INFORMATIONAL ITEMS.
1. Search Process
of NCAA President. The
committee noted the Executive Committee expanded the search committee for the
NCAA president to include an ethnic minority member as requested by The
Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee, the Committee on Women’s
Athletics and the Executive Committee Subcommittee on Gender and Diversity
Issues.
2. American Indian Mascots. The committee received an update from the American Indian
mascot subcommittee regarding the use of mascots in intercollegiate
athletics. The update included:
· An historical overview.
·
The impact on colleges and universities,
including institutions currently using American Indian mascots.
· Comments from the membership and general public.
· Comments from entities within the NCAA governance structure.
· Other educational-based reviews.
· Data from Peter Harris Associates that was used as a basis for the Sports Illustrated article.
The subcommittee will continue to
collect and review information so that preliminary recommendations will be
developed prior to the full committee’s September 2002 meeting. A final report will be presented to the
Executive Committee Subcommittee on Gender and Diversity Issues in October
2002.
3. Review of NCAA
Convention Education Session. The committee reviewed a list of
the topics for the 2003 NCAA Convention education sessions and noted sessions
on race and gender and American Indian mascots. The committee agreed that the race and gender session will
focus on recruitment and retention of ethnic minorities in coaching.
4. Review of NCAA
Demographics Data. The committee reviewed
preliminary data from the 2001-02 Race Demographics of NCAA Member
Institutions’ Athletics Personnel and noted that there has not been a
significant increase in the percentage of ethnic minorities and women employed
in the positions of director of athletics, associate director of athletics,
assistant director of athletics, senior woman administrator and faculty
athletic representative. The
committee will review data for all administrative positions, head and assistant
coaches during its September meeting.
5. MOIC Football
Study. The committee reviewed data
collected regarding the lack of ethnic diversity of football coaching
staffs. The data collected
includes:
· Past and current demographics data of NCAA head and assistant football coaches at Division I, II and III institutions.
· Current race demographics data of NCAA offensive and defensive coordinators at Divisions I, II and III institutions.
· Current race demographics data of NCAA graduate assistants at Divisions, I, II and III institutions.
· Past and current ethnic demographics data for NCAA football student-athletes.
· Current race demographics data for National Football League (NFL) and NFL Europe head coaches, offensive and defensive coordinators and assistant coaches.
· Data regarding the employment history of NCAA and NFL coaches.
· Preliminary findings of the NCAA Football Study Oversight Committee interviews with Division I-A and I-AA presidents/CEOs.
· Perceptions surrounding the lack of minority head football coaches by NCAA chief executive officers, directors of athletics and NCAA head and assistant coaches at Divisions I, II and III.
The committee agreed to solicit each division’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) for comments related to this issue. Lastly, based on its findings, the committee drafted preliminary recommendations to be presented to the Football Study Oversight Committee at its August 1-2 meeting.
6. Division I
Governance Appointments. MOIC reviewed the recommendation from
the Executive Committee Subcommittee on Gender and Diversity Issues to amend
Bylaw 4.5.3.1.1-(c) for Division I to provide that all conferences in a
subdivision (rather than only the conferences in the subdivision that make
selections in the year in question) be required to submit a slate of four
candidates, including at least one female and, in addition, at least one ethnic
minority to the Board. The
committee noted that the Division I Board of Directors approved this
recommendation during its April meeting and forwarded it to the Division I
Management Council to be considered for legislation.
The committee supports this recommendation and the concept that all conferences should share in the responsibility of a diverse governance structure. The committee agreed an additional way to accomplish this goal is to require the Division I Board of Directors to review a conference’s historical record of appointing women and ethnic minorities for vacant Management Council and Cabinet positions.
Conferences that have
historically provided less than 35 percent female or 20 percent ethnic minority
representation for their Management Council and Cabinet appointments would be
required to appoint an individual from the underrepresented group, regardless
of whether the respective Council or Cabinet meets its legislated percentages
for women and ethnic minority representation. The vacancy would remain unfilled until the conference
appointed an individual from the appropriate underrepresented group.
The
committee noted that the historical review would include all appointments
dating back to 1997. Also,
conferences would be required to continue to appoint individuals from the
underrepresented group until the appropriate percentages have been reached.
7. Lack of
Minority Head Coaches in Division I. The
committee noted the Division I Board of Directors approved its request for MOIC
representatives to attend the Board’s August 2002 meeting to discuss the lack
of minority head coaches in Division I football. The committee believes the Board must be prepared for
significant pressure from the media and external organizations if progress is
not made in this area.
8. Division I
Vision Statement. The committee noted the Division
I Board of Directors approved its recommendation to add a statement to the
Division I vision statement regarding gender and ethnic diversity pursuant to
NCAA Constitution 2.2.2.
9. NCAA Initial
and Continuing Eligibility Standards. The
committee discussed the proposed changes to the initial and
continuing-eligibility standards.
The committee supported the concept of a 620 cut score and 2.0 GPA for
entering freshman; however, the committee has some reservations because this
standard will continue to disparately impact a segment of the population,
particularly ethnic minority prospective student-athletes. The committee also supports the increase
to 14 core courses. The committee
is concerned that the number of core course offerings at high schools may vary
significantly nationwide and, therefore, believes the Division I Board of
Directors must conduct a comprehensive review of high-school core course
offerings prior to any further increase in the number of core courses required
for initial-eligibility.
The committee also supported the
40-60-80 modification to the continuing eligibility standards. The committee believes that specific
criteria for a waiver of this requirement must be developed prior to the
implementation of any new continuing-eligibility standard. The committee also noted that a
consequence of these new standards may be the creation of less rigorous majors
and that student-athletes will be steered toward “soft” majors. The legislation’s impact in this regard
must be monitored to ensure that student-athletes are enrolled in a degree
program that leads to better opportunities for success after college. Lastly, the committee believes that the
NCAA should engage in an educational program for high schools, two-year
colleges and other appropriate organizations to ensure prospective
student-athletes are aware of these new standards.
Laronica
Conway, Public Relations
Keith Gill, Membership Services