Since 2010, AACRAO has worked with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), a membership association comprised of over 250 institutions dedicated to advancing character-driven intercollegiate athletics. Specifically, AACRAO has worked with the NAIA Eligibility Center, which determines the eligibility of first-time NAIA student-athletes, and with the NAIA’s 2015 establishment of InCred, a credentials evaluation service, which assists NAIA and NJCAA institutions with international admissions, transfer credit, and eligibility reviews.
“AACRAO is the premiere international credential knowledge source, particularly with the AACRAO EDGE database. We are excited to partner with an organization leading the field,” said Leah McCormack, NAIA VP of Eligibility Services. McCormack is also an AACRAO member and Group II [International Education] Annual Meeting program committee coordinator.
“Our collaboration with the AACRAO International team dates back to the opening of our eligibility center in 2010 and has recently expanded,” she added. “Our expertise in athletic certification is one of great interest to AACRAO members and AACRAO continues to conduct specialized training and shares expertise with our credentials evaluation team at InCred.”
AACRAO, the NAIA and InCred recently furthered their partnership with an agreement that includes an NAIA/InCred-sponsored regional credential evaluation training event in 2019 to be held at NAIA’s home office in Kansas City, MO. The event will be open to outside registrants. (Watch for details in an upcoming Connect article.)
The organizations have partnered on a previous publication, a chapter on student-athletes in the AACRAO International Guide. AACRAO will identify additional areas, such as student eligibility, where the NAIA can jointly share expertise through publications and webinars.
The NAIA also holds a pre-conference workshop ahead of the AACRAO Annual Meeting offering tips to navigate eligibility, specifically geared to NAIA registrars, as well as conducting their official Registrars Association Annual Business meeting at the AACRAO Annual Meeting.
“AACRAO plays a key role in connecting us with our registrar members,” McCormack said.
“Our partnership with the NAIA is an excellent example of how we can collaborate with organizations that have missions and goals that align well with ours, in ways that expand content knowledge and enrich both of our members.” says Melanie Gottlieb, Deputy Director of AACRAO. “Their knowledge of athletic compliance is of great interest to many of our schools, and our credential evaluation expertise supports their service to their members. It’s a win-win relationship."