REVISED
MEMORANDUM
April
24, 2003
TO: NCAA Executive Committee.
FROM: Jim Isch
Vice President for Finance and Information Services and
Executive Committee Liaison
Bridget Belgiovine
Associate
Chief of Staff for Division III and Executive Committee Liaison.
SUBJECT: NCAA Ad Hoc Review Report ? Divisional
Recommendations.
At its August 2002
meeting, the NCAA Executive Committee reviewed the prioritized Association-wide
and divisional recommendations forwarded from each governance group related to
the NCAA Ad Hoc Review Report. The
Committee requested governance group action and recommendations submitted for
its April 2003 meeting. This two-part
document identifies the specific Association-wide issues and summarizes the
divisional recommendations for Executive Committee action and identifies
actions taken by each group on the specific divisional issues.
Association-wide issues.
Recommendations for Executive Committee action.
1. Identify ways to strengthen the NCAA
Convention to enhance unity in the Association.
Division
III
l Tighten
overall schedule to encourage chief executive officer (CEO) attendance.
l Enhance
Association-wide educational sessions at the Convention.
Division
II
l Develop
educational workshops that focus on current NCAA issues.
l Use
the membership at the Convention in promotional activities and live television
programming on ESPN and CBS.
l Incorporate
a breakfast or luncheon for all NCAA CEOs into the Convention schedule. The focus of the gathering should be CEO interaction
with colleagues from other divisions.
l Expand
opportunities for CEOs to discuss issues (e.g., new CEO orientation).
Division
I
?
A newly adopted one-year legislative cycle will
provide an important opportunity for membership discussion of Division I
legislation at the Convention, prior to initial consideration by the Management
Council. The change in cycle may
encourage more conference meetings as conferences seek membership input prior
to the initial consideration of legislation.
?
Early identification and promotion of a theme
and issues to be addressed in educational sessions may encourage attendance.
?
Most agree, but do not support recommending;
that returning to an institutional, voting convention in Division I would
dramatically increase attendance.
?
It was noted that building a convention
environment around the men?s and/or women?s basketball tournaments in Division
I would assure a willing following from the Association.
|
Entities
submitting or reviewing legislative proposals |
Timeline |
|
Legislation submission deadline for both conferences and cabinets. |
July 15. |
|
Initial ?web based? publication. |
August 15. |
|
Management Council Administrative Committee referral to cabinets. |
August 15. |
|
Cabinet review. |
September. |
|
Initial amendment period. |
July ? End of the October Management Council meeting. |
|
Management Council review and recommendation regarding conflicting conference/cabinet proposals. |
October Management Council meeting. |
|
Deadline for publication of official notice. |
November 15. |
|
Membership discussion during Convention/Educational sessions. |
NCAA Convention. |
|
Conference meetings. |
NCAA Convention. |
|
Management Council initial consideration of legislation. |
January Management Council meeting. |
|
60-day comment/amendment period. |
Early January ? February. |
|
Legislative Subcommittee develops consent package. |
March. |
|
Management Council second consideration of legislation. |
April. |
|
Board of Directors final approval. |
April. |
|
60-day override period. |
April ? mid-June. |
Convention
Management Staff.
l Provide
focus to Convention programming through use of an overarching theme and subtheme
each year.
l Define
predetermined core business days/hours for each division to conduct business
meetings in order to schedule programming around these core business functions
(permits opportunity for more meaningful content and planning 12-18 months in
advance).
l Add
optional ancillary functions that bring value to attendees, within existing
NCAA Convention dates/times.
l Increase
participation of CEOs by providing meaningful opportunities for their participation
and education.
2. Identify ways to continue to advocate for
equal opportunity for minority and female constituents in intercollegiate
athletics.
Division
III
l Continue
to support Association-wide initiatives/programs through financial resources at
$4.5 million over 2 years.
l Encourage
support through divisional allocation and promotion of opportunities and resources.
Division
II
l Implement
a career fair at the NCAA Convention.
l Create
an NCAA awards program for female and minority administrators in each division.
l Conduct
a study regarding why women and minorities are leaving careers in intercollegiate
athletics.
l Conduct
workshops on how to apply for careers in intercollegiate athletics to help candidates
understand how to get things done.
l Educate
current student-athletes about career opportunities in intercollegiate
athletics.
l Develop
a grant program for minority and female coaches.
l
Develop expectations and guidelines to assist
schools in search in the search process when hiring coaches and senior-level
athletics administrators.
l
Develop an administrator matching grant
internship program at member schools for female and minority males.
Division
I
?
Legislation has been adopted to require each of
the three subdivisions of Division I to meet individually the 35 percent gender
and 20 percent ethnic minority requirements for appointments to the Management
Council and two cabinets.
?
Board of Directors support for MOIC and BCA
initiatives related to the lack of minority head football coaches in Division I
and support for professional development programs advocated by MOIC and CWA.
?
Continued attention to participation numbers of
women and ethnic minorities during consideration of Division I championships
enhancements is essential.
?
A working group charged with examining the
current scholarship limitations in men?s and women?s sports has been
established with an eye toward ensuring equitable and logical distribution of
scholarship dollars.
