The Certification process is particularly important to women and minorities in athletics because it requires schools complete a self-study on gender and racial every ten years, led by the institution’s president or chancellor and requiring campus-wide participation. The end product is required to include measurable goals, the steps the institution will take to achieve those goals, timelines and persons responsible.

Without the NCAA certification process, it is unlikely that the campus will engage in such a meaningful review of women’s athletics, and the task will fall to those without institutional power: coaches, the senior women athletic administrator, the Title IX coordinator or student-athletes in private litigation.