Statement of Principles for Intercollegiate Athletics

Throughout its long and proud history, the University of Notre Dame has embraced the philosophy that a well-rounded intercollegiate athletics program forms an integral part of Notre Dame’s educational mission. To fulfill its mission as a Catholic university, Notre Dame is committed to fostering the development of all of its students in mind, body, and spirit; forming leaders of compassion and integrity; ensuring the full inclusion of every member of the Notre Dame community; and instilling in students a lifelong commitment to service. A fully integrated intercollegiate athletics program serves these values and principles, not just by forming the students who participate, but also by providing a visible exemplar of the spirit of leadership, teamwork, perseverance, fair play, discipline, honesty, and respect that defines the Notre Dame community as a whole. Notre Dame is dedicated to excellence in all pursuits, whether in the classroom, laboratory, or studio, or on the playing field.

Intercollegiate athletics presents a complex and dynamic environment at this time. To meet the challenge of maintaining a highly competitive athletics program consistent with Notre Dame’s tradition, heritage, and mission as a Catholic university, Notre Dame must play a leadership role in intercollegiate athletics, pursue an integrated and cooperative approach to supporting and developing students, and respond to changes in the national landscape in a manner consistent with its values. This document outlines the core principles that guide Notre Dame’s participation in intercollegiate athletics, and the structures and policies that support and implement those principles.

Core Principles

1. Presidential Control. Notre Dame adheres to the principle of presidential control over intercollegiate athletics. The director of athletics reports to the president, who exercises ultimate responsibility for the conduct of Notre Dame’s intercollegiate athletics program. The Faculty Board on Athletics, chaired by the University’s faculty athletics representative, serves as the principal advisory group to the president on educational issues related to intercollegiate athletics.

2. Integrity. Notre Dame commits itself to the integrity of its athletics program and requires those involved in the program to adhere to all University, conference, and NCAA rules and expectations.

3. Equitable Program. Notre Dame will offer an athletics program that provides equitable opportunities for men and women and that reflects the University’s larger commitment to diversity and inclusion.

4. Academic Excellence and Academic Support. Notre Dame dedicates itself to providing all of its students an outstanding academic experience. The University will admit only those students who demonstrate, among other things, the character to contribute to the University community, a commitment to achieving their academic potential, and the capacity to graduate from Notre Dame. The University, including all who oversee, administer, coach within, and otherwise support its intercollegiate athletics program, will honor the primacy of academic life at Notre Dame. The University will provide appropriate assistance to enable students participating in intercollegiate athletics to balance the demands of academic and athletic endeavors.

5. Student Well-Being. An important obligation of every university is to ensure the well-being of all of its students. The University will provide safe facilities for the training and competition of its intercollegiate athletics teams. The physical and mental stresses inherent in athletic competition demand that Notre Dame offer excellent medical and psychological care for students participating in intercollegiate athletes and provide appropriate opportunities for such students to enhance their performance and overall health. The University will ensure that designated medical personnel make, in consultation with the student and coaching staff, all decisions concerning whether an injury or illness limits a student in practice or competition.

6. Athletics as an Integrated Participant in and Contributor to the University’s Educational Mission. Notre Dame recognizes both the contributions that a successful intercollegiate athletics program makes to the University’s overall educational mission and the inherent challenges that attend such a program. The best interests of the University and of students participating in intercollegiate athletics require full engagement and collaboration between the Department of Athletics and its institutional partners across the University.

7. Coaches and Administrators as Educators. As educators, coaches share with members of the faculty and other University personnel the obligation to educate, train, and otherwise assist in the formation of the students entrusted to them, including by facilitating to the fullest possible extent students’ pursuit of their academic and personal growth. Athletics administrators support, assist, and ensure accountability for coaches with regard to this obligation.

8. Holistic Development. A Notre Dame education encompasses not only intellectual development through formal classes, study, research, and creative work, but also intellectual, moral, spiritual, and social growth in a student’s life outside the classroom. Notre Dame cultivates opportunities for students participating in intercollegiate athletics to serve their communities; to act as catalysts for civic and social change; and to prepare for life after sport. Just as the University strives to integrate academic and student life to provide students with the opportunity for holistic development, the University also strives to ensure that students participating in intercollegiate athletics remain integrated into the student body and can take full advantage of the enrichment that campus and hall life afford all students.

9. Parity in Rules and Policies. In formulating its rules and policies, the University will begin from the premise that students participating in intercollegiate athletics should be treated the same as all other students.

