On July 1, hours after the NCAA’s name, image and likeness (NIL) rule changes went into effect, NC State Athletics announced the creation of ALPHA, an initiative aimed at helping its student-athletes maximize their brands.

“This is an exciting time for our student-athletes,” said Athletics Director Boo Corrigan in a statement. “Our mission at NC State is to strengthen our Pack through the development of Think and Do student-athletes. ALPHA will help us continue to make that a priority and provide support to our Pack. As the NIL era begins, we look forward to empowering our student-athletes so that they can capitalize on their personal brands and continue to serve as great representatives of NC State Athletics.”

According to the release, the goal of the ALPHA initiative is to provide educational programming and resources to student-athletes. The program, which is being created in partnership with NC State Entrepreneurship, will provide student-athletes with, “foundational knowledge in all areas of entrepreneurship, including financial literacy, brand management and decision-making while continuously meeting the advanced needs of student-athletes.”

In addition to the ALPHA initiative, NC State expanded its partnership with INFLCR, a digital content and compliance software. INFLCR will provide tools like NIL compliance tracking, social media metrics, educational resources and brand strategy guidance that will help student-athletes grow and monetize their brand.