Position Statement on Intercollegiate Athletics
The following statement was developed by the AACC Athletics Advisory Committee to encourage the highest academic and ethical standards relating to community college intercollegiate athletics programs. It replaces a previous AACC position statement.
Intercollegiate athletics at community, technical and junior colleges offer students the opportunity to compete, to be part of a team, and to develop a sense of pride in their accomplishments. For many students, athletic scholarships provide the needed financial means to attend college. It is important that student-athletes be challenged to excel academically as well as athletically in AACC member institutions. Universities and other higher education institutions that recruit student-athletes from community colleges need to feel confident that these students have met acceptable academic standards. To demonstrate the commitment of community colleges to high academic standards for student-athletes, the AACC Board of Directors adopts this policy statement on intercollegiate athletics at its meeting of August 8, 2003.
1. AACC encourages its member institutions to commit themselves to establish, maintain, and require academic standards that are conducive to promoting progress towards completion of a certificate or degree for all student-athletes.
2. AACC conveys its commitment to academic integrity to its member institutions, AACC-affiliated councils, the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), athletic commissions in California and the Pacific Northwest, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and other appropriate higher education and athletic associations.
3. AACC promotes the desirability of presidential leadership and control to maintain academic integrity, and further, promotes the involvement of presidents in shaping and advancing policies to improve academic controls.
4. AACC promotes the principle that its member institutions should be allowed discretion to adopt more stringent standards than the current rules of the National Junior College Athletic Association or their appropriate state or regional athletic commission.