10. Competitive Excellence. Notre Dame endeavors to maintain a highly competitive athletics program within the context of available resources. Notre Dame will seek to provide each student participating in intercollegiate athletics with the opportunity to fully develop his or her athletic potential, including by offering state-of-the-art facilities and technology and fostering collaboration between the Department of Athletics and academic disciplines.

11. National Leadership and Congruent Affiliations. Notre Dame will maintain a national voice in the governance of intercollegiate athletics, through the involvement of its president, director of athletics, faculty athletics representative, athletics administrators, coaches, and students as leaders in national and conference fora. In considering conference affiliations and other alignments, the University will assess, among other things, the extent to which the other institutions involved share Notre Dame’s core values.

12. Student Voice. The involvement of students participating in intercollegiate athletics in discussions of NCAA, conference, and institutional policies will enrich and enliven those discussions and provide valuable educational opportunities for the students involved. Notre Dame will cultivate opportunities for such participation. Notre Dame will also seek the feedback of students participating in intercollegiate athletics on their experiences at Notre Dame.

Structures and Policies

In the dynamic intercollegiate athletics environment, University leaders must regularly evaluate the structures and policies that support and implement the University’s core principles on intercollegiate athletics. The following are among those structures and policies:

Faculty Board on Athletics. The University’s Academic Articles designate the Faculty Board on Athletics as the principal advisory group to the president on educational issues related to intercollegiate athletics. The chair of the board also serves as the NCAA-mandated faculty athletics representative.

The board strives to ensure that the University’s athletics program operates in consonance with Notre Dame’s educational mission, gathers faculty input on critical decisions about Notre Dame’s athletics program, nurtures Notre Dame’s commitment to academic integrity within the athletics program, and actively promotes the welfare and educational success of students participating in intercollegiate athletics. The board also functions as a formal liaison between the faculty and the Department of Athletics.

In carrying out its charge, the board reviews policies, procedures, and practices that affect the educational experience of students participating in intercollegiate athletics and advises the president of its findings and deliberations. The board systematically ascertains the views and concerns of students participating in intercollegiate athletics and reviews data on admissions, academic performance, progress towards degree, and graduation rates. It assesses the effectiveness of institutional support for students participating in intercollegiate athletics.

With special attention to the rhythm of the academic year, the board establishes guidelines for approval of all intercollegiate athletics schedules, votes on all proposed schedules, and assesses and revises procedures for resolving prospective conflicts between final examinations and post-season championship events. Recognizing the visibility of captains of University teams, the board sets qualifications for captaincies and votes on nominees. In light of the University’s expectation that students maintain the appropriate sequence and number of courses and the grade-point-average necessary to complete a degree within the usual time (normally four years), the board sets guidelines for the approval of student petitions for a fifth year of athletics eligibility and votes on such petitions.

In its role as a liaison to the broader faculty, the board provides appropriate, non-confidential information and initiates discussions on educational issues regarding intercollegiate athletics and the related concerns of the faculty and administration.

The policies, procedures, and minutes of the Faculty Board on Athletics are available to the University community at https://fba.nd.edu.

Faculty Athletics Representative. The faculty athletics representative, who also chairs the Faculty Board on Athletics, helps ensure institutional control of intercollegiate athletics, champions academic integrity, and promotes the welfare of students participating in intercollegiate athletics. More specifically, the representative works with the president and the director of athletics to maintain appropriate University oversight of intercollegiate athletics; assists the president and director of athletics in determining institutional positions on proposed NCAA and conference legislation; participates in national and conference governance bodies; engages in institutional policy discussions on matters affecting students participating in intercollegiate athletics; serves on search committees for senior athletics administrators and head coaches; oversees decisions regarding student eligibility for intercollegiate competition; remains visible and available to students; and actively participates in all investigations and reports of possible NCAA violations. The faculty athletics representative works with other University academic leaders, including the Provost and deans, to address matters of mutual concern regarding the academic opportunities, challenges, and performance of students participating in intercollegiate athletics.

Office of Academic Services for Student-Athletes. The University affords students participating in intercollegiate athletics suitable academic counsel and support, primarily under the auspices of the Office of Academic Services for Student-Athletes (ASSA). ASSA is an academic unit that reports to the Provost. The office provides an array of services—general academic support, tutoring, monitoring of academic performance, team orientation, time management assistance, information about post-graduate and scholarship opportunities, and academic recognition—in an effort to enhance the quality of the student experience and to promote individual ownership of academic, athletic, personal, and social responsibilities.

Information on ASSA is available at https://assa.nd.edu/.

