leonard indicated that coaches have generally reacted positively to the implementation of the ACS Athletics program, which can sometimes prove to be challenging if certain coaches are accustomed to operating within a different paradigm.  In addition to the time saved from previously having to manually log all recruiting activities, coaches appreciate not having to maintain paper recruiting logs.  “Coaches have to understand the importance of compliance in their day to day activities,” Leonard said. “If a coach understands how important compliance is and how the coach will be the one in front of the COI (NCAA Committee on Infractions) if something negative occurs, the sale (of implementing a comprehensive technological solution, including monitoring) should be easy. Further, centralization of student-athlete information for the coach’s team, which can be accessed by all pertinent individuals in the front office from any location at any time, is a positive. The text message and e-mail features are also beneficial.”