REPORT OF THE
NCAA MINORITY
OPPORTUNITIES AND INTERESTS COMMITTEE (MOIC)
ACTION
ITEMS.
·
Legislative.
None.
·
Nonlegislative.
Association-wide.
Ÿ Membership
Sports Sponsorship Demographic Report.
(1)
Recommendation. Endorse
a recommendation to revise the Membership Sport Sponsorship Report to include
the Race and Gender Demographic Report compiled by the NCAA research staff.
(2)
Effective date. Fall
2007.
(3)
Rationale. The membership
services and research staff recommends combining the Membership Sport Sponsorship
Report with the Race and Gender Demographic Report. The goal of the proposal is to increase
efficiency by combining two data collection efforts. Furthermore, inasmuch as the sports sponsorship
report is mandatory and the race and gender demographics report is voluntary, combining
the two research requests would increase the overall response rate and provide
real time data. The committee
unanimously approved the recommendation.
(4)
Estimated budget
impact. None.
(5)
Student-athlete
impact. None.
INFORMATIONAL
ITEMS.
Association-wide.
1.
Hiring status of minority coaches and administrators,
and diversity of student-athletes update.
2. Overview
of NCAA initiatives to promote gender and ethnic diversity in intercollegiate
athletics. Staff provided an overview of NCAA initiatives to
promote gender and racial/ ethnic diversity in intercollegiate athletics and informed
the committee about programs to increase the pool of minorities and women in
coaching and administration.
a. Internship
Program. The NCAA Internship
Program recently commenced its 2006-07 class, which boasts 14 interns, seven
males and seven females.
b. NCAA
Ethnic Minority and Women’s Enhancement Programs Postgraduate Scholarship
for Careers in Athletics. The staff
indicated that it may enhance the program by inviting scholarship recipients to
the national office for postprogram workshops/seminars. The committee expressed its support of
staff’s idea.
c. Divisions
II and III Strategic Alliance Matching Grant Programs. The staff noted that a tracking system
has been developed to collect career information on participants in the program
on an annual basis. Staff noted
additional NCAA programs designed to provide professional development and
career advancement opportunities for minorities and women currently in their
profession.
d. NCAA
Fellows Leadership Development Program. The staff noted that since its inception
in 1997, 33 individuals have been selected, all of whom have completed the
program. Currently, 85 percent of
former NCAA Fellows hold senior-level positions, including five directors of
athletics and two associate commissioners.
e. NCAA
Leadership Institute for Ethnic Minority Males and Females. The staff noted the success of the NCAA
Leadership Institute for Ethnic Minority Males and Females and noted that the
first class of females will graduate June 29, 2006. The committee also received an update on
both the NCAA Men’s and Expert Football Coaches Academies. Staff noted the newly created NCAA Women
of Color Coaches Academy that will address the critical need to increase the
pool of women of color coaches in intercollegiate athletics. The committee requested an update on the
Work/Life Balance Summit.
3. Yesterday,
today and tomorrow: challenges of
Regarding the Native American Mascot issue, Whitcomb
expressed his support of the committee’s position regarding the use of
Native American mascots and imagery at NCAA championships. Whitcomb noted that the committee “must
be the conscience of the Association” and cited the committee’s involvement
in other significant legislation. Whitcomb
expressed concern over the issue regarding prep schools and encouraged the committee
to become involved in reviewing these standards in light of the
student-athletes of color who would be affected.
On the committee’s partnership with the
Committee on Women’s Athletics, Whitcomb noted the shared interests and
emphasized collaboration, noting that the role of the committee is the
inclusion of everyone. Finally, Whitcomb
encouraged the committee to continue its development of and accountability for
each of the
4. MOIC
mission statement and 2006-08 strategic plan. The committee addressed
the evolution of the committee’s mission and noted that, with regard to
the mission statement and strategic plan, a review of the terminology was
necessary. After considerable discussion,
the committee unanimously agreed that subsequent to the first sentence of the
mission statement, all references to the term “minority” should be
replaced by “racial/ethnic minority.” The committee agreed to review the use
of the term “ethnic” in the first sentence of the mission statement
and requested that staff provide them with additional background information. The committee also unanimously agreed to
reflect the terminology revision in the strategic plan. Members of the MOIC long-range strategic
plan subcommittee will review proposed changes and present revisions of both
documents to the full committee at the January 2007 meeting.
