UW to help develop NCAA compliance courses

The university is partnering with a leading online education firm to develop the nation’s first Web-based curriculum on NCAA rules compliance.

The partnership with Chicago-based Learning Insights, which provides e-learning programs to educational institutions and major corporations, was announced March 13, by Chancellor John Wiley.

Student athletes, coaches and athletic department employees and boosters will be required to complete the online compliance program, including examinations, says Wiley. The program will also cover Big Ten Conference rules compliance.

“The current training materials we use are inadequate from a standpoint of learning,” Wiley says. “The programs offered through this new partnership will be highly interactive and include stories and animation.”

Sidley & Austin, one of the nation’s leading law firms that specializes in sports- and NCAA-related issues, will develop the program’s instructional content. Performance and compliance will be tracked through the program.

Seven modules will be offered: unethical conduct, benefits, amateurism, academic eligibility, financial aid, recruiting, and boosters. Wiley estimates it should take about five months to develop the courses.

“The software comes complete not just with the learning materials, but with examinations and a registration process that lets you track each individual and document what modules they’ve finished and what exams they’ve completed successfully,” Wiley says. “So not only does it provide a more effective learning environment, it provides a greater degree of accountability and proof that you’ve actually done the training that you’ve claimed you’ve done.”

Learning Insights has worked with many educational institutions, including the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis.