Sometimes the best need to get better.

That’s the approach adopted by Stanford’s Athletic Department as it undergoes the NCAA certification process, a once-a-decade ordeal in which the University conducts a self-study to review its athletics program. Each NCAA member institution must complete the procedure, in which colleges and universities are reviewed on such standards as academic integrity and race and gender equity.

Athletic Director Bob Bowlsby, speaking at a community forum in the Arrillaga Sports Center Wednesday evening, said Stanford’s certification was “absolutely certain.” The value of the study, he said, comes from the still-significant room for improvement.

“The real outcome of this is to make our program as good as it can be,” Bowlsby said. “It’s kind of like having a consultant come to campus without paying a consulting fee.”

Stanford, which has won 13 straight NACDA Director’s Cups — the award given to the best overall athletic program in the nation — makes considerable efforts to keep sports in line with its stringent academic standards. Unlike other universities with top athletic programs, Stanford graduates 95 percent of student athletes, a number Bowlsby said mirrored the rest of the undergraduate population. Athlete GPA is “within .02” of peers, he said, and majors are similarly distributed as well.

According to NCAA figures, incoming Stanford student athletes had an average SAT score 200 points higher than the next-highest institution, Bowlsby said. He’s also been told by NCAA President Myles Brand that “Intercollegiate athletics really needs the Stanford model to succeed.”

The self-study places the spotlight on the Athletics Department, which operates on a $75 million budget, employs nearly 600 people at peak seasons and utilizes 150 acres of land. The process involves five subcommittees and nearly 60 individuals, half of which are not involved with athletics at Stanford.

“It’s a very broad and diverse group of people,” said Alan Acosta, director of University communications and chair of the self-study’s Student Well-Being Subcommittee. “It’s made for interesting discussion. We’re all on the same wavelength, but have different backgrounds.”

The University will submit the results of its self-study to the NCAA on May 1, and in November will host a delegation of faculty and leadership from other universities for a site visit. The NCAA will announce its decision in spring 2009.

“This is not merely an exercise in formality,” said LaDoris Cordell, special counselor in the President’s office for campus relations and chair of the certification steering committee. “The self study is not a rubber stamp. It’s exhausting.”

Stanford completed its last certification process in 1999, and much of the feedback related to gender equality. As a private institution that received public funding, Stanford is privy to the Title IX legislation that mandates equal opportunities in education for both genders.

“It’s a good question and a fair question,” Cordell said of Stanford’s compliance with gender equity requirements. “The law doesn’t mandate absolute equality. It doesn’t have to be dollar for dollar, but it does have to comparable.”

While some universities have controversially cut male sports teams to comply with the legislation, the University instead added additional female teams. Stanford now has 15 men’s, 19 women’s and one co-ed varsity team.

Swimmer Fiona O’Donnell-McCarthy ‘09, a member of the student-athlete Well-Being subcommittee, said her committee’s biggest challenge was health care — including the quality of care, mental health issues and communication between doctors, trainers and coaching staffs.

“The transparency aspect is really important,” she said of the study.

Athletics and academics are not always an easy mix, Acosta explained.

“Stanford’s a university first and foremost,” he said. “We also have a top athletic program. It’s still a difficult balance.”

The University has also experienced some problems in the past when not all coaches “embraced what Stanford is,” Bowlsby said, adding that things have since changed. The University has streamlined athletics booster clubs, and is planning further facilities renovations to meet expected suggestions from the study.

Engineering Prof. George Springer, a former athlete who has also taught at Michigan and MIT, said he was pleasantly surprised at how well the University balanced academics and athletics.

“[Athletics are] very important, as long as the goals are well-understood and well-deserved — and they are here,” said Springer, who is chairing the Rules Compliance Subcommittee for the self-study. “Athletics does it very well.”