5. BCA
update. Floyd Keith, president of the BCA, provided
an update on BCA initiatives. Keith
noted that, during its recent annual convention, BCA members expressed concern
about institutions in states where the Confederate battle flag is displayed,
hosting super-regional baseball championship. The staff explained that the Confederate
flag policy only applies to predetermined championship sites and that in the
sport of baseball the sites are not predetermined, with the exception of the College
World Series. Staff explained that
a number one seed in a region usually hosts that event and, if they win the region
they will most likely host the super regional, which occurred in the case at
hand. Furthermore, staff noted the
distinction between the Confederate flag and Native American policies as it
relates to predetermined sites. The
committee requested that staff provide additional information about the
Confederate flag issue to determine whether further action is necessary
regarding the distinction between predetermined and non-predetermined NCAA
championship sites. Keith described
the BCA report card process and, specifically, the analysis used to grade an
institution’s hiring practices. The committee expressed its support of
the BCA hiring report card and discussed ways to hold institutions accountable
for their hiring practices if they receive a low score. Also, Keith updated the committee on the
BCA Achieving Coaching Excellence
(A.C.E.) program, noting that its success rates are remarkable in that seven
participants in the program have attained head coaching positions within the
membership. Lastly, Keith noted
that the BCA is currently considering a possible name change in order to bring
its mission in line with its membership.
6. New
coaching initiatives. Staff reported on the newly formed
7. NCAA
national office racial/ethnic and gender demographics report. The
committee received an update on the NCAA national office racial/ethnic and
gender demographics report and requested semiannual updates on the report in
the future. The committee noted
that within the governance, membership services and research group (GMSR) at
the national office, an accountability measure to track racial/ethnic minority
hires has been implemented.
8. NCAA
Diversity Leadership Strategic Planning Committee. Staff
updated the committee on the NCAA Diversity Leadership Strategic Planning
Committee and noted that the charge of the committee was to identify strategies
and recommendations that will enable the NCAA to foster the diversity of
student-athletes; promote a climate of inclusion within intercollegiate
athletics; enhance equitable career opportunities for underrepresented coaches,
officials and administrators; and strengthen the support, integration and
promotion of women’s sports within intercollegiate athletics. The Leadership Committee expects to
conclude its work and report out to the membership in January 2007.
9. Racial/Ethnic
Minority Representation within the NCAA Governance Structure. The committee
discussed the lack of racial/ethnic minority representation within the NCAA committee
structure, and requested information about the selection process. Staff informed the committee about the
process and noted ongoing efforts to recruit and increase the pool of
racial/ethnic minority committee members.
Committee members expressed disappointment over the lack of Division I faculty
athletics representatives (FAR) of color and Charlotte Westerhaus, vice-president
of the office for diversity and inclusion, noted that she plans to meet with
the FAR executive board in October 2006 to discuss ways to address the issue. The committee requested a report on the
qualifications needed to serve on committees, as well as the racial/ethnic
demographic makeup for all NCAA committees.
10. American
Indian Mascot appeals update. The committee received an update on the
American Indian mascot appeals.
11. Update
on the NCAA Office for Diversity and Inclusion. The
committee received an update on the office for diversity and inclusion (ODI).
The update focused on the adding of new staff members and current ODI projects.
Division
I only.
12. NCAA
Committee on Academic Performance/academic performance rate (APR) update. Membership
services staff provided the committee with an update on APR, with a special
emphasis on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The committee noted the negative impact
of the APR on HBCUs and requested clarity on why it appeared that HBCUs were
disproportionately affected by the APR.
Staff informed the committee about the NCAA Division I
Board of Directors directive to reward teams that demonstrate commitment toward
academic progress of student-athletes and penalize those that do not. Staff noted that some institutions are
eligible for relief and that only about 50 percent of the penalized
institutions would be negatively affected in that those institutions would not
have been able to offer scholarships.
The staff also informed the committee about
initiatives to support team APR improvement and noted a matching grant program
for resource-challenged institutions.
In addition to the grant program, staff noted educational resources
would be available to institutions, regarding the development of an online
curriculum, a possible summer institute or workshop on best practices, as well
as a consultant’s bureau.
The committee noted that many HBCUs consider
themselves to be “open access” institutions and that status can be detrimental
to their APR. The committee
suggested that staff research how the APR can be better reflected for open
access institutions. The committee encouraged greater efforts to educate and
create awareness about the effects of the APR on HBCUs and noted that there was
a perception that HBCU academic standards were poor overall and that the
mission of HBCUs was not generally understood. Staff noted the disproportionate representation
of HBCUs on the March 1, 2006, release date and indicated that the list was
incomplete because schools with greater resources were appealing. Staff solicited the committee’s
input regarding future academic performance initiatives.
13. NCAA
Committee on Athletics Certification initiatives. The
14. NCAA Final
Four vendors. Staff informed the committee about an article in a
local