3. Propose initiatives designed to improve
communications and education and build support among various constituent
groups.
Division
III
l Continue
expansion and use of NCAA Web site.
l Implement
CEO-to-CEO communication.
l President
Brand to assist with engagement of CEOs at various higher education associations
to enhance and encourage involvement with the NCAA.
Division
II
l Create
quarterly CEO newsletter that summarizes in two to four pages what is going on
in the Association. Make the
publication look appealing.
l Require
new directors of athletics to visit the NCAA national office.
l Create
an annual NCAA yearbook that summarizes key legislative proposals, issues,
events and achievements about which the membership should be aware.
l
Convene town hall sessions across the country
for all three divisions to discuss important issues.
l
Conduct NCAA presentations for CEOs at higher
education association meetings (e.g. CIC, NICU, ACE).
l
Require CEOs to attend a NCAA Convention once
every X years.
Division
I
?
Relationship building and communications
regarding ongoing reform initiatives with NABC, WBCA, AFCA, FARA, the three
athletic directors? associations, NACDA, NACWA, CCA and SAAC.
?
The new one-year legislative cycle in Division I
provides new opportunities for constituent groups to meet, discuss and comment
on legislation.
?
Return to publishing an ?Official Notice? of
legislative proposals in Division I.
4. Identify options for improving the
effectiveness of the Executive Committee to reflect membership interests that
span all divisions.
Division
III
?
Seek greater involvement of divisional
leadership and chair of Executive Committee between meetings.
Division
II
l Make
Executive Committee membership consist of current and former members of presidential
groups.
l Create
subcommittees (similar to Executive Committee Subcommittee on Gender and Diversity
Issues) to address critical issues.
Division
I
?
Not addressed beyond initial comments that the
Executive Committee now has appropriate authority to act in regard to
Association-wide issues.
Divisional issues.
Actions taken by each division to address the issues.
1. Membership concerns about the legislative
process and recommendations for improvement.
Division
III
l Retain
one institution/one vote. No change
pending implementation of new NCAA Legislative Services Database and
discussions regarding the future of Division III.
l Amend
NCAA Convention schedule to permit conference meetings prior to the Division III
Business Session and legislative voting.
Division
II
l Retain
current legislative process. Annual
Convention with one school/one vote is the best method for adopting
legislation.
Division
I
l
Approved a new 12-month legislative cycle meant
to simplify the legislative process without compromising the legislative
authority of the Board of Directors
l
A legislative review subcommittee of the
Management Council has been established to help manage the legislative process
and the new twelve-month cycle provides constituent groups increased
opportunities to participate in the process.
2. Identify a process to increase chief
executive officer (CEO) participation and involvement in the governance of the
Association.
Division
III
l Established
a CEO contact plan to enhance personal communication by the Presidents Council
members to regional CEO colleagues.
l Agreed
to send periodic ?targeted? one-page communications from the Presidents Council
chair to ?get the attention? of CEOs.
l Altered
the 2004 Convention schedule to permit CEOs and Presidents Council members to
visit conference meetings to discuss issues, and condensed the schedule to
create opportunity for more meaningful activities and programming to engage
CEOs.
l Encourage
President Brand to assist with engagement of CEOs at various higher education
associations to enhance and encourage involvement with the NCAA Convention.
Division
II
l Agreed
to add to the division?s strategic plan an objective to enhance Division II CEO
involvement in the division?s governance.
Included is establishing a new CEO orientation process similar to what is
conducted during the Division II provisional membership orientation.
Division
I
l
Consideration of legislation is ongoing
regarding I-A representation on the Board of Directors in the event a
conference loses its I-A designation, a proposed I-AA and I-AAA advisory group
to the I-AA and I-AAA representatives on the Board and attendance of alternates
at Board meetings.
l
Communication and interaction of the Board and
NCAA president with the ?group of six conferences? chief executive officers.
l
Placement of items of interest on agendas of
other associations? meetings, such as AAU.
l
President to president communications and
possible initiatives to encourage attendance at the NCAA Convention.
3. Clarify the role of the conference
commissioners and the NCAA staff.
Division
III
l Educate
commissioners to further educate their membership about the importance of the
membership-driven legislative process.
l Agreed
that the role of conference commissioners, as one of many constituent groups,
is appropriate for Division III.
l Developed
conference grant program for technology and student-athlete advisory committees
to assist conferences in implementing Division III strategic initiatives in
membership education/communication and student-athlete welfare.
Division
II
l Developed
the conference grant program to assist conferences in implementing the Division
II strategic plan initiatives.
l Assist
Division II conferences in meeting the operational expectations of conference offices
through model conference guidelines.
l Conduct
orientation sessions between new Presidents Council chairs and the governance
staff to review expectations of staff during the chairs? term.
Division
I
l
The role of commissioners is clear and important
to the operation of a representative Division I governance process, while the
role of staff is to lead according to needs, personalities and
expectations. Division I is managed
through a complex, but coordinated set of processes that require both staff
leadership and flexibility to be successful.
JI/BB:jw