Student Development and Support. Students participating in intercollegiate athletics should have the opportunity to pursue fully the University’s academic, cultural, and spiritual resources. Sources of support, both academic and personal, include ASSA counselors, faculty, college academic advisors, the Division of Student Affairs, residence hall staffs, coaches, athletics administrators, and the Department of Athletics’ Student-Athlete Services program. The University’s commitment to ensuring that all members of the Notre Dame community feel included in that community requires particular attention to identifying and addressing the unique needs of and risks facing students participating in intercollegiate athletics. The Division of Student Affairs, ASSA, the Faculty Board on Athletics, the Center for University Advising, and the Department of Athletics’ Student-Athlete Services program share the responsibility to guide students participating in intercollegiate athletics in their transition to Notre Dame.

Notre Dame will not provide separate residence halls or sections of residence halls for students participating in intercollegiate athletics. Such students must comply with all University rules and guidelines, including those set out in the Standards of Conduct. In disciplinary matters involving the Office of Community Standards, students participating in intercollegiate athletics are treated in the same way as all other students.

The University seeks to offer students participating in intercollegiate athletics, like other students, opportunities to cultivate their faith and to receive spiritual and pastoral support and care. The Office of Campus Ministry facilitates such opportunities and support, including by providing chaplains or other resources for athletics teams. Chaplains’ duties include pastoral care and liturgical services for students, coaches, and staff. In light of the unique time demands that students participating in intercollegiate athletics face, the University offers resources tailored to such students’ needs and schedules, including under the auspices of University Health Services, the University Counseling Center, and the Center for Career Development.

As the complex landscape of intercollegiate athletics evolves nationally, the University recognizes that the forms of support it provides students participating in intercollegiate athletics will likewise need to evolve. The Department of Athletics will be responsible for remaining apprised of the evolving national landscape and, in consultation and collaboration with other University units, will offer appropriate support and resources to students participating in intercollegiate athletics as such students pursue emerging opportunities. At all times, the University will continue to honor the primacy of academic life at Notre Dame and its educational mission.

Independence of Medical and Psychological Care. University physicians, psychologists, and counselors who work within University Health Services and the University Counseling Center oversee the medical and psychological care of students participating in intercollegiate athletics. The Division of Student Affairs hires and evaluates such personnel, whose judgment and decisions are independent of the Department of Athletics.

Drug Testing Oversight Committee. In light of the threat that the use of illicit drugs presents to the physical and mental well-being of students and the integrity of the University and intercollegiate athletics, the University both supports the NCAA drug testing program and supplements that program with its own program to deter, detect, and assist in treatment of substance abuse among students participating in intercollegiate athletics. The Drug Testing Oversight Committee, which reports to the president, develops and oversees the implementation of the University’s drug testing protocol; evaluates information on University and Department of Athletics initiatives that educate students on substance abuse and treatment thereof, and on the requirements and procedures of the NCAA and University drug testing programs; provides an annual report to the Faculty Board on Athletics on the implementation of the program; and provides recommendations to the president on potential changes to the program.

Administration of the Department of Athletics. The University maintains full and direct control of the financial operations of the Department of Athletics. The operating budget and the ongoing financial activities of the Department of Athletics remain subject to the same approval process as all other units of the University. Notre Dame’s athletics program strives to generate funds sufficient to cover its expenses, as well as to provide funds for the University’s general operating budget. The generation of revenue must always take into consideration Notre Dame’s core values.

Institutional Collaboration Concerning Risks and Expectations. In service of the best interests of the University and of students participating in intercollegiate athletics, the Department of Athletics works collaboratively with many campus partners, including the Division of Student Affairs, the Office of General Counsel, the Office of Human Resources, and the Office of Institutional Equity. Such collaboration includes identifying and mitigating risks inherent in sponsoring a successful intercollegiate athletics program and training coaches, administrators, students, and others concerning the University’s high expectations. The Department of Athletics’ Compliance Office provides comprehensive orientation and appropriate continuing education, including to all coaches, administrators, and students participating in intercollegiate athletics, among others, regarding University, NCAA, and conference policies and procedures. Information on the Compliance Office is available at https://ncaacompliance.nd.edu.

Student Representation and Input. The Department of Athletics will provide fora through which students can provide feedback and input on their experiences as participants in intercollegiate athletics. Existing fora include the Student-Athlete Advisory Council, the Rosenthal Leadership Academy, annual surveys, and senior exit interviews. Notre Dame will also cultivate opportunities for students participating in intercollegiate athletics to serve in national and conference governance structures.

Adopted: September 5, 2018

Amended: January 14, 2025

Signed:

Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., President

Pete Bevacqua, Vice President and James E. Rohr Director of Athletics

Patricia L. Bellia, Chair, Faculty Board on Athletics