During their strategic planning processes, the University of Arizona and Arizona Athletics surveyed thousands of stakeholders and used that valuable feedback to create initiatives, priorities and define values. In the many responses given, one of the most common principles discussed was integrity. It is a shared core value of both the University and the athletics department and resonates throughout each of their strategic plans.
"Integrity is the cornerstone core value of the University of Arizona," said University President Dr. Robert C. Robbins. "It drives our comprehensive commitment to business and operational excellence, adherence to federal and state laws and compliance with Arizona Board of Regents, University and NCAA rules and regulations. Our compliance culture is rooted in a commitment by every single person in this University community to learning, understanding and applying these requirements to every aspect of our efforts to achieve success."
Arizona Athletics prioritizes acting with integrity and following NCAA, Pac-12 and institutional guidelines in order to provide the University of Arizona and the Southern Arizona community with a point of pride that reflects the values it represents. Arizona Athletics has established a culture of compliance that reinforces integrity as a touchstone in the day-to-day operations of the athletics department. This comprehensive culture of compliance permeates through all actions of the department and its individual staff members. The emphasis on a culture of compliance is established at the highest levels of both campus and department leadership. It also represents a standard expectation for all that are a part of the campus community.
"We expect our staff to always do the right thing and represent the University of Arizona and Arizona Athletics in a first-class manner," said Vice President and Director of Athletics
Dave Heeke. "This expectation is something that is very important to President Robbins and I, and it is a part of the everyday conversations on campus. We expect our coaches and staff to promote an environment that follows the rules and holds others accountable to being compliant with NCAA, Pac-12 and institutional regulations."
A significant part of Arizona Athletics' culture of compliance is its Compliance Department.
Brent Blaylock, a nationally recognized leader in the field, was hired as Associate Director of Athletics in July of 2017 to lead the Compliance Office. Arizona Athletics strengthened its commitment to compliance by growing its staff to six full-time compliance administrators.
These staff members build strong relationships with coaches and other staff to develop efficient communication process to provide Athletics staff members with assistance, support and guidance that exceeds national best practices. Arizona's Compliance Department also utilizes a multi-faceted approach that provides staff members with robust rules education as well as wide-ranging monitoring systems to ensure Athletics staff members are operating within the parameters of NCAA, Pac-12 and institutional rules. Arizona Athletics strives to be a national leader in compliance by partnering this commitment with its holistic focus on department excellence.
As Arizona Athletics continues to live the Wildcat Way in its quest for department excellence, the athletics department's culture of compliance serves as more than just a commitment to its strategic plan. It is a department-wide commitment to be great in everything we do and how Arizona Athletics lives its core value of integrity each and every day.
Questions? Have information about a potential NCAA violation? The Arizona Athletics Compliance Office can be reached at ica-compliance@email.arizona.edu.
