DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARADVERTISER.COM
A view of the construction of the UH Ching Athletic Complex at UH lower campus on Jan. 8.
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The NCAA notified the University of Hawaii that it has granted the school’s athletic program full certification after a two-year wait for the completion of key portions of the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Complex on campus.
The NCAA’s Division I Committee on Institutional Performance made the determination last week and posted a website announcement Thursday.
In 2012 UH was the only school among 13 in its cycle to be placed on a "certified with conditions" list after Manoa was deemed not to have fulfilled portions of its self-study relating to gender equity under Title IX.
The NCAA had given UH several deadlines by which it was to have finished locker room facilities and coaches’ offices for its women’s track and field, cross country and soccer teams in the $13.39 million Ching Athletic Complex.
The last deadline was Jan. 28, or UH would face sanctions.
The penalties could have included barring UH teams and athletes from NCAA championship events, the school said.
UH was asked to submit photos of the completed sections and testimony that a temporary occupancy permit had been issued.
In its notice of certification to UH this week, the NCAA said, "this classification means that your institution is considered to be operating its athletics program in substantial conformity with operating principles adopted by the association’s Division I membership and that any problems identified during the course of the self-study have been corrected or were not serious enough to affect your institution’s certification status."
The remainder of the Ching Complex should be finished by the end of April, UH officials said.