A recent initiative by Iowa State’s Athletic Department to help recruit and retain minority student-athletes has led the department to be fully certified by the NCAA’s Committee on Athletics certification.

According to a press release, the committee, which will eventually review all 307 Division I programs, stated “ISU needed to have a comprehensive plan addressing minority opportunities to obtain full certification.”

The certification is designed to guarantee the integrity of a university’s athletic program. It is issued if the department is operating “substantially within NCAA Division I principles.”

The minority plan is supposed to tie into the university’s commitment to diversity. It is intended not only to help student-athletes, but all minority students.

The plan has five main components:

1) To modify the university academic-service programs to better meet the needs of student-athletes to improve their retention rates, GPAs and graduation rates.

2) Promote the use of leadership, life skills…personal-development programs and schedule them at times appropriate for student-athlete attendance.

3) Create a minority student-athlete career-development component to better help students choose majors and prepare for their careers.

4) Develop mentoring programs to improve minority student-athlete retention rates through structured interaction with ISU faculty and Ames residents.

5) Implement an improved professional-development program for coaches and athletic department staff to better meet the academic, personal and athletic needs of the student-athletes.

“This comprehensive plan is a way to help ensure the success of our minority student-athletes as students, citizens and athletes,” Gene Smith, ISU athletic director, said. “We want to do everything possible to give all of our student-athletes and staff the best possible experience at ISU.”

Smith added the transition from high school to college “can be particularly difficult for student-athletes, who in addition to dealing with tougher academic curricula, also must deal with the challenges of intercollegiate athletics.”

Alecia Lee, former women’s basketball player and a senior in business, said she is supportive of these measures.

“I think that it is necessary for Iowa State to have a plan to improve GPAs, graduation rates and retention rates to use as a starting point in minds of minority student athletes as well as getting the athletic department to deal with diversity,” she said.

Tyrone Watley, a senior in sociology and starting wide receiver for the Cyclones, agreed.

“I think it is a good plan. I am for anything to help minority students, especially at a predominantly white institution,” he said.

“[Student-athletes] are not dealing just with the challenge of going to class and maintaining a high GPA,” Watley said. “We’re at practice from two to dinner time, and after eating dinner I feel like passing out, I’m so tired.”

He said coming out of the lighter workload of high school to university life is both physically and mentally challenging.

Watley is also involved with the mentoring program.

“We’re going to help out the first year students get adjusted, be someone who can show them around campus, someone who they can come to,